By: Jack Buchanan
This is the third in our series of weekly articles about the Covid-19 pandemic. It is a brief update of important developments, since last week, supported by uncontroverted facts upon which we can rely. To review previous articles, click here.
The underlying principal upon which all of these articles are written is simply this; “The Truth Matters”. All sound decisions that affect the wellbeing of ourselves and our families must be based upon accurate facts, without embellishment, distortion, or wishful thinking.
The important facts upon which we must rely and base our sound decisions are uncontroverted and supported by evidence that meets the “beyond a reasonable doubt” threshold.
Here are the facts as we know them this week. The coronavirus remains as potent and contagious as ever with no signs of diminishment that can be yet detected. Reports that the number of new cases is diminishing is the result of successful social distancing government mandates and the required use of protective clothing such as masks and gloves. It also appears that the general public is becoming more aware of these facts and behaving much more responsibly in protecting themselves through social distancing, protective clothing, and better hygiene habits. Consequently, the spread of the virus is being slowed because it is given less opportunity to move from one person to another.
The rush to relax restrictions to get the economy back on track again is fraught with danger. The biggest obstacle is the lack of adequate and accurate testing of the general population to identify those carrying Covid-19 from those that are not. Since the virus moves stealthily and can be carried by a person who appears perfectly healthy, only a test such as this will work. And, until a test like this exists, we simply cannot return to normal.
The facts right now are murky as to how far along the medical and pharmaceutical industries are in developing and mass producing such a test. It would seem that this should be the top priority of all of our governments, across the globe, fully cooperating with each other, in order to bring all of our lives back to normal, and all of the economies back in business again.