We are in a public health crisis, an economic crisis, a crisis of self-confidence. If this isn’t an existential crisis, I don’t know what is. The overwhelming majority of us will come out of this, as will the country. But to assert so is neither reassuring nor compassionate for those who won’t, and for those mourning those who haven’t: more than 1,000 in the United States, 22,000 around the world, an untold number ahead. They are the focus now. As New York Governor Andrew Cuomo put it this week, “It is about the vulnerable. It is not about 95 percent of us.”
But it isn’t a zero-sum game. It isn’t about either protecting the vulnerable or protecting the economy. It’s not even about what failed weeks ago when this could’ve been handled better. Every country failed at one point or another. It’s about immediate and continuous action, about correcting what was done poorly or not done, and about reducing failures from here on, managing public health and the economy.
We’re heading into Great Depression territory that can cause immense and lasting harm. Steps can–and are being–taken to amortize the economic calamity. Congress is beginning to do its job in that regard, emphasis on beginning. The $2 trillion emergency bill isn’t perfect, but it’s not about the details right now.
And no, we are not in uncharted territory. This isn’t the world’s first pandemic, nor are responses to pandemics a mystery. Even with coronavirus , we have the experiences of half the world and the pathologies of 20,000 deaths to go on. Scientific studies about it are being written at a rate of 300 a week in an unprecedented world-unifying effort by scientists. There’s a glut of charting. How to control, corral and delay the virus’s lethality, even if it can’t be defeated yet, is no longer an unknown. The question is how much are we willing to do to get there, with how much clarity and seriousness.
The answer at the moment, especially on a day when the United States surpassed every other country, including China, with known cases of Covid-19, is not encouraging. The current response in Florida and across much of the nation is often haphazard and contradictory, too often reliant on voluntary measures, with decisions at times ideologically poisoned and immune to more professional advice. The patchwork of responses, especially in Florida, is resulting in more damaging and stretched-out half-measures when harsh but more temporary measures may be more effective. I say may be: Nothing is certain, but some things are more certain than others, and in the end, this is not about speculative opinions, politics or unemployment figures. It’s about actuarial probabilities: the if and when of who will die of Covid-19.
A lockdown may have never been necessary had the outbreak been tackled with the required tools at the outset, as it was in South Korea and other Southeast Asian countries after some bungling. But several factors now make a lockdown more necessary, not less, even after two weeks of unenforceable recommendations to stay in place.
First, enough people are shrugging off stay-in-place recommendations, amplifying transmission risks to everyone else. Second, the massive amount of testing capabilities that’s been promised is still nowhere near what it should be. In Flagler, testing is barely in the dozens a day, if that. Consequently, the extent of continuing infections is nowhere near known. Third, lack of real data on infections means it’s all guesswork in Florida and elsewhere: what the peak of the epidemic will look like, how many people will be infected, how many people will be hospitalized, how many will die. What we do know is that every day of inaction or half-measures populates the grimmer actuarial tables.
With Italy’s, Washington’s and New York’s experiences in front of their eyes, it’s easy to imagine the people running AdventHealth Palm Coast and other regional hospitals being terrified at the half measures the communities around them are taking, when every community should be asking itself one question: what must we do to keep our hospital from being overrun. The hospital is not the bunker. Every community should act like a bunker around its hospital, protecting the hospital from the kind of invasion New York hospitals are experiencing. We’re not doing that. We’re nowhere near doing that. It’s nice to donate supplies. It’d be more responsible to behave with the hospital’s viability in mind.
The only absolutely certain way to get a handle on the disease before it spikes to runaway hospitalizations is near-universal testing on the South Korea model, which also has the benefit of making lockdowns unnecessary. So imagine this. If Flagler County today received 100,000 testing kits and had the capabilities to test almost everyone, it would do so. It could then map out precisely where the disease is, who must be isolated, and who doesn’t have to be. Once the county does that, and depending on the extent of the contagion, it could theoretically reopen schools, businesses, governments and community organizations because it would know precisely where the virus clusters are. It would then maintain vigilant monitoring and residents would stay cautious, but the county would not shut down. That was the South Korean approach, where even social distancing was less drastic, where schools and businesses never closed, and where the economy was not crippled. (It’s the South Korean model in its simplest form anyway: there was a lot more to it, the “contact tracing” alone being pushed to a marvel of investigative wiles, but also with some intrusions in private lives: in a pandemic, there is no choice).
This is not pie in the sky. It’s essential, basic necessity. Ultimately and absent a vaccine, preventive screen-testing, as opposed to the extremely limited diagnostic testing we have now, is the only way the virus can be mastered. Even then, it’s not a cure: flare-ups are inevitable (as those same Southeast Asian countries and China are detecting now in a second wave of the virus). But by then we’ve bought the necessary time to counterattack and make the battle more manageable, to allow our hospitals to care for Covid-19 patients and others equally without rationing care or risking collateral deaths (as when an ambulance can’t get to a heart attack patient in time because it’s too busy caring for a Covid-19 patient, or disinfecting the rig after picking one up). By then we’re not talking pandemic anymore, but outbreaks. They’ll be disruptive, but not in the realm of lock-downs and recessions.
That’s unfortunately not where we are for now. We missed that chance, and more people will die because of that. So the only other option without universal testing is a hammer-like lockdown until widespread testing is here. We have to buy time. We have to drastically reduce infection rates. We have to protect our hospitals. We know what we have to do.
That should not be months. It should be weeks (in France, the timeline now is six weeks), if the state and the nation get serious about rolling out testing kits like food in a hunger emergency or bullets in a war. Otherwise, we’re gambling with catastrophe, and Cuomo is not exaggerating when he says conditions in New York are potentially in every community’s future. We are in this together. It’s not a slogan, but a responsibility: We’re all draftees in this war. Let’s all fight accordingly.
Pierre Tristam is FlaglerLive’s editor. Reach him by email here. A version of this piece aired on WNZF.
Mark says
#1 I don’t need a test.
#2 I have no symptoms of any illness. (If I had symptoms, I would probably get tested o a Doctor’s advice. If I had the measles I don’t need a coronavirus test.)
#3 I am not hoarding anything.
#4 I am limiting my contact with others.
#5 I don’t need to be locked down to use common sense.
So, I neither need or want to waste a test and I don’t need to be controlled or locked down. Thank you very much.
C’mon man says
You’re my hero!!
Free individual says
Well said!!!
Well... says
These controls are not for common sense, it’s to make employers act and people that still do not see this as a problem. We can all hunker down and use common sense but if an employer says nothing to see here folks, it puts people at unnecessary risk in an area where there is a risk. Since they tested roughly 80 people in this entire county, you can quadruple the confirmed rate of infected. Open things up and it grows and grows and before you know it, maybe your neighbor is dead from this, or someone else you know. What you do and what others do unless they’re told is vastly different.
I'm not sick either says
You have no symptoms but you may still be a carrier – the term is asymptomatic. Perhaps you may have heard of Typhoid Mary? The cook who carried the typhus disease who infected 51 folks and killed 3 with her “I’m not sick” philosophy. Rapid testing of all and isolating those who are sick and the carriers is the only way to put a lid on this pandemic.
William Awdry says
The current Corona test (and the new rapid) identifies markers associated with live infection. There is little or no data about the tests efficacy in detecting Corona in someone who has recovered. There are other tests that are very effective at finding markers in someone who has recovered. The issue is that much of the automated testing apparatus is being used to test samples from people who are sick right now and exhibiting symptoms.
William Awdry says
By the way Typhoid was a bacterial infection; not a virus. While both are public health concerns the treatment and controls are totally different.
I'm not sick either says
Please reread my initial comment – I was talking about the identification of carriers of the active virus who do not display the symptoms – asymptomatic. I said nothing about testing of anyone who has recovered from it. Identification of asymptomatic carriers is vital to lessening the impact of this situation.
As for being a viral or bacterial asymptomatic carrier it makes no difference, the carrier is/was not aware they were spreading the disease and infecting/killing others.
William Awdry says
Unlike bacterial infections; people who are ‘carriers’ of a virus are never truly asymptomatic. People infected with a virus are sick but continue to function because they ignore or medicate to minimize the symptoms.
The ‘carriers’ you talk about are the people that should be in self quarantine. They will have a fever and impaired respiratory tract (they will be coughing trying to clear their airway).
Covid-19 is a virulent SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory System) infection. Weeks ago many talking heads in the media were saying that young people and those in good health would likely have a ‘mild case’ of Corona Virus and quickly recover. That’s not supported by the data as more and more younger healthcare workers are becoming ill and a number have died.
Many of the ‘carriers’ you talk about are probably people over medicating and if the virus progresses will probably be people needing hospitalization and a respirator.
PB says
AGREED!!!!!
Steve says
IMO The tests werent released or done or produced to keep the numbers down because nitwit in DC wanted it that way. Ok so we are past that but once again Pierre you are correct in that the patchwork non system plan we have now if continued will create the Mother of all Virus bombs and failure to the extreme. God Bless
Sir Topham Hatt says
Agreed and well said. Employees at non essential stores are also being placed at risk which places customers at risk and the employee’s family at risk. Lock it down, yesterday! Greed continues to feed the spreading of this plague. Speaking of greed, what on earth are all these flight schools from Daytona still doing buzzing around my community. I don’t live near an airport and the constant noise and safety issue is maddening. Report the noise, frequency and altitude! A telephoto lens and a steady hand or tripod can be used to capture a photo if needed when the FAA asks for proof. Those of us on the ground who have families and are trying to enjoy our basic right to peace, both inside and outside of our homes, have been taken advantage of. Flight school traffic has only increased and there does not appear to be a regulated number of schools. Should the 99% of Floridians on the ground who have no interest in flight training have a say? I think it’s about time we should.
This is from a recent County Commission Workshop:
https://youtu.be/yKA5fSsFjXs
Report low flying aircraft to the FAA here:
https://www.faa.gov/about/office_org/field_offices/fsdo/
John says
I do feel your frustration over the flight school noise and the desire to enjoy your home. That being said, using one topic to introduce your own pet peeve (again) is also an example in greediness. The issue with the planes (and maybe trains and autos) was obviously an annoyance to you long before COVID-19 and doesn’t deserve headlines by tying them together.
Cudos for expressing concern over the risks and opinion on the virus, just don’t take advantage of a situation for your personal gain.
Usabrit says
Enough already with your flight school rant. We all get it it’s a pain BUT if they didn’t keep. Training pilots there would be no no supplies no food. Oh yes and no job.
Focus on the issue at hand. Lockdown isn’t a bad thing and hopefully will slow the spread. No one is exempt however high up you are so again COMMON SENSE PLEASE. Stay in stay safe.
The Voice Of Reason says
At a time like this, pure common decency should require these flight schools to cease operations. This activity is completely unnecessary. Every plane has multiple people in tight quarters. Zero social distancing. NONE of these flights are essential. Please, for the humane mental state of those affected, cease flights! It’s maddening having 1-2 planes per minute take off. Also, no effort at noise abatement is being used. What if they crash which they did recently, (metal fatigue due to endless touch and go take offs). First responders would need to be wasted caring for these selfish fools. GREED and nothing but GREED is at play here. Again, this is all 100 percent flight schools. All other aviation doesn’t produce the noise issues. Flight school planes are SLOW and VERY LOUD.
America_Loves_Aviation says
…flights have been way down, most mornings have been ifr until after 9 or so… numbers are literally half what they have been over the past few months…and yet you still complain?
The airplanes are no louder than the Harleys, Semis or Redneck Trucks on the highways and state roads…and yet you still complain?
You decide to use the Corona Virus situation to gripe… you dont have a problem, you have an agenda…and using this situation to try and further it is dispicable…
The Voice Of Reason says
Ignorant comments. This issue has been active in my community way before the virus. My gripe now is these aren’t normal times. Flight schools are anything but an essential business activity. As a population lots of us are stressed out of our minds. Fear of death, job loss and uncertainty, severe cabin fever…the list goes on. People aren’t sleeping at night. During the day, when exhaustion occurs we have a near non stop stream of loud, slow, NOISY flight school planes. As one clears earshot, you hear another taking off. 2 per minute is extremely common. This cycle goes on from 7-8 am into the evening hours. At times it’s slightly less. All they do is circle the airport. The noise is constant. Any non flight school aviation is not a problem. Shut these flight schools down for humanitarian sake. Common decency. At least until this crisis passes.
America_Loves_Aviation says
TvoR- your claims are ridiculous.
The traffic at the airport has been a fraction of what it was before the virus. The operations to the runway are NOT 2 a minute and there are long breaks in operations…sometimes an hour or more at the time. The weather has also been against flying and for most of the last couple weeks, it has been IFR and planes have not flown pattern work until after noon.
Hijackers is closed so lunch crowds and transients looking for food and gas arent coming, flight schools are at reduced operations, local flyers arent operating as much…your claims are hysterical and unsubstantiated.
If there are any ignorant comments here, dear person, it is the ones you are posting.
If the sound of an occasional cessna overhead every couple of minutes is causing your anxiety and fear for your life because of this virus, it seems you need to up your medication.
The Voice Of Reason says
ALA, Sadly, most all you speak of here is pure lies. You must be directly connected to the schools. Tell me two things, in a public health crisis, are flight schools an essential business? Also, are the instructors and multiple students in the plane practicing social distancing?
Randy at the Tower says
The Voice of Reason:
Let me set this record straight. I work at the tower at Flagler and I can tell you how wrong you are about your assertions. Flight Training has been way down and by more than half normal numbers on most days. As was stated, your figure of 2 planes a minute all day is way off. Especially over the last couple weeks where weather has kept the pattern closed most days until between 10 and noon. Numbers that are usually in the 800 to 900 ops daily have been down to 350-450 per day on most days. Furthermore, it hasn’t only been the weather, but the flight schools slowing down due to the goings on.
Your points are very uninformed to this juncture in the conversation.
Also, your point about first responders wasting time in the case of an aircraft accident, All I can say is wow. Just wow. Heartless and venomous do not begin to describe that comment. Are first responders wasting time if they are out helping a Fast Food worker or University Professors who got into a car accident while on their way to their “non-essential” jobs? I do not think you understand and with your comments, I do not think you care that these young pilots are paying for their education and flying is the only way for them to complete it. Many of them are on school visas and here for a limited time and must complete their training before heading back to their home country. Also, many of these pilots live with or in close proximity to their classmates, basically the same as families in the same house/neighborhood. Unless you are locking your doors and isolating yourself to the point where you have zero human interaction, even with family or neighbors, your comments fall short of reason.
I think one thing most folks do not realize when ranting about “Daytona Flight Schools” is that we have our own contingent of flight schools at Flagler. Which includes a Phoenix East Campus, 4 Other Flight Operations and an Amphib flight school which has been there for a long time. The ranting about the flight school operations and the “increased noise” is off base. But all of this is best discussed in an appropriate forum at an appropriate time. This isn’t either.
And before you start attacking me about “being in league with the flight schools”, I am a FCT Air Traffic Controller. I get paid by the hour, not by the number of operations I do (Good Lord I wish I did on most days here at Flagler). I do not care if I talk to 1 airplane in my shift or 500. My hourly wage stays the same. So when I tell you that your numbers/points are wrong, you can take that as gospel. And if you would like to visit and see the official numbers reported to the FAA in our Traffic count, I would be glad to show you the error in your approximations.
As for this Virus issue, I hope everyone stays safe and healthy. Take care of yourselves but do not forget your neighbors out of fear and panic.
America_Loves_Aviation says
TVoR,
I will gladly answer your questions…
Is the Pilot Training Essential? I dont know…are the pilots flying supplies, doctors and the sick to treatment centers essential? Many of these training pilots are the replacements and reliefs for those organizations….so Yes, their training is essential.
And these Pilots and Instructors practicing social distancing? How much more distant can you get when you are staying at an airport where no one but pilots should be or when you are in the air at 3000 feet doing your training? So unless you are otherwise griping about anyone being out of their house at all and insinuating that everyone should dwell in a bomb shelter for the next month in isolation, your point is invalid.
oh man, directly connected…yeah no…You could not be more wrong…Which is saying something considering your comments to this point.
Reaper says
Boy, how many times have I heard “I don’t like the stuff Trump says and does, but he’s a businessman he knows how to make money.” Yeah, well you’ve gotten your wish. Money over lives.
Do you know why he’s obsessed with Easter? Because he looks like a giant orange Easter bunny marshmallow peep!
Jimbo99 says
There aren’t enough test kits. I’m adhering to the lockdown, I don’t want to have anyone come to my home to test. And I sure don’t want to go elsewhere where everyone that may have it is going to congregate to get tested. We can agree to disagree on mandatory testing. That ship sailed a long time ago for being able to test everyone and we weren’t on that cruise. As for the one’s that are over occupancy in their own homes, by all means test them, they are really not social distancing amongst themselves. They are the most likely to be non-compliant of any ordered action by the very nature of their pack/herd.
William Awdry says
It’s really not about the availability of test kits. The test kits is a nasal swab and a container with a label. Technically called a nasopharyngeal swab.
In January and February much of the testing that was being done was either not automated or poorly automated. When you see a picture of a lab tech holding up a round petri dish; that’s not automated. That automation is via machines that can test literally dozens of samples at one time. A lab tech with a desktop sized lab testing device can test 80 samples in about 45 minutes.
That machine requires material to set it up to test for Corona. That where the delay was. Getting test kits ready for those machines. Now 30 days later that shortage is just about over. Those kits are distributed commercially and records are maintained by local and state health departments.
By the way Typhoid was a bacterial infection; not a virus. While both are public health concerns the treatment and controls are totally different.
HappyHappyJoyJoy says
Agree 100% Pierre. The POTUS will base his county assessment on a county that has tested very few people. I do not feel comfortable returning to the office for a while and hope I can continue working from home. People come into my place of employment ill all the time. We had so many people sick with pneumonia this year that actually came in while sick. I imagine they would do the same with COVID too. We lead the world now in cases. It’ll only go up. We haven’t plateaued. We are still riding the wave toward the top.
William Awdry says
Pneumonia is often a bacterial infection but sometimes (less often) can be viral. People with viral pneumonia are often asked to self isolate or in the rare case of an outbreak held in quarantine.
Bacterial infections can be well treated using antibiotics. Bacterial infections spread via contact and touch. Bacteria are big.
Viral infections spread more easily via the air. Viruses are small.
Anything that POTUS says regarding numbers of people in different states are coming from state health departments. The Federal government doesn’t have people out counting the numbers of people being sick or turning up for treatment. The Feds have people getting data from states.
That said the Feds can send monitors to check on the validity of state reports and local conditions. I know that because I used to do that.
Right now there is a Corona pandemic. There is also still a busy flu season and as we move further into the spring more people will be impacted by seasonal allergies.
Don Appignani says
Well said Pierre. I’ve been saying that we should have been in lock down mode since early March. The sooner we go into a lock down the quicker this will subside. We can’t have some geographical areas of the country locked down and other portions in a voluntary lock down or no lock down. That doesn’t work. We have people living in locked down regions traveling to areas that are not locked down, potentially spreading the virus from one region to another. The virus can only spread through human contact. We need to just bite the bullet, take away the human contact and get this over with. The longer we wait the worse it will get. Besides, with almost no testing capability locally we have no idea how many cases we have. Thirty one percent of our county is made up of senior citizens. NYC is preparing tents as make shift morgues and bringing in refrigerator trucks. God help us if we end up with any significant amount of cases locally.
SkippyPeanutbutter says
Let me guess..you wrote this editorial at home, from the safety of your den or home office. A mandatory shelter-in-place order would suit you Pierre. Well, the vast majority of Americans haven’t the benefit of earning a living from home. It would seem really cheap and easy to gripe that covid tests are not available for everyone in the county, and that a complete and total lockdown is necessary. A cheap, easy, and totally unrealistic rationale for both of your gripes.
Hammock Observer says
Absolutely correct. It is easy to advocate a total lockdown if you do need to worry about paying rent or buying food. The suggestion is impossible. Why should millions of people who have shown no symptoms be tested? While they are being tested there may not be enough tests for those that are needed.
In NY State Governor Mario Cuomo ordered a complete lockdown. NY has had the worst outbreak in the country. No Governor Cuomo has stated that the thinks that the total lockdown may have been a bad idea.
Interesting how people use this issue to attack Trump. Meanwhile Dem Governors Cuomo and Newsome of California are both praising Trump. The head of the World Health Organization has praised Trump. Etc., etc.
Steve says
He is easy to attack because he has failed miserably at so many levels. They are all trying to play nice in order to get what they want. We the people out of the way. Put that in your pipe and smoke it.
tulip says
To Hammock Observer Keep in mind that if someone isn’t “nice” to Trump, he will punish them by withholding needed equipment and other things and could care less about innocent people who get hurt also. When someone has what you need, you play nice until you get it. If you notice, Gov Coumo isn’t praising Trump so much now that he got his request.
Fauci and the other woman that are at the podium most of the time when Trump speaks watch their language and attitude very carefully because they know if they slip up on the “nice” part they will be fired and won’t be able to get the real truth out to the public.
KKsays says
Haven’t you heard, praising Trump is a prerequisite to try and get him to halfway do what he should, even though he most likely won’t anyway. These people are trying to do what it best for the country while having to maneuver around the worse roadblock in this country’s history. If you are supportive of him, you are part of the problem.
Downeaster says
Have you driven north on A1A at dusk and noticed that every TV is turned to Fox news? Flagler is Trump country and that blind allegiance to a false reality is about to come home to roost. Hope you are getting a ventilator in your easter basket because many of you are going to need it.
PB says
How many people are getting a vacation with this bailout while many seniors struggle with outrageous property taxes and water bills in this county we call home?
Flagmire says
Government is the problem Reagan said and 40 years later there’s not much of it left. Sort of like those masks hospitals need- just enough to protect those who can afford insurance for a short period of time anyway. There has been no investment in our society nor the future of it.
Planning, precautions, and protections were discarded so that the markets could decide who lives, it is more efficient that way.
We have lacked the will for over a generation to do anything other than accept what is happening to us because of a lack of courage to strive for something more. After all, we don’t want to be socialists.
We cannot even enact sensible gun control, not to take anyone’s guns away, just to make it less easy to murder children in schools.
60% of Americans approve of the president’s handling of the situation. So maybe people are tired of doing what’s necessary. It’s damn inconvenient.
The billionaires consider us Expendable. The thought of a lot of People dying doesn’t make an impact. We’re sick. This virus is everywhere and when confronted with the choice to stop it, at every point and at every level we choose to take no action, which is the same as choosing to let it run it’s course.
Death is real. Just because your life is not what you thought it would be, or what you feel was promised to you, doesn’t warrant suicidal ideation.
To lead you must have power. But those in power are failing to lead us.
Sam says
Yeah! What he said. On point, Pierre. Thank you
Percy's mother says
On a much lighter note, (for the sake of sanity), the painting used for this article brought back memories of my time in college (bachelor’s degree college) when I took a course called “Art History”. Art history was one of my favorite courses in all my years of education (bachelor’s, masters and doctorate), and I remember that course still today as being extremely interesting and enjoyable.
I recognized the painting immediately . . . a true work in a period of art called “Pointillism”.
I do believe the painting is called, “A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte” by the artist Georges Seurat. If one were to look closely at the painting, one would see that it’s created from tiny points of paint; hence, the term “Pointillism”.
I’m sure someone will complain that I’m not taking the current state of world affairs seriously enough, so I’ll stop there.
Pierre Tristam says
Percy’s mother, the painting was not chosen frivolously or randomly but to evoke, among other things, precisely what it evoked in you: memories of how we remember the world in warmer days. Before running the piece my bank of local photographic illustrations was dry. I queried a couple of good photographers I know around town to see what they had. They were in the same boat. I thought a moment, and this painting came to mind, the more so because of the pointillism—-a counter and a snub to coronavirus’s more lethal pointillism: art, by which I mean not only the visual arts in the literal sense (as with truth there’s nothing ever literal about art) but art in the sense of what it is at its core, meaning life, this luxuriating in the normalcy of a Sunday afternoon. Art that will always triumph. There is nothing unserious about our nostalgia for that normalcy. It’s what we are most seriously aiming to return to, it’s what all this fight is about: to get back to Seurat’s Sundays. Not to mention sundaes freely handed out hand to hand, with the unworried and carefree graze of our favorite scooper at Sally’s, with a cherry on top.
Willy Boy says
Excellent choice – the painting. Agree with the article, also.
EAW says
Percy’s Mother,
The painting brought back fond memories of the Art Appreciation class I had to take to get my AA at DSC. I did not want to take the class but at the end of it all it was one of my favorites.
Have a blessed day!
EAW
Stan says
TDS at its finest. You are correct, Flagler is Trump country so don’t turn it into NY, NJ, or CT. As far as Pierre is concerned, your article has merit.
Steve says
CT is Democratic for the record . They know a Conman when we see one
Free individual says
I do not need a test.
I do not need to be told when I need to stay home.
I can go outside when I want.
I am not a slave of the government but an individual with rights.
I don’t need to be told what to do or what not to do.
I do not need a vaccine
Keep your opinions to yourself.
If you want to live your life without freedom try China or elsewhere.
The media you included has used this as a fear campaign.
You would prefer to have the country crash and burn just to get rid of Trump.
Yes there are hotspots. Mostly democratic large cities . figure out why
Downeaster says
Free individual…You mean American cities dont you?…The virus doesnt discriminate. I see plenty of Trump stickers on cars with Yellow license plates. . I hope you or someone you love isnt elderly or in fragile health because that Orange Koolaide you are drinking is going to get someone you care about sick.
Cris N sunny PC says
Free Individual, Mostly all WE heard from what you said is “I”! Well guess what? This virus is real and it is deadly! I don’t give a rat’s ass if you are democrat or republican and neither does Corona! The reason we do need more testing and more lockdown is because of individuals like you!!! We live in a really selfish time. I have never seen so many people only caring about themselves! I for one have asthma, live pay check to pay check but i am for whatever measures it takes to kill this virus!!! I am happy to be tested if it could save a life because its not just about me!!!! We are a community and we need to grow up!
Free individual says
First of all it isn’t quite sad that you would wish this on people.
Secondly, Because I am not sick, no I don’t need a test. Facts.
More than 80% of the people who get infected will self resolve.
Save the tests for those who need it. First responders, essential workers, etc.
Next to the orange kool aid comment, no I don’t drink it.
Am I a Trump supporter – YES.
While the demonrat Schumer was calling Trump a racist for closing the border to China in January, and the rest of the Media was as well, let me remind you, that it is not normal to bash a President for having hope and for trying give his Country hope in a time of national crisis.
Is this the first pandemic this country has faced? NO.
Will it be the last? NO
Can we survive on lockdown? NO
If you are vulnerable (over 60, preexisting condition, etc..) should you be staying in, yes.
Can we stay inside forever no?
The longer we do, the harder it will be to come back.
Do we destroy our country based on fear mongering?
Yes.
Each of us has a role to play.
Each of us should be prepared.
Each of us has to do what is right for our family.
I do not need to be TOLD what to do.
Life does need to continue or there will be a far worse crisis to deal with.
KKsays says
Ah, a bonafide cult member who fails to acknowledge that his cult leader ignored for 2 months this virus and the accompanying dangers and grief it causes by calling it a Democrat hoax just to make him look bad.
KKsays says says
Florida is on the horizon to be the next hot spot, no surprise when people think they are invincible and don’t give a damn if the infect others.
Ld says
Navy plans 100% testing on that ship per the news. Recon…we have met the enemy and it is us. Kits could be mailed to limit contact. Your points are valid.
Rob Jr. says
Nice article.
If Flagler County today received 100,000 testing kits…….
Didn’t I hear Mr I don’t take responsibility say “anyone who wants a test can get a test”
This is a red hat county.
They are getting exactly what they voted for.
When they go out to the grocery store, they should put some aluminum foil on their red hats.
The foil will reflect the virus.
Pissed in PC says
Well said Pierre! With all this spotty shelter in place, people from areas that are in lockdown fleeing to Florida that are possible carriers and shopping in the stores and all you MAGA/KAGA cult that think laws and rules don’t apply to you and you can be possible carriers but won’t stay socially distanced, just wait till your loved one or friend dies. This is a ticking time bomb and I hope there’s ventilators for you cause you will need them. Reasonable and responsible citizens won’t give their life for the economy. Death is permanent, money isn’t.
Pie-In-The-Sky says
Pierre,
Unfortunately, your plan is the perfect “Pie In The Sky” strategy
First of all
I’m very sorry,
you can’t test EVERY Floridian in a single day, a week, or probably even 3 weeks
Secondly
A health professional needs to change PPE between each and every test
Why would you WASTE a precious set of PPE on a possibly infected, yet healthy, or even worse, a perfectly healthy individual?
Hear about the shortages yet?
The hospitals NEED this stuff to treat those who are sick, not to make people feel good about a test result
Thirdly
What do you do with everyone you’ve tested in the 6-7 days it takes to get a result?
Unless you have a new self administered, “instant test” and are hiding it from the rest of the world.
(they are working on it, thank goodness)
In that 6-7 day waiting period
How many NEW infections do you think have occurred?
Thus rendering your whole TEST EVERYONE “Pie-In-The-Sky” strategy absolutely useless in less than a single day, as one of you infected took the bus home or stopped at the gas station
I could guarantee you right now, 25 days ago, I was not a carrier
That means absolutely nothing today
Would a 7 day (wait on test results) guarantee make it any different?
No, what I WAS 7 days ago is not what I AM today
Think about this:
Confirmed positive test results mean very little unless you’ve:
1 – kept DETAILED records of how many have been tested
2 – IDENTIFIED everyone they’ve come into contact with in the time it took to get the results
Whereas deaths
1 – Do not require testing, a simple equation of population vs expiration
The USA is beyond the testing phase
(Insert any blame you want, it changes nothing right now)
And what good was testing in the first place if you didn’t follow up or trace those people who had contact with the infected?
(Insert any blame you want, it changes nothing right now)
Like I said
1 – We are beyond the “test everyone” (even in the so called hot spots) phase
2 – We never implemented a real “trace the infected persons recent contacts” strategy
Without the above, you now have nothing but treatment, a miracle from God, self awareness and isolation at our disposal
Stats are saying 70-80% of the population are going to be infected
It’s up to the individual to isolate, and protect themselves
Consider yourself, and everyone you come into contact with infected
If an idiot wishes to walk about, and socialize, may the Lord help them
Once the realization, and headlines hit some people square in the face, those same individuals whom thought it cannot happen here will change their minds.
And then, and only then will they realize that the some of us who reacted to, and practiced the precautions sooner, have a slightly better chance at total avoidance today
Right now
PLEASE
Leave the testing for those admitted to health facilities
They know their jobs
Testing is not for those with headaches, exaggerated fever, loss of taste, pompous self attitudes, and every other supposed symptom.
To summarize:
It’s SELF isolation that will save lives
A test isn’t going to save anyone
Unless your vitals require it, you will be sent home even with a positive result, and told to monitor/self isolate
(Any of this sinking in yet?)
Why should you take up precious hospital resources when you are in no need of critical care?
Good luck with Pie-In-The-Sky FORCED isolation
Sounds to me like you’ll throw some violence on top of a pandemic
Unprecedented says
As someone with no health issues, I haven’t been out of my home in 3wks and 1 day now. I’m lucky to have a virtual job, but others aren’t. I’m doing my part by having things delivered to my home. I’m not going to be a jerk and roam around potentially infecting others. It’s as simple and yet complicated as that. This virus is unprecedented. Quit throwing blame on the government and just do your part. The spring breakers and people who don’t heed the advice to self isolate or practice social distancing are the problem. There’s no way to test everyone. Treatments and a vaccine will be developed in record time. It’s absolutely sad that anyone has died from this virus or regular flu or heart disease or stroke or shootings or stabbing a or strangulations or car accidents or drug overdoses……..but blaming the government (local, state, federal) is an exercise in futility and only serves to stir people up. It’s not feasible to test everyone. And those who can stay home should stay home. My own extended family won’t stay home or follow the recommendations. And they’re mostly age 30 and up (adults) – so what difference should it make if we are all tested or not? Proceed like you are infected and stay home unless you need medical care. And for people who have to go to work and be around people…perhaps those are the ones who should be tested. There’s been talk of quarantine for those at highest risk. There’s been talk of herd immunity. None of us has “the” perfect answer. Hooray for free speech that makes it so we can say pretty much anything, and kudos to the people who share facts not hysteria, and who don’t blame all this on the elected officials. My 2 cents. Thanks for the forum to express our opinions.
Shrek says
You have the genuinely right idea. people throwing around the political anger and hysteria are doing nothing but causing more problems. the blame game has to stop and we have to take absolute responsibility for our actions to help this situation. its all up to us and how we treat this situation as to how quickly it will be resolved. There are indeed no perfect resolutions, but for what we CAN control and what we CAN do we should be doing. and that includes not thrusting ourselves into political and social hostility in these already trying times.
DW says
Valid point. There’s a lack of common sense all around. We went to the store yesterday to pick up things we needed and there were so many “at risk” people wandering the store. I even overheard on elderly gentlemen say “I didn’t need anything. I just wanted to get out of the house.”. But we’re supposed to self-quarantine to protect them? I’m all for it. But whose going to protect them from themselves?
Keep Flagler Beautiful says
Tell it like it is, Pierre. Those who don’t like the message of truth are the very same ones who would be first in line begging for hospital care and medications if they caught the virus. I would add two other things to the list of points made in your editorial: 1. Private passenger flights into small or county airports should be banned, as that is main way wealthy escapees from “hot zones” would be likely to arrive, and 2. Start contacting senators and representatives about the fact that there are “wet markets” in several US cities (NYC and San Francisco among them), and they are as likely to cause a viral outbreak as the one in Wuhan. There’s no margin for error. If there were a second outbreak, America as we have ever known it would be gone forever.
me says
I wish people would start listening to the Doctors and Scientist on the news instead of Donald Trump that only cares if the country governors kiss hit but and if they don’t they get no government help. Is this normal for a President of the USA to treat the people of this country? He sure will want you all to go out and vote for him though. This virus doesn’t just attack Democrats it also attacks Republicans this, not the time when the President of the USA should be playing politics. This is the time he should stand up and encourage the country and stop insulting Democrats. If he could only act like an adult he sure would get more votes in November. Instead, he is always ready to pick a fight with someone or insult or attack someone. That behavior is not a leader let alone how the President of the USA should be acting.
Governor DeSantis needs to start listening to his own conscience and do what is right for the people of Florida who elected him.
David Schaefer says
Just get rid of the turd in a punch bowl he is no leader. just remember he called this a hoax and the Dems started it.
David Schaefer says
Dr Trump is mad because he misses his stupid rallies so he has to make an ass out of himself daily by conducting those news conferences every day. MAGA please by voting this fool out of office ….
Ld says
Psalm 91
Mary says
You can tell red from blue here. Blue for lives ,red for the money!
Agkistrodon says
I am neither, red nor blue but it sure seems like BOTH are very sanctimonious. Your political propaganda is proof of that.
Toomanytrumphaters says
Some people are so sure the worst is going to happen because of our commander and chief. No one on earth is working harder than Trump is, but just close your eyes to that fact. Don’t try and think positive, someone might accuse you of liking Trump!
Pissed in PC says
He’s never worked a day in his life. Nothing but a cowardly, draft dodger but bone spurs doesn’t affect his golfing on our tax money. Turn off your Faux News and find non partisan news sources. He’s no leader!
Gary R says
@Pissed in PC- You do know Joe Biden was a draft dodger who faked asthma don’t you? Joe has lots of gaffes too. But, you will vote for him because you hate Trump. You been watching too much CNN and MSNBC news.
Pissed in PC says
Asthma is much different than a fake bone spur. Take your aluminum foil trump hat off and gain some knowledge of your leader that bankrupted casinos, a failed vodka, magazine, airline, steaks and scam university. SMDH your stupidity.
David Schaefer says
Tell me another joke…………
tulip says
Too Many Trump haters There are THOUSANDS of people in the medical field that are working harder than trump ever has in his life and are more compassionate than he will ever be. These humane medical people are working hard and risking their own lives to SAVE other people. Trump works hard at only caring about his money and doesn’t care who lives or dies, only that he gets what he wants. Flagler county is supposedly Trump country, well birds of a feather flock together.
This virus crisis has now made me well aware of the people we should be very appreciative of. The grocer, the pharmacists, the doctors at clinics, the trash collectors, ordinary people who are doing what they can to contribute helop, and other service people who make our lives livable and better. They are the people that count–not the people who only care about stock numbers, which are controlled by the rich anyway.
Sherry says
Thank goodness FOX is finally getting rid of a talking head that dismissed this terrible virus as more propaganda against trump. . . take a look:
https://www.cnn.com/2020/03/27/media/trish-regan-fox-news/index.html
Repairman says
Wait until a pipe bursts, or your air conditioner breaks, or anything in your house breaks….if you call someone to fix it, you are a hypocrite.
P.S.
Don’t touch your mail or order anything online, the virus lives on cardboard for a long time.
Just wondering says
How about closing the airports ………………so that all the so called responsible, so called humane beings stop bring it down here because they are on lock down…….
Gary says
It’s strange seeing so many Boomers begging for their lives.
Sherry says
While governors beg for help. . . trump’s massive ego must be praised and flattered before the federal government will help. . . sick and twisted:
https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2020/03/donald-trump-andrew-cuomo-ventilators
There are many more reports like this!
danm50 says
That’s your opinion Pierre, unfortunately you are as misinformed as everybody else. People will start dying of starvation if they can’t get food. Don’t make the cure worse than the cause.
FlaglerLive says
Lockdowns don’t apply to grocery runs and other necessities.
Pissed in PC says
Damm50 go right ahead and die for the economy. Just remember death is permanent and the economy isn’t. SMDH over your stupidity. But I would expect no less from someone that can’t understand it’s ok to get groceries.
Concerned Citizen says
Can we all take a minute breathe and be nice to each other?
So much hate in this thread. Yet a lot of us are dealing with this on our own are scared. Yes I admitted it. I served in the Airforce was over seas and then served in Law Enforcement and then retired out of Fire Rescue. So I consider myself pretty brave.
Now I’m scared. I’m scared of what this will do to my elderly parents who are out of state. And I worry for my friends and family. I am scared that I might get sick from doing my job ( I work as a maintenance technician ) serving commercial properties. And our hours are slowly getting cut like everyone elses. And I’m scared that if a mandatory lock down was to be enforced how I would survive it financially. I already live pretty frugally.
I live on my own and thankfully have no dependants. But at the same time have a minimal support network.
So take a minute and reflect on what you have and be thankful for it. Ask yourself before you post. What are they going thru? Let’s be nice to one another because at the end of the day when government and rules have failed we are all that we have.
T.Ellis says
“A nation’s greatness is measured by how it treats it’s most vulnerable”
KKsays says
It is also measured by the leaders they vote into office. People with true American values and a love of country will send that fraud of a president they elected last time packing this November. Anyone would be a better choice. Then the reprogramming of the cult members can begin in earnest.