Coronavirus pandemic

[Roadgeekteen]

A major tornado blew through Europe in March.

A major tornado blew through America in July.

Should we only look at July power outage data to determine how many residents are without power?  Doesn't seem like a very fair comparison.

Was power still out in Europe in July?

[hotdogPi]

A major tornado blew through Europe in March.

A major tornado blew through America in July.

Should we only look at July power outage data to determine how many residents are without power?  Doesn't seem like a very fair comparison.

Was power still out in Europe in July?

I think this was just an example, not meant to be taken literally.

[CNGL-Leudimin]

A new ad from Priorities Action shows the latest USA coronavirus cases compared to other countries.  The issue is these numbers aren't adjusted for population or the amount of testing done per capita.  The reality is France, Italy, and Spain all have higher fatality rates from the virus than America does.  The fact that those countries were ineffective at stopping the spread of the virus back in March - which led to incredible numbers of European deaths but ultimately low case counts today -  shouldn't be used as a political talking point just to make America look bad.  The high case count America is seeing now is proof that the country was successful in delaying the spread of the virus through much of the country back in March (unlike France, Italy, and Spain).

Spain has been in the order of 6,000 cases in the last week. Most of them came in Aragon and Catalonia, mainly due to fruit pickers who usually live in poor conditions. The former reacted as soon as cases started to rebound and imposed some restrictions again, while the latter didn't react until it was too late. Guess who managed to keep the number of cases low... However this has now reached Zaragoza, and I don't know what will happen now.

[Max Rockatansky]

A new ad from Priorities Action shows the latest USA coronavirus cases compared to other countries.  The issue is these numbers aren't adjusted for population or the amount of testing done per capita.  The reality is France, Italy, and Spain all have higher fatality rates from the virus than America does.  The fact that those countries were ineffective at stopping the spread of the virus back in March - which led to incredible numbers of European deaths but ultimately low case counts today -  shouldn't be used as a political talking point just to make America look bad.  The high case count America is seeing now is proof that the country was successful in delaying the spread of the virus through much of the country back in March (unlike France, Italy, and Spain).

Spain has been in the order of 6,000 cases in the last week. Most of them came in Aragon and Catalonia, mainly due to fruit pickers who usually live in poor conditions. The former reacted as soon as cases started to rebound and imposed some restrictions again, while the latter didn't react until it was too late. Guess who managed to keep the number of cases low... However this has now reached Zaragoza, and I don't know what will happen now.

Weren't you under some pretty heavy restrictions early in the pandemic?  I seem to recall you mentioning things like people being unable to leave the house for even exercise. 

[wolfiefrick]

[image snipped]

A new ad from Priorities Action shows the latest USA coronavirus cases compared to other countries.  The issue is these numbers aren't adjusted for population or the amount of testing done per capita.  The reality is France, Italy, and Spain all have higher fatality rates from the virus than America does.  The fact that those countries were ineffective at stopping the spread of the virus back in March - which led to incredible numbers of European deaths but ultimately low case counts today -  shouldn't be used as a political talking point just to make America look bad.  The high case count America is seeing now is proof that the country was successful in delaying the spread of the virus through much of the country back in March (unlike France, Italy, and Spain).

I guess all 50 states should open up then! Let's mass gather and celebrate!

Yeah, that's not what he said, nor what any of the panic skeptics are arguing for.

Much of his statement happens to be true. According to ourworldindata.org, which sources data from various reporting institutions around the world, has determined that the United States (pop. 327M) ranks sixth overall in daily tests per 1M population, behind Luxembourg (pop. 613k), Bahrain (pop. 1.6M), the United Arab Emirates (pop. 10M), Singapore (pop. 5.6M) and Israel (pop. 8.8M). For a country that is more than 12 times the size of all those countries combined, I'd say we have administered, by far, the most COVID-19 tests of any country in the world.

Thanks to federalism, the United States has been without a unified federal government response, so the current patchwork of responses has been built up by the individual states and municipalities. The media seems fairly keen on attacking Texas and Florida for their current sharp rises in cases, but it's fairly obvious they did a good job containing the spread of the virus when deaths in states like New Jersey and New York were sky high. In fact, since those early states got absolutely walloped by coronavirus in late March and early to mid-April, they still top the charts in terms of COVID-19-related deaths per 100k population, with 176 and 167 deaths per 100k, respectively. According to this page from Statista, Florida and Texas rank much further down the line, in 25th and 35th place, respectively.

Nobody with any serious credentials is attempting to legitimately argue for a complete, no-holds-barred reopening of the entire country absent any guidelines from the CDC. The American people are, buy and large, adhering to local face covering guidelines (including myself), and as COVID-19 testing becomes easier to access and more prevalent across the country, we will only begin to see a more complete picture of the true situation. Of course, all the figures I just mentioned do not take into account the very high likelihood that the total number of infections could very well be as much as 10x the number of confirmed positive cases, which has been hypothesized after extrapolating antibody test results over the entire U.S. population. If that's true, the COVID-19 death rate would plummet to a fraction of one-tenth of a percent across the board, and for young people it would be reduced to a value so infinitesimally small that it would be rendered statistically insignificant.

"There are more people who have COVID-19 in the U.S. than in any other country" is not sufficient to arrive at any meaningful statistical conclusions. The media doesn't seem to believe this is the case, which is unfortunately what has been responsible for all the disingenuous messaging from the last few months.

[hbelkins]

I love how the skeptics talking points have evolved over the last few weeks:

First it was..."Case counts really don't matter.  Testing is just increasing.  Hospitalizations are what matters."

Then it was..."Sure more are in the hospitals, but they are young and we are treating them better."

Now its..."These people aren't really dying of Covid."

Almost other western country has figured this out.  It's a deadly pandemic which requires a significant societal response.  The longer we delay that response, the longer it will take for us to get things someone back to normal.  Constantly minimizing or ignoring it, won't magically make it go away.

https://cbs12.com/news/local/man-who-died-in-motorcycle-crash-counted-as-covid-19-death-in-florida-report

[Eth]

I love how the skeptics talking points have evolved over the last few weeks:

First it was..."Case counts really don't matter.  Testing is just increasing.  Hospitalizations are what matters."

Then it was..."Sure more are in the hospitals, but they are young and we are treating them better."

Now its..."These people aren't really dying of Covid."

Almost other western country has figured this out.  It's a deadly pandemic which requires a significant societal response.  The longer we delay that response, the longer it will take for us to get things someone back to normal.  Constantly minimizing or ignoring it, won't magically make it go away.

https://cbs12.com/news/local/man-who-died-in-motorcycle-crash-counted-as-covid-19-death-in-florida-report

Congratulations on finding one out of 131,000.

(If anything, again, we're likely undercounting; see reply #5084. Unless there's also something else going around killing thousands more than usual that we haven't identified.)

[SSOWorld]

I love how the skeptics talking points have evolved over the last few weeks:

First it was..."Case counts really don't matter.  Testing is just increasing.  Hospitalizations are what matters."

Then it was..."Sure more are in the hospitals, but they are young and we are treating them better."

Now its..."These people aren't really dying of Covid."

Almost other western country has figured this out.  It's a deadly pandemic which requires a significant societal response.  The longer we delay that response, the longer it will take for us to get things someone back to normal.  Constantly minimizing or ignoring it, won't magically make it go away.

https://cbs12.com/news/local/man-who-died-in-motorcycle-crash-counted-as-covid-19-death-in-florida-report

Only in Florida....

[US71]

I love how the skeptics talking points have evolved over the last few weeks:

First it was..."Case counts really don't matter.  Testing is just increasing.  Hospitalizations are what matters."

Then it was..."Sure more are in the hospitals, but they are young and we are treating them better."

Now its..."These people aren't really dying of Covid."

Almost other western country has figured this out.  It's a deadly pandemic which requires a significant societal response.  The longer we delay that response, the longer it will take for us to get things someone back to normal.  Constantly minimizing or ignoring it, won't magically make it go away.

https://cbs12.com/news/local/man-who-died-in-motorcycle-crash-counted-as-covid-19-death-in-florida-report

Only in Florida....

and Arkansas (several Sheriffs are saying they won't issue tickets for no mask)

[Brandon]

I love how the skeptics talking points have evolved over the last few weeks:

First it was..."Case counts really don't matter.  Testing is just increasing.  Hospitalizations are what matters."

Then it was..."Sure more are in the hospitals, but they are young and we are treating them better."

Now its..."These people aren't really dying of Covid."

Almost other western country has figured this out.  It's a deadly pandemic which requires a significant societal response.  The longer we delay that response, the longer it will take for us to get things someone back to normal.  Constantly minimizing or ignoring it, won't magically make it go away.

https://cbs12.com/news/local/man-who-died-in-motorcycle-crash-counted-as-covid-19-death-in-florida-report

Congratulations on finding one out of 131,000.

(If anything, again, we're likely undercounting; see reply #5084. Unless there's also something else going around killing thousands more than usual that we haven't identified.)

Did you even bother to read the links within?  Here, I'll make it easy and add it here: https://cbs12.com/news/coronavirus/dozens-of-florida-labs-still-report-only-positive-covid-tests-skewing-positivity-rate

[Eth]

Did you even bother to read the links within?  Here, I'll make it easy and add it here: https://cbs12.com/news/coronavirus/dozens-of-florida-labs-still-report-only-positive-covid-tests-skewing-positivity-rate

Did you even bother to read the post HB was responding to? "These people aren't really dying of Covid" and "Florida labs are reporting bad data" are not, in fact, the same thing. Hell, you didn't even have to click an extra link for that one!

And yes, the data from Florida in particular has been notoriously bad throughout all this. I'm sure you remember the official who was fired because she refused to lie on the state government's behalf to say it was better than it actually was.

[SEWIGuy]

[image snipped]

A new ad from Priorities Action shows the latest USA coronavirus cases compared to other countries.  The issue is these numbers aren't adjusted for population or the amount of testing done per capita.  The reality is France, Italy, and Spain all have higher fatality rates from the virus than America does.  The fact that those countries were ineffective at stopping the spread of the virus back in March - which led to incredible numbers of European deaths but ultimately low case counts today -  shouldn't be used as a political talking point just to make America look bad.  The high case count America is seeing now is proof that the country was successful in delaying the spread of the virus through much of the country back in March (unlike France, Italy, and Spain).

I guess all 50 states should open up then! Let's mass gather and celebrate!

Yeah, that's not what he said, nor what any of the panic skeptics are arguing for.

Much of his statement happens to be true. According to ourworldindata.org, which sources data from various reporting institutions around the world, has determined that the United States (pop. 327M) ranks sixth overall in daily tests per 1M population, behind Luxembourg (pop. 613k), Bahrain (pop. 1.6M), the United Arab Emirates (pop. 10M), Singapore (pop. 5.6M) and Israel (pop. 8.8M). For a country that is more than 12 times the size of all those countries combined, I'd say we have administered, by far, the most COVID-19 tests of any country in the world.

Thanks to federalism, the United States has been without a unified federal government response,

Oh it's so very cute that you think that!

[SEWIGuy]

Did you even bother to read the links within?  Here, I'll make it easy and add it here: https://cbs12.com/news/coronavirus/dozens-of-florida-labs-still-report-only-positive-covid-tests-skewing-positivity-rate

Did you even bother to read the post HB was responding to? "These people aren't really dying of Covid" and "Florida labs are reporting bad data" are not, in fact, the same thing. Hell, you didn't even have to click an extra link for that one!

And yes, the data from Florida in particular has been notoriously bad throughout all this. I'm sure you remember the official who was fired because she refused to lie on the state government's behalf to say it was better than it actually was.

Florida has been a disaster

People make mistakes

A lot of people are dying from Covid because our response has been a disaster

These statements are all true.

[tradephoric]

Florida has been a disaster

People make mistakes

A lot of people are dying from Covid because our response has been a disaster

These statements are all true.

The lock-down measures put in place in March were effective at delaying communal spread of the virus for much of the country (e.g., FL, TX, AZ).  The extra time has allowed for improvements in therapeutics and patient care which has resulted in higher survival rates among hospitalized patients.  Also, lessons have been learned from states that were hit hard by the virus in March.  While increased testing and delaying the virus spread has led to higher daily cases today, that stat shouldn't be used by the media to try to prove failure (again increased testing capacity and delaying the spread are both good things).  A point that should not be lost:  America has seen fewer deaths per capita than many Western European countries including the UK, Spain, France, Sweden, and Italy. 

If Florida has been a disaster what has New York been?  While making up only 5.9% of the countries population, New York has accounted for 22.8% of America's COVID deaths.  New York has reported 6X the number of Covid deaths than Florida (32,552 vs 4,898) even as both states have similar populations and have had widespread communal spread.  Even if Florida reports 10,000 additional deaths as their current outbreak abates (right now FL is averaging 100 deaths a day), New York would still have double the number of COVID deaths than Florida.

[Roadgeekteen]

Florida has been a disaster

People make mistakes

A lot of people are dying from Covid because our response has been a disaster

These statements are all true.

The lock-down measures put in place in March were effective at delaying communal spread of the virus for much of the country (e.g., FL, TX, AZ).  The extra time has allowed for improvements in therapeutics and patient care which has resulted in higher survival rates among hospitalized patients.  Also, lessons have been learned from states that were hit hard by the virus in March.  While increased testing and delaying the virus spread has led to higher daily cases today, that stat shouldn't be used by the media to try to prove failure (again increased testing capacity and delaying the spread are both good things).  A point that should not be lost:  America has seen fewer deaths per capita than many Western European countries including the UK, Spain, France, Sweden, and Italy. 

If Florida has been a disaster what has New York been?  While making up only 5.9% of the countries population, New York has accounted for 22.8% of America's COVID deaths.  New York has reported 6X the number of Covid deaths than Florida (32,552 vs 4,898) even as both states have similar populations and have had widespread communal spread.  Even if Florida reports 10,000 additional deaths as their current outbreak abates (right now FL is averaging 100 deaths a day), New York would still have double the number of COVID deaths than Florida.

Maybe Florida should have locked down later than New York.

[SEWIGuy]

Florida has been a disaster

People make mistakes

A lot of people are dying from Covid because our response has been a disaster

These statements are all true.

The lock-down measures put in place in March were effective at delaying communal spread of the virus for much of the country (e.g., FL, TX, AZ).  The extra time has allowed for improvements in therapeutics and patient care which has resulted in higher survival rates among hospitalized patients.  Also, lessons have been learned from states that were hit hard by the virus in March.  While increased testing and delaying the virus spread has led to higher daily cases today, that stat shouldn't be used by the media to try to prove failure (again increased testing capacity and delaying the spread are both good things).  A point that should not be lost:  America has seen fewer deaths per capita than many Western European countries including the UK, Spain, France, Sweden, and Italy. 

If Florida has been a disaster what has New York been?  While making up only 5.9% of the countries population, New York has accounted for 22.8% of America's COVID deaths.  New York has reported 6X the number of Covid deaths than Florida (32,552 vs 4,898) even as both states have similar populations and have had widespread communal spread.  Even if Florida reports 10,000 additional deaths as their current outbreak abates (right now FL is averaging 100 deaths a day), New York would still have double the number of COVID deaths than Florida.

New York's deaths were early in the pandemic when we were still figuring things out.  What is happening in Florida, Arizona and Texas is reprehensible because it is coming AFTER we knew what was happening and how to prevent it. 

[J N Winkler]

Here are a few things to think about:

*  Early in the crisis, New York benefited from nurses and other medical personnel flown in from all over the US.  Now that the virus is out of control in much of the rest of the US, nurses etc. from New York are prepared to reciprocate . . . but are there enough to go around?

*  With testing ramped up and the virus now sampling younger populations, the ratio of confirmed positive cases per covid-19 ICU admission is much higher now than it was at the start of the crisis.  But when the virus is still spreading exponentially, this only means it takes a bit longer to overload ICUs, which is now happening in multiple states.  Younger patients also mean steeper losses in terms of disability-adjusted life years and ongoing need for added medical care.

*  We are inching back toward losing 1,000 or more a day to covid-19.  While things may be stabilizing in Arizona (new confirmed cases per 100,000 has been trending down for about a week), they are deteriorating in Texas, which has a lot more population to feed the fire (2019 estimated populations of 7.2 million versus 29 million).

[wolfiefrick]

[image snipped]

A new ad from Priorities Action shows the latest USA coronavirus cases compared to other countries.  The issue is these numbers aren't adjusted for population or the amount of testing done per capita.  The reality is France, Italy, and Spain all have higher fatality rates from the virus than America does.  The fact that those countries were ineffective at stopping the spread of the virus back in March - which led to incredible numbers of European deaths but ultimately low case counts today -  shouldn't be used as a political talking point just to make America look bad.  The high case count America is seeing now is proof that the country was successful in delaying the spread of the virus through much of the country back in March (unlike France, Italy, and Spain).

I guess all 50 states should open up then! Let's mass gather and celebrate!

Thanks to federalism, the United States has been without a unified federal government response,

Oh it's so very cute that you think that!

Ha. I like how that's what you took away from what I wrote. I'm not entirely sure how to interpret your attempt at a witty retort, but assuming you're saying I'm wrong, care to explain why?

Sure, we've had guidelines issued by the CDC and other federal government entities, but besides issuing guidelines and saying "please wear a mask and socially distance,"  what else can they do? The state governments have public health power, *not* the federal government.

[wolfiefrick]

Florida has been a disaster

People make mistakes

A lot of people are dying from Covid because our response has been a disaster

These statements are all true.

The lock-down measures put in place in March were effective at delaying communal spread of the virus for much of the country (e.g., FL, TX, AZ).  The extra time has allowed for improvements in therapeutics and patient care which has resulted in higher survival rates among hospitalized patients.  Also, lessons have been learned from states that were hit hard by the virus in March.  While increased testing and delaying the virus spread has led to higher daily cases today, that stat shouldn't be used by the media to try to prove failure (again increased testing capacity and delaying the spread are both good things).  A point that should not be lost:  America has seen fewer deaths per capita than many Western European countries including the UK, Spain, France, Sweden, and Italy. 

If Florida has been a disaster what has New York been?  While making up only 5.9% of the countries population, New York has accounted for 22.8% of America's COVID deaths.  New York has reported 6X the number of Covid deaths than Florida (32,552 vs 4,898) even as both states have similar populations and have had widespread communal spread.  Even if Florida reports 10,000 additional deaths as their current outbreak abates (right now FL is averaging 100 deaths a day), New York would still have double the number of COVID deaths than Florida.

New York's deaths were early in the pandemic when we were still figuring things out.  What is happening in Florida, Arizona and Texas is reprehensible because it is coming AFTER we knew what was happening and how to prevent it.

I'm old enough to remember when we were all told to flatten the curve early on during the initial spread of the virus. Florida, Arizona and Texas did an excellent job of doing this, seeing as they are only now experiencing their first major wave of cases and they're not being accompanied by a sharp rise in deaths. New York, by contrast, had a policy up until about five seconds ago that forced hospitals to send elderly people who tested positive for COVID-19 BACK TO THEIR NURSING HOMES.

THAT is reprehensible.

[SEWIGuy]

Florida has been a disaster

People make mistakes

A lot of people are dying from Covid because our response has been a disaster

These statements are all true.

The lock-down measures put in place in March were effective at delaying communal spread of the virus for much of the country (e.g., FL, TX, AZ).  The extra time has allowed for improvements in therapeutics and patient care which has resulted in higher survival rates among hospitalized patients.  Also, lessons have been learned from states that were hit hard by the virus in March.  While increased testing and delaying the virus spread has led to higher daily cases today, that stat shouldn't be used by the media to try to prove failure (again increased testing capacity and delaying the spread are both good things).  A point that should not be lost:  America has seen fewer deaths per capita than many Western European countries including the UK, Spain, France, Sweden, and Italy. 

If Florida has been a disaster what has New York been?  While making up only 5.9% of the countries population, New York has accounted for 22.8% of America's COVID deaths.  New York has reported 6X the number of Covid deaths than Florida (32,552 vs 4,898) even as both states have similar populations and have had widespread communal spread.  Even if Florida reports 10,000 additional deaths as their current outbreak abates (right now FL is averaging 100 deaths a day), New York would still have double the number of COVID deaths than Florida.

New York's deaths were early in the pandemic when we were still figuring things out.  What is happening in Florida, Arizona and Texas is reprehensible because it is coming AFTER we knew what was happening and how to prevent it.

I'm old enough to remember when we were all told to flatten the curve early on during the initial spread of the virus. Florida, Arizona and Texas did an excellent job of doing this, seeing as they are only now experiencing their first major wave of cases and they're not being accompanied by a sharp rise in deaths.

LOL what?  Do you live under a f**king rock?

Hospitals are running out of room and deaths are rising.  Sure they flattened the curve, but that's useless if you simply go back and engage in the same behavior that lets it get out of control in the first place.

[SEWIGuy]

[image snipped]

A new ad from Priorities Action shows the latest USA coronavirus cases compared to other countries.  The issue is these numbers aren't adjusted for population or the amount of testing done per capita.  The reality is France, Italy, and Spain all have higher fatality rates from the virus than America does.  The fact that those countries were ineffective at stopping the spread of the virus back in March - which led to incredible numbers of European deaths but ultimately low case counts today -  shouldn't be used as a political talking point just to make America look bad.  The high case count America is seeing now is proof that the country was successful in delaying the spread of the virus through much of the country back in March (unlike France, Italy, and Spain).

I guess all 50 states should open up then! Let's mass gather and celebrate!

Thanks to federalism, the United States has been without a unified federal government response,

Oh it's so very cute that you think that!

Ha. I like how that's what you took away from what I wrote. I'm not entirely sure how to interpret your attempt at a witty retort, but assuming you're saying I'm wrong, care to explain why?

Sure, we've had guidelines issued by the CDC and other federal government entities, but besides issuing guidelines and saying "please wear a mask and socially distance,"  what else can they do? The state governments have public health power, *not* the federal government.

There is plenty the federal government can do.  They can provide money for all sorts of things.  They can provide leadership and messaging that doesn't implore that states open up when they shouldn't.  Etc. etc. etc.

And that's all I took out of your post because most of it was uninteresting and uninformative.

[wolfiefrick]

New York's deaths were early in the pandemic when we were still figuring things out.  What is happening in Florida, Arizona and Texas is reprehensible because it is coming AFTER we knew what was happening and how to prevent it.

I'm old enough to remember when we were all told to flatten the curve early on during the initial spread of the virus. Florida, Arizona and Texas did an excellent job of doing this, seeing as they are only now experiencing their first major wave of cases and they're not being accompanied by a sharp rise in deaths.

LOL what?  Do you live under a f**king rock?

Hospitals are running out of room and deaths are rising.  Sure they flattened the curve, but that's useless if you simply go back and engage in the same behavior that lets it get out of control in the first place.

Okay, well then what do you suggest? Do you think it would be feasible to lock down the whole fucking country forever until the last case of this virus is snuffed out?

This is an individual responsibility issue. If you don't want to get the virus, wear a mask, practice social distancing, and don't go out if you have symptoms. The data I've read suggest that it's mostly younger people getting this in Florida, Texas and Arizona, which is why deaths aren't rising nearly as sharply as they did in March-April, and as such they require shorter stays in the ICU, assuming they even need to go there at all!

[wolfiefrick]

And that's all I took out of your post because most of it was uninteresting and uninformative.

And there it is.

Translation: "I didn't like how the statistics you posted contravene my "˜THE SKY IS FALLING!' narrative, so I will choose not to engage in a thoughtful debate about the merit of said statistics, and instead will fire back with a childish platitude. That'll show him!"

[SEWIGuy]

New York's deaths were early in the pandemic when we were still figuring things out.  What is happening in Florida, Arizona and Texas is reprehensible because it is coming AFTER we knew what was happening and how to prevent it.

I'm old enough to remember when we were all told to flatten the curve early on during the initial spread of the virus. Florida, Arizona and Texas did an excellent job of doing this, seeing as they are only now experiencing their first major wave of cases and they're not being accompanied by a sharp rise in deaths.

LOL what?  Do you live under a f**king rock?

Hospitals are running out of room and deaths are rising.  Sure they flattened the curve, but that's useless if you simply go back and engage in the same behavior that lets it get out of control in the first place.

Okay, well then what do you suggest? Do you think it would be feasible to lock down the whole fucking country forever until the last case of this virus is snuffed out?

This is an individual responsibility issue. If you don't want to get the virus, wear a mask, practice social distancing, and don't go out if you have symptoms. The data I've read suggest that it's mostly younger people getting this in Florida, Texas and Arizona, which is why deaths aren't rising nearly as sharply as they did in March-April, and as such they require shorter stays in the ICU, assuming they even need to go there at all!

We should do what we should have done.  Largely shut down for six to eight weeks and open up reponsibly.

And its not simply a personal responsibility issue.  The young are spreading it to the old and vulnerable.  People who haven't engaged in risky behavior.

[SEWIGuy]

And that's all I took out of your post because most of it was uninteresting and uninformative.

And there it is.

Translation: "I didn't like how the statistics you posted contravene my "˜THE SKY IS FALLING!' narrative, so I will choose not to engage in a thoughtful debate about the merit of said statistics, and instead will fire back with a childish platitude. That'll show him!"

Misusing stats is not engaging in thoughtful debate.  It's intellectual dishonestly.  I don't debate with people who are dishonest.

Everything that I predicted would happen when states opened back up without the necessary safety precautions in place is happening.  Increased spread....followed by hospitalizations...followed by deaths. 

Every.  Single.  Thing.

Instead of looking at what other countries have done, invest heavilly in testing and tracing, shutting down for lengthy times and opening up responsibly, we have largely decided to screw it and throw caution to the wind.

And you want to engage in "thoughtful debate" about what exactly?  It's very obvious what needs to be done.  And we won't do it.