[hurricanetc]

I don’t understand the motivation. Lying and pretending is just going to make the situation worse and push the reckoning to a later date. Given that it is an election year it seems to me that punting this out is a really stupid idea for the incumbent administration.

Maybe they are just hoping that if they lie and withhold information long enough it will just disappear over summer? Seems like a really silly gamble with a huge potential downside and nearly nonexistent upside.

[dariusj18]

Hrm, lie and obscure in the hopes that it will just go away. Sounds like a playbook we have seen used successfully many times so far.

[themagician]

If you sufficiently limit testing then the numbers will always be within your control.

Without a treatment or vaccine there is no point in testing. It will just cause panic. The US isn’t like other countries where people go to the doctor when they get sick. If people think they just have the flu they will just stay home and die instead of putting a strain on resources.

A morbid reality, but the best solution for the system we have. Transparency and testing won’t be good for anyone. What works everywhere else doesn’t always work in the US.

[sliken]

No point in testing? How can you make any decisions for public safety without numbers? Numerous options like pushing jobs and schools to go virtual, cancelling sports events, conferences, etc. Even to the point of blocking roads and air travel. It's 10x worse if everyone gets sick at the same time, so slowing the spread is quite valuable... even if the same number of people get sick.

Not to mention various treatments are being tested. Gilead has a promising drug, and it looks like an old malaria drug might be just what is needed. Lots of promising results in petri dishes, none from a good double blind study... yet. A delay of a month or two might well halve the death rate, even ignoring things like over burdened hospitals.

[themagician]

Think for a second. You can’t close schools in the US. There is no safety net for people to not go to work. No job, no healthcare at all.

Panic only makes it worse. The sad reality is the best option we have at the moment is for people to pretend like nothing is wrong. Everyone gets to keep their job, income and health insurance for as long as possible. If you get sick, stay home. If you get really sick weigh the cost of going to the doctor against death.

In much of the US many people will opt to just die at home instead of seek medical care. As a result, the system actually won’t get overloaded. If people panic and start showing up at the ER it will though.

[otterley]

> You can’t close schools in the US.

I don't know what you mean by this - we've had "snow days" for a very long time.

[scohesc]

I'm sure they mean long term...

[dariusj18]

People who are high risk or are adjacent to high risk individuals (maybe everyone?) cannot take those chances. The panic from lack of information can be just as bad as the panic from being informed.