A story to stir up emotions.

It is a sad story. It is a terrible thing to happen to a new family, a new dad, a new wife, a new child.

But the US has 300 million people, and the world 6 billion and growing rapidly (way too rapidly IMO — it is more than the planet can support). Bad things happen among a population. The question is, what should our policy be? It cannot be to try to prevent every bad thing that might happen.

Yes, Trump should have blocked incoming flights before it was too late. It could have been kept out of the US. I will remember that at election time, but “the horse has left the barn”.

At this point, we must have a-lot of data about who is most vulnerable. In fact, we have had a-lot of data since Italy’s crisis. The profiles of the vulnerable should be published and widely advertised by the government, with the message, “If you meet these characteristics, isolate yourself.”

Everyone else should go back to work. If we destroy our economy, we will be weakened as a nation, and be in no shape to handle the next crisis.

These kinds of crises happen in human civilization. Have you read about the many, many hundred year plagues of history? Plagues in which half the population died? Or the destruction of Europe and relentless bombing of London during WW2? And we cower from something that kills a couple of percent — buying up all the toilet paper and frozen food. It is shameful, pathetic, weak. Stupid.

Instead, we should be applying our resources to protect the vulnerable. Those who meet the criteria should be able to apply for emergency aid, to pay their rent and get food, while they isolate — until an effective treatment is available. We don’t need a vaccine to end this crisis: we only need a set of effective treatments that keep the most serious cases from dying or suffering permanent organ damage.

But if we destroy the economy, we then don’t have the resources to support those who are most vulnerable.

Sweden has been taking a different approach. From Axios:

Zoom in: Sweden did not impose a lockdown, making it virtually unique within Europe.

• Students 16 and under remain in school, restaurants are open for table service (bar seating is prohibited), and gatherings of up to 50 people are permitted.
• Swedes were discouraged from traveling over the Easter holiday, and many work from home if able, but daily life is far less constrained than elsewhere.

While Sweden has suffered far more deaths than its Nordic neighbors (1,203, compared to 143 in Norway), Tegnell says that’s because of a high number of deaths in nursing homes.

• Beyond that failing, he says, the spread has been well-contained through the voluntary self-isolation of people who experience symptoms.
• While the approach has been criticized by some top scientists, it remains highly popular with the public.

The bottom line: “We do believe that the main difference between our policy and many other countries’ policies is that they are sustainable,” Tegnell says, noting that “the virus will be with us for a long time.”

• “We could easily keep on having these kinds of policies in place for months or maybe even years without having any real damage to society or our economic system.”