Time to reopen our economy

The medical experts’ models that have produced their projections as to the effects of the coronavirus have been in error, in fact, skewed to the point of being embarrassing (for them). Their numbers were so “out of whack,” they ended up being exaggerated to some four times as much as what they actually have turned out to be. Noticeably, the inaccuracy ran in one direction, predicting much more dire consequences than what we’ve seen.

Of course, all human beings and organizations try to save face due to their pride and a natural sense of self-preservation, so they’re saying it’s because the American people reacted well in practicing social distancing and sheltering, but that simply is not the case as these factors were built into their predictions. Their projections were simply in error and they don’t want to admit it.

The Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation has now revised (drastically lowered) their ominous projections of total coronavirus deaths from this present outbreak down to 60,000. For some perspective, the Centers for Disease Control’s own numbers indicate 61,000 died of the regular flu in 2018. Other causes of death for 2018 (the latest data available) and the CDC’s associated numbers are drug overdoses at 67,000; suicide 50,000; alcohol abuse 88,000; diabetes 83,000, and cancer at 606,000 deaths.

Shutting our economy down has put 17 million Americans out of work placing us at appropriately 13 percent unemployment already, and if we continue crashing our economy due to the virus, economists say the unemployment rate could reach 30 to 32 percent which would be greater than the peak of the Great Depression at 24.9 percent in 1933.

The economic pain caused by our overreaction based on these skewed numbers will prove far more devastating to many more Americans in the long run than the virus itself. So, let’s embrace the Scandinavian model, namely, everyone goes back to work except the sick, predisposed, or the elderly, and take reasonable precautions, but stop destroying this nation’s economy which has, until most recently, been the envy of the world. Time to turn this economy back on. Andrew Allis

Madison