With the emergence of the Covid-19 virus and the debilitating effects it is inducing, not just for individual health, but for the health of the economy, many have questioned the oftentimes heavy-handed response to the virus by governments around the world. Many do not believe that the measures taken to halt the spread of the virus, which currently has a death rate of about 4%, are necessary. Many do not believe that getting the virus is the worst thing in the world, and would rather go about their daily business than have to isolate themselves in their homes. However, what many fail to realize is that social distancing and quarantine reduce the number of preventable deaths. People can die from Covid-19, usually people that are older or have pre-existing health conditions. However, even then, deaths can be prevented. So why is the government’s response to the pandemic so heavy-handed? Well, the biggest problem that arises with this pandemic is an overload on our pre-existing healthcare infrastructure. Our hospitals simply are not able to deal with pandemics of this size, so when people that catch Coronavirus (and can be saved) go to hospitals, they displace patients that are in need of intensive care and lessen the amount of medical resources required to treat patients. This leads to an overall degradation of efficiency, and then a spike in the amount of deaths. For the sake of all, it is for the best that, instead of catching the virus and overloading the healthcare system even more, that people just stay home.
https://www.livescience.com/coronavirus-flatten-the-curve.html
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