Wait until we make attempts to control the spread in the US. Things are about to get really interesting. Based on timelines from other countries, we're probably 1-6, closer to 1-3 weeks away from full outbreak and severe containment measures.
Be it cancer or COVID-19, the US default attitude to healthcare in general is very "Whatever happens to a person, happens. Can't control it." One could even, uncharitably, point to the origins of the country and suggest that there's a critical mass of people who look at health crises, shrug, and go "God's will."
> People will just get sick and die
People may get COVID-19, but in general I would anticipate the rate of severe outcomes to be lower than we've seen given both the physical distance between people in the US versus more dense areas and the higher distribution of healthcare - we just have a lot more hospitals per person than China does.
> Hospitals will experience shortages and we'll try to back-stop those shortages via capitalistic solutions
That may happen, but Hospitals are also free to invest heavily in having their own supplies and we've already seen companies start shipping supplies in bulk. We are better positioned to address shortages than most other nations.
> I wouldn't rule out the possibility of even stories of straight-up bribery for hospital access to come up some years after this is all over.
That is far fetched and not tied to reality.
> we won't try to contain it beyond perfunctory measures
It would be surprising to see a formal quarantine. It is more likely some areas will have recommended quarantines and in general social distancing will be heavily encouraged.
What are the costs of this testing?
There’s been no evidence so far that our social distancing measures have done anything to slow this down, and at the rate it’s growing we will absolutely run out of hospital capacity at some point (and that’s just regular beds, not to mention oxygen, masks and PPE for the hospital staff, or ICU beds for the critically ill).
A formal quarantine is just a matter of time.
And it's not just beds. It's personnel too. CDC is preparing for 96MM cases. 5% hospitalization is already 4.8MM beds spread out over a couple months.
Not to mention if you don't quarantine the cases in the hospital already sick people are going to get the virus and likely die. This is a logistical nightmare.
I don't think this is true, do you have evidence to back this up?
Hospital beds per 1000 people is probably a better comparison though: China 4.05, US 2.77 [0]
[0]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_OECD_countries_by_hosp...
The US's concept of individual liberty is unusual and, in some cases, self-destructive.
Well, aside from the government shouldering the costs of the tests approved by the FDA.[0] But, since getting tested would involve going to the doctor (not free), and potentially being forbidden from working for two weeks, there are a lot of people in the margins who will simply not voluntarily get tested, even if they have the symptoms. [1]
[0] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22493046 [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22519125
Americans will have less sympathy for the victims of the virus but not because of gods will blaming but because they’ll blame that person for touching their face or not taking precautions. We blame people for failing not god.
The flip-side of the "your success is due to your own efforts" coin is a kind of collective defeatism: if you get sick, it's not because you drew a short statistical straw, it's because you made bad choices. And coupled with that predestination meme, the thought extends to "And you deserve what you're getting because God wills you make bad choices."
It's a meme cocktail that can make it hard to get people moving on collective action that could benefit the average person.
Cus without that, I just won't get an ICU bed and may actually die
I don't think it's apocalypse levels where money stops mattering and it's only about material goods. I'm gonna be enjoying my Yacht in two years when a vaccine is finally out because the USD will remain strong relative to competitor currencies.
Thoughts and prayers?
What? Even with the modern capitalist system the vast majority of people will be better off than they would have been 40 years ago. Our poor in the US live better lives than billions of people across the globe. Your opinion lacks perspective.