In America, there have been protests to end coronavirus (COVID-19) lockdowns and reopen the country. Elon Musk even tweeted about ending the lockdown.
As a result of the strong pull of President Trump and many Americans to end lockdowns, social media has gotten the hashtag #ExtendTheLockdown trending. While many Americans have begun to feel the stress of social distancing and the lockdown, there are some obvious reasons we should extend these measures and not reopen America too quickly.
1. The United States' COVID-19 testing per 1,000 people is still too low
FACT: US has conducted 16.4 tests per every 1,000 people, below the world average and about the same as *Belarus*… https://t.co/DvDR3tizej— Carol Leonnig (@Carol Leonnig) 1588166843.0
Only around 5.8 million people have been tested so far. That is less than two percent of the American population, a number frighteningly low to begin the process of ending the lockdown.
Not only are we not testing enough people to safely and properly end the lockdown, but one in four people could be asymptomatic and spreading the disease. So if those people don't get tested, they could spark a second wave.
2. Flattening the curve won't happen as effectively without a lockdown
COVID-19 spreads primarily through person to person contact. If the U.S. ends the lockdown, that means more people will be in contact with each other which could lead to the second wave given the fact that so many people may be asymptomatic and yet still spreading the disease.
3. If we don't beat COVID-19 now, there will be more lockdowns
If there is a second wave as a result of ending the lockdown too soon, more lockdowns are definitely going to happen. Any premature reopening of the country will run this risk. But if we stay the course now, we might be able to avoid that reality.
4. There's no vaccine for public use yet
Although there are some vaccines in the early phases of testing, those vaccines are likely not going to get to us any time in the immediate future.
New Scientist published an editorial where they interviewed Maria Bottazzi, a vaccine design expert from Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas. Bottazzi said, "Under the best of circumstances, the world is still looking at 12 to 18 months before a vaccine could be widely available."
That means, it would be around a year of living without a vaccine, meaning the possibility of reemergence would loom over our heads until the vaccine was finally ready for public use in mass quantity.
5. Experts are saying that ending lockdown prematurely would be disastrous
Business Insider published an editorial on the lockdown, social distancing, isolation, and getting back to a sense of normalcy in life. In it, they interviewed experts in the field. Dr. Christina Ghaly, Los Angeles County's director of health services, said, "If you were to reduce physical distancing to [pre-order levels], virtually all individuals in Los Angeles County, 95.6 percent per the model, would be infected by the pandemic by August 1, 2020,"
Dr. Ashish Jah, the director of Harvard's Global Health Institute, said, "Our testing infrastructure, which was abysmal, is now mediocre, but nowhere near adequate for opening up..."
Both of these experts are stating the obvious facts — testing is not where it needs to be and a swift reemergence from lockdown to normalcy will result in a more severe lockdown and a potentially greater second wave of the virus.
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We need to trust professionals when it comes to this lockdown. While experts do agree that things can start getting back on track relatively soon, it is not going to be a drastic change from lockdown to what was once our everyday normal. It needs to be gradual reintegration, testing needs to ramp up to greater levels than where it's at right now, and we need to be mindful of social distancing, quarantine ethics, and self-isolation still.
If we can do all of these things, lockdowns can be eased off. But a full end to our lockdown is not smart right now. If that were to happen, our country could be put into even greater disarray than what we have right now.