Quarantine

The latest Covid-19 prediction is we’ll have it for two years. That, I believe, is based on the 1918 flu pandemic that lasted two years. That pandemic died out when global herd immunity was achieved.

I don’t think people in general, and people in America in particular, will be willing to self-isolate from Covid-19 for two years. People will be jumping out of windows.

Let’s get a little perspective on the danger we face from Covid-19. As I write this, about 65,000 Americans have died from Covid-19. That’s a lot of deaths, but consider the following facts.

According to the National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, “An estimated 88,000 people (approximately 62,000 men and 26,000 women) die from alcohol-related causes annually … in the United States.” But drinking alcohol is legal and most people are not concerned.

According to the Centers for Disease Control, “Cigarette smoking is responsible for more than 480,000 deaths per year in the United States, including more than 41,000 deaths resulting from secondhand smoke exposure.” But smoking is legal and most people are not concerned.

According to the Center for Science in the Public Interest, “Unhealthy diet contributes to approximately 678,000 deaths each year in the U.S., due to nutrition- and obesity-related diseases, such as heart disease, cancer, and type 2 diabetes.” But there are fast food restaurants everywhere and most people are not concerned.

Thus far in Virginia, we’ve had 552 deaths from Covid-19, and yet we’re under orders from the governor to stay at home until 11:59 pm on June 10, 2020. My small city has seen two deaths (elderly patients in a nursing home) and it’s being called a “Covid-19 hotspot.” What?!

I’ve been quarantined at home for most of March and all of April. Now I have to do the same for another six weeks. And then what? Who can say the quarantine won’t be extended?

Maybe we the people should vote on what we will do next. Let’s protect the elderly and those with compromised immune systems, but the rest of us should be able to choose our poison. Do we sit at home and video chat, or do we go out into the world? We should each have the chance to choose our path. It’s called responsibility. How long we live shouldn’t be our primary objective—the thing that matters above all else. As Abraham Lincoln said,

And in the end it's not the years in your life that count; it's the life in your years.