[madhadron]

The problem with this virus is that it doesn't adequately select people with your attitude out of the population. You probably won't die. You'll just spread it and cause lots of other people die. Which is why it's so hard for public health officials to get traction. If people individually were afraid of dying then it would be easy. But it requires an act of care for someone beyond yourself to respond properly to this, and a lot of people just don't have the maturity to do that.

Now, it's possible that you do have the maturity but you're misinformed. Herd immunity the way you are suggesting does not get us through in two to three weeks. It's a full year of new waves sweeping through the population and millions dead in the USA, hundreds of millions around the world. And that assumes it doesn't mutate enough to bypass the immunity of those who have had it. Vaccination is the only way out, just like it with flu. We have been spared a flu pandemic by a combination of luck and massive monitoring and vaccination.

> stands a good chance of seriously damaging or destroying our civilization.

Where do people get this idea? The fastest path out with the least damage is full isolation and quarantine. There's a great line from epidemiologists: "If we could wave a magic wand and freeze everyone on Earth six feet apart for two weeks, this would be over." China is resuming operations. It's places that aren't responding well, like Iran or the USA, that are going to drive the world's suffering in this.

And let us be clear, the response in the USA has been utterly appalling. Speaking as someone who did his graduate work in infectious disease, the only question about Donald Trump's legacy is whether he will be remembered as the worst president the USA has ever had, or the second worse. It depends on whether you feel that intentional genocide (Andrew Jackson) or willful incompetence is worse.