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Comment by cpwright | Hacker News Reader

"Would that apply in this situation where most medical experts would agree that the quarantine is necessary for saving lives? Or is the thinking that this is too far removed — like telling people they can’t protest seat-belts."

Medical experts and scientists can provide data that helps inform people. Just because medical experts say something will "save lives" does not mean we should blindly follow that as policy. There is unfortunately a dearth of data that would allow us to make well-informed policy choices.

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> Medical experts and scientists can provide data that helps inform people.

I add: when the data is clear cut. At worst, when data is noisy or little is known, you get (at least what I've seen in Italy) declarations from experts in the news that can be easily contradictory. Worse when some of the experts, because they're human, are a little more attached to their ideas.

In a way, this pandemic brought the scientific debate to light in public, in the sense that ideas are often challenged and adjusted based on discussion, and even harsh contrast. But this is a problem when communicating outside, because lay people usually regard experts as holders of truth, or at least part of it.

See the current debate on serological tests' sensitivity and specificity and the consequences on the results. I can likely understand the issues and the criticisms, but I can't expect lay people (not because any fault of them, of course) to understand them.

> Medical experts and scientists can provide data that helps inform people.

There are tons of data available. Even at a layman level, it should be pretty obvious that doing no or late lockdown ends up in situations where there are large numbers of deaths.

>it should be pretty obvious that doing no or late lockdown ends up in situations where there are large numbers of deaths.

Even this is debatable.

I have no skin in this game and no strong opinion, but let's be honest -- lots of people were expecting total disaster in Sweden since they decided not to implement lockdown, but so far their daily cases chart looks not that different from other nordic countries.

> I have no skin in this game and no strong opinion, but let's be honest -- lots of people were expecting total disaster in Sweden since they decided not to implement lockdown, but so far their daily cases chart looks not that different from other nordic countries.

That's because many people in Sweden live alone.

"That's because many people in Sweden live alone." - got a link to a credible study confirming this? It sounds rather like a fantasy to me.

https://www.statista.com/statistics/526013/sweden-number-of-...

What does that link have anything to do with the "loneliness" being the cause of Sweden's Covid policy relative success?

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