[stronglikedan]

Here's the thing - you really don't know until you're asked to give them up, and it's usually implied that you will only be giving them up for the duration of the crisis, but in reality you hardly ever get them back. This is how they get chipped away over time, so an abundance of caution must be used when deciding what you're will to give up, even during a crisis.

[kingkawn]

17,000 dead Americans in this circumstance is not a pittance of caution let alone an abundance

[stronglikedan]

It's the abundance of caution that's kept it so low.