USA TODAY International Edition
Other views: Avoid long exposures in enclosed spaces
Megan McArdle, The Washington Post: “Perhaps some undulation ( in COVID- 19 cases) is inevitable: as caseloads rise, people get cautious, and as they fall, people take more risks, causing caseloads to rise again. But another possibility is that the undulation might not just be about policy, or even personal attitudes, but something as simple, and uncontrollable, as the weather. ... One thing we have learned in seven months is that most spread seems to take place over long exposures in enclosed spaces. So the right question may not be ‘ how cold is it?’ but ‘ is this the kind of weather that drives gatherings indoors?’ ”
Ann E. Wallace, USA TODAY: “On Oct. 1, President Trump reportedly experienced his first symptoms of COVID- 19. Four days later he proclaimed, ‘ I feel better than I did 20 years ago!’ and ‘ Don’t be afraid of COVID. Don’t let it dominate your life.’ Oct. 1 was day 200 of my COVID illness. It was also the day I started to wear a heart rhythm monitor to help track my symptoms. I logged 35 symptomatic episodes in the first seven days. I am 50 years old. For those who, like me, do not have helicopter access to one of the nation’s top medical facilities and $ 100,000 of bestin- class experimental therapy by a 24/ 7 dedicated team of doctors, let me share a more realistic experience with COVID. After seven months, I no longer have an active virus, but I have not yet ‘ recovered.’ ”
Jeffrey D. Sachs, CNN. com: “The idea that we should not try to control infections other than of vulnerable groups is based on a complete misunderstanding of the real choices facing the U. S. — or facing any country for that matter. The core mistake is the belief that the only alternative to an economic shutdown is to let the virus spread widely in the population. Instead, a set of basic public health measures is enough, as many other countries have shown, to control the spread of the virus. The proper measures include widespread testing, contact tracing, isolating of infected individuals, wearing face masks, physical distancing, and barring super- spreader events ( like Trump rallies). South Korea has exemplified this policy approach, as have many of its neighbors in the AsiaPacific region.”