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"limited downsides" https://news.yahoo.com/remote-learning-led-to-catastrophic-learning-loss-new-study-finds-143532040.html https://news.yahoo.com/remote-learn

"limited downsides" https://news.yahoo.com/remote-learning-led-to-catastrophic-learning-loss-new-study-finds-143532040.html https://news.yahoo.com/remote-learning-led-to-catastrophic-l... https://www.wfp.org/stories/hunger-pandemic-food-security-report-confirms-wfps-worst-fears https://www.wfp.org/stories/hunger-pandemic-food-security-re... https://gazette.com/business/nearly-40-of-u-s-small-businesses-shuttered-in-pandemic/article_b0e0fcfc-ced6-11eb-a8b3-f37eb6b09e61.html https://gazette.com/business/nearly-40-of-u-s-small-business... https://www.kff.org/coronavirus-covid-19/issue-brief/the-implications-of-covid-19-for-mental-health-and-substance-use/ https://www.kff.org/coronavirus-covid-19/issue-brief/the-imp...

threeseed 5y ago
That is what happens when you don't act early. You end up with aggressive, last-resort measures like extended lockdowns. Hence my point that there is minimal downside to being overly cautious when you first hear about new variants.
- AndrewBissell 5y ago
  I call this the "No True Lockdown" argument. If they fail to indefinitely prevent significant outbreaks (and in nearly every case they have), well, it just means they weren't implemented soon enough. Even if they drag on for weeks and months with zero cases, only to have an outbreak at the slightest loosening of restrictions. I guess the idea is that if the entire world did this at once the virus would disappear? Completely unworkable, and almost surely false, given the existence of animal reservoirs. Your entire framing of these policy choices as inevitable and the only option is baseless. Australia and New Zealand used to be held up as the shining lights of "just act fast enough and you can avoid the need for any sustained restrictions" and now we are seeing just how well kicking the can in that way actually works, and the lengths that must be gone to keep kicking it.
  - somewhereoutth 5y ago
    Working in China.
    - hihihihi1234 5y ago
      [flagged]
      - dang 5y ago
        Please don't fulminate or post flamewar comments or call names on HN. All that is against the site guidelines, and we ban accounts that do it. You've unfortunately been doing these things repeatedly. If you'd please stop that, we'd appreciate it. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
  - NickNameNick 5y ago
    I don't know, I'm still pretty happy to be living in new Zealand, with our death rate 1/300th of the US or UK.
    - AndrewBissell 5y ago
      That's cool, I had COVID and like 99.95% of people my age and BMI had a completely mild case, and I don't have a head of state hysterically laughing as she explains to me how I can get my basic freedoms back by taking shots manufactured by private for-profit concerns. Will be very interesting to see where the death rate comparison goes when NZ opens up. If it ever does.
      - dang 5y ago
        I really don't want to ban you, but you've not only ignored our request to stop using HN as a single-purpose account for ideological battle, you've increasingly crossed into flamewar since then. That's exactly the opposite of ok, so I don't see what choice we have; I've banned the account. This has been a problem for a long time, btw: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29213031 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29213031 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25935200 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25935200 (Jan 2021) https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25743131 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25743131 (Jan 2021) https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19382257 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19382257 (March 2019) https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19373439 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19373439 (March 2019) If you don't want to be banned, you're welcome to email hn@ycombinator.com and give us reason to believe that you'll follow the rules in the future. They're here: https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html.
        aakresearch 5y ago
        Is there a way to vouch for the account not to be banned? This account is one of a few I followed regularly, precisely to maintain some ability for "intellectual curiosity" among the innuendo of the opposite. I don't think there is a reason to believe this person has an agenda. It is just an emotional breakthrough during unprecedented times. Bad things happen when people are banned for "transgressions" like this one.

threeseed 5y ago

That is what happens when you don't act early. You end up with aggressive, last-resort measures like extended lockdowns. Hence my point that there is minimal downside to being overly cautious when you first hear about new variants.

AndrewBissell 5y ago
I call this the "No True Lockdown" argument. If they fail to indefinitely prevent significant outbreaks (and in nearly every case they have), well, it just means they weren't implemented soon enough. Even if they drag on for weeks and months with zero cases, only to have an outbreak at the slightest loosening of restrictions. I guess the idea is that if the entire world did this at once the virus would disappear? Completely unworkable, and almost surely false, given the existence of animal reservoirs. Your entire framing of these policy choices as inevitable and the only option is baseless. Australia and New Zealand used to be held up as the shining lights of "just act fast enough and you can avoid the need for any sustained restrictions" and now we are seeing just how well kicking the can in that way actually works, and the lengths that must be gone to keep kicking it.
- somewhereoutth 5y ago
  Working in China.
  - hihihihi1234 5y ago
    [flagged]
    - dang 5y ago
      Please don't fulminate or post flamewar comments or call names on HN. All that is against the site guidelines, and we ban accounts that do it. You've unfortunately been doing these things repeatedly. If you'd please stop that, we'd appreciate it. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
- NickNameNick 5y ago
  I don't know, I'm still pretty happy to be living in new Zealand, with our death rate 1/300th of the US or UK.
  - AndrewBissell 5y ago
    That's cool, I had COVID and like 99.95% of people my age and BMI had a completely mild case, and I don't have a head of state hysterically laughing as she explains to me how I can get my basic freedoms back by taking shots manufactured by private for-profit concerns. Will be very interesting to see where the death rate comparison goes when NZ opens up. If it ever does.
    - dang 5y ago
      I really don't want to ban you, but you've not only ignored our request to stop using HN as a single-purpose account for ideological battle, you've increasingly crossed into flamewar since then. That's exactly the opposite of ok, so I don't see what choice we have; I've banned the account. This has been a problem for a long time, btw: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29213031 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29213031 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25935200 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25935200 (Jan 2021) https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25743131 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25743131 (Jan 2021) https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19382257 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19382257 (March 2019) https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19373439 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19373439 (March 2019) If you don't want to be banned, you're welcome to email hn@ycombinator.com and give us reason to believe that you'll follow the rules in the future. They're here: https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html.
      - aakresearch 5y ago
        Is there a way to vouch for the account not to be banned? This account is one of a few I followed regularly, precisely to maintain some ability for "intellectual curiosity" among the innuendo of the opposite. I don't think there is a reason to believe this person has an agenda. It is just an emotional breakthrough during unprecedented times. Bad things happen when people are banned for "transgressions" like this one.