PSA: Social Distancing Is Crucial. Don’t Even Think About Easing Up Yet.

Of course everyone wants a return to normal. But doing so too quickly could be catastrophic.

On Tuesday President Donald Trump announced that he would like to see the U.S. “opened up and just raring to go by Easter.” The move sparked concern among health experts, since that’s only a couple weeks away and state governments are embarking on multi-week lockdowns.

The economic and social toll of Covid-19 is devastating, with people across the world losing jobs. But there’s a reason, experts say, that social distancing needs to remain at aggressive levels for longer than just to the holiday.

Former FDA commissioner Dr. Scott Gottlieb put it succinctly on Twitter:

There’s a strong and understandable desire to return to better times and a functioning economy. But it should not be lost on anyone that there’s no such thing as a functioning economy and society so long as Covid-19 continues to spread uncontrolled in our biggest cities.

So long as Covid-19 spreads uncontrolled, older people will die in historic numbers, middle aged folks [will be] doomed to prolonged ICU stays to fight for their lives, hospitals will be overwhelmed, and most Americans terrified to leave homes, eat out, take the subway or go to the park.

The only way to return to a stable economy and restore our liberty, is to end epidemic spread…