Nobody is downplaying the economic distress. But it’s unbelievably dangerous for the @MISenate GOP to misstate the @WellBeingTrust study just to try and score cheap political points against @GovWhitmer and my wife. 1/5
The study doesn’t say opening saves 75,000 lives. It modeled an additional 28,000 “deaths of despair” even with a rapid recovery and another 47,000 “deaths of despair” with a “very slow recovery.” Add those together and you get 75,000. 2/5
Also keep in mind that’s total over nine years. For comparison purposes, we’ve lost 90,000 people over just nine weeks. 3/5
Just as importantly, the study did not speak to whether a quick open = quick recovery. It did speak to the most important factors to reducing “deaths of despair.” One is long-term employment. The other? Reducing fear of “potential for a serious or deadly infection.” 4/5
How do you do that? Create trust that when you open you won’t get infected. How? Economists at UMich believe it’s simple: Do. Not. Open. Too. Fast.
We all have to stop playing politics and ALWAYS use science — medical, psychological, and economic — to guide our decisions. 5/5
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