Thread by @soncharm

‘See the problem was just, ok, we did a lockdown, but we didn’t do a FULL lockdown’ say all the Smart People. ‘Some people were still out & about and that’s why it still spread.’

You mean like, grocery store workers?

‘um’

https://twitter.com/soncharm/status/1283516910232010752

I really want to understand you FULL LOCKDOWN people. What are you saying you wanna do. Would you close all food distribution? For 6 weeks?

‘Well, no’

Ok, so all those grocery store employees are still going to work, right?

‘Ok sure, but that’s only..’

They quickly have nothing in stock if trucks don’t make their deliveries. So truck drivers are exempt from your FULL LOCKDOWN too right?

‘Ok, but...’

Where do they get their shipments from? I guess warehouses and distribution centers of various kinds. So all those workers are on the job

‘Fine’

Who’s growing or making all that stuff you’re allowing to be produced & distributed? Factory workers/factory farmers/packers

‘Ok...’

Let’s not forget that all that purchasing and delivery and stuff isn’t really happening unless you have various white collar types (salesman/contract managers, inventory specialists/buyers, logistics/dispatchers) on the job too

‘Fine, them too’

OH! This is just food by the way. What about medicine? Can’t my grandma still get her pills?

‘Sure, the pharmacy’s open’

Not just the *pharmacist*. OTC stuff right? Surely I can buy Advil? So basically CVS/Walgreens/Duane Reade, all open. All those workers too

‘Sigh. Fine’

Now wait. Who keeps making the ibuprofen. I guess all the pharma factories gotta stay open.

‘Sure’

FDA inspectors still keep doing their inspections/regulatin’ of all this, surely

‘Of course’

And by the way I didn’t even mention the health care system per se at all! Surely if my kid breaks his leg we can still go to the ER?

‘Of course! I’m not a monster!’

If you say so...

‘health care system stays open, duh, goes without saying’

Ok so all doctors/nurses on the job

But y’know a hospital isn’t *just* doctors/nurses, right? There’s admins, technicians (MRI/CT), billing codes to enter. So they all go to work to, right?

‘..sure’

I mean that’s what you’re saying right?

‘Fine. Yes’

All that hospital equipment/machinery needs regular maintenance and QA, you know that right? There’s an army of specialists (medical physicists and whatnot) that have to ensure they stay functioning. So they’re on the job too

‘sigh’

And of course hospitals/the health care system are gigantic consumers of various specialized equipment, not just the ‘PPE’ we’ve heard so much about but various weird little doohickeys all over the place. Their suppliers gotta stay online. More workers.

‘ok’

And not just the people who make/fabricate that stuff mind you, but the business end/management of those medical supply firms - they’re all still working

‘Ok but some of that can be done online’

Yeah but not all

‘Ok whatev’

So hey just a side thought but with a goodly number of people still physically going to work at this point, are you keeping transit going? Subways, buses, etc? So those drivers/etc. work

‘Fine! but REDUCED SCHEDULE’

oh. Huh. You wanna pack people in fewer cars?

‘hmm’

What about government? The federal government alone employs millions, especially if you count all the contractors. To say nothing of state/local.

‘Here’s where I draw the line! Most of that junk can be done all online!’

Ok ok, you got me there.

Of course there’s utilities. Power, water, gas, roads, traffic lights, IT/internet. Also security for many of these (and above-mentioned) things. These things all gotta stay online and can all require work on-site (not merely ‘from home’).

‘ok ok’

All the people who run nursing-homes gotta keep going in

‘right’

Prisons

‘yes well we’ll let some prisoners out’

How about just people who are nursing assistants to, like, immobile individuals

‘yes yes fine’

Anyway, I think however you slice it, this FULL LOCKDOWN, to be even viable, still has millions of people running around doing stuff just to ensure that the other tens or hundreds of millions of people don’t, like, all die in various dumb ways.

And also when you boil it down and add up all these (I think obviously necessary) ‘exemptions’ to your cherished FULL LOCKDOWN, you know what you end up with?

Pretty much what all* states did! For OVER TWO MONTHS!

(*With some irrelevant exceptions such as South Dakota)

So please, Full Lockdown Guy, kindly explain to me how or why a 6-week ‘Full* Lockdown’ (*with the obvious exemptions) would ‘crush the curve’.

When we already did it, and it didn’t.

Help me understand. I want to understand.