Originally posted April 13th, 2020 on Facebook

Friends,
This will be a longer post, so buckle up!

While I certainly have political opinions, I’ve been trying to minimize them for the purposes of these posts, in order that more of you will be willing to read! Today, some of you may be able to figure out where I stand on some things, although I’ll still try to keep the controversy to a minimum. This last weekend, there were protests in many cities of the US asking for the economy to be opened up. Of course, most of these requests took the form of slogans shouted or written on signs, rather than specific policy proposals. I’m very sympathetic to the need of many to get back to work so they can provide for their families, pay the rent, etc. I also share the frustration that much of the information provided by the media and government agencies is untrustworthy or incomplete. This is why I write these posts!

I want to reiterate the differences between the typical flu and the SARS-2 virus:

The R0 value (a measure of infectiousness, see my April 13th post) for the flu is 1.28. For SARS-2, it’s 5.7, 4.5 times higher!

The incubation time for the flu is 2-4 days, for SARS-2, it’s 2-14 days, and asymptomatic people are often contagious!

Yes, the fatality rate for both is impossible to know. And it’s probably over-estimated for both, since we don’t know the number of infected people with mild to moderate symptoms for either disease. But estimates are that the fatality rate for the typical flu is 0.14%. The current rate for COVID-19 in the US is 5.36% (deaths/confirmed cases), 38 times higher.

In short, SARS-2 is not the typical flu.

We have to concede that in an event like this one, there are many valid interests that are in some ways are opposed to each other. People at risk want to stay safe. Doctors and nurses want to treat their patients, but also face constant exposure of themselves and their families to the virus. Those in government do not want to expose their constituents to unnecessary risk. On the other hand, many have lost their jobs and need to get back to work. Mental health workers worry that their patients cannot withstand prolonged isolation and stress. Employers wonder if they have to lay off more people or close their businesses. All of these are real concerns, and they can’t be dismissed.

It will be difficult moving forward to strike a balance between these competing interests, and no solution will be perfect. We need to understand that most are doing their very best to manage a very difficult situation. There is lots of blame to go around, but remember that the nature of the virus has never been completely clear. For myself, I gave a talk at my church on March 13th (Posted here on March 18th). During the previous week, I was trying to determine if the virus was spread by droplet transmission (coughing and sneezing), or by aerosol transmission (shouting, laughing, singing, even talking). At the time, most outlets including the CDC said it was only spread by droplet transmission, but a few scientists were warning that it may be aerosol. Should I really be giving a talk on virus safety to room full of people? It appeared at the time that it would be OK, so I moved forward. Luckily for me, the decision was made to cancel gatherings, and my talk was recorded for the web. As it turned out, the SARS-2 virus is much more infectious that originally thought (see my post from April 13th), so add me to the list of people who were wrong! Thank God I didn’t have a crowd in the room during my talk!

Again, I am not an epidemiologist, I am a molecular biologist specializing in infectious disease. But in my informed opinion, reopening the economy without great care is a mistake. A similar experiment has already been done. On March 11th, California Governor Gavin Newsom banned large gatherings including sporting events, church services, and university classes. On the same day, New York Mayor Bill De Blasio was encouraging people to eat out and enjoy themselves. As of this writing (April 19th), California has 31,000 confirmed cases, and New York City alone has 138,000, more than all but 6 countries (yes, I’m including China, the Chinese Communist Party is almost certainly heavily under-reporting their case load)¹. For a time, New York hospitals were overwhelmed, and bodies were being temporarily buried on Hart Island. This is the possible consequence of going back to normal too quickly! If you choose to gather in large groups during this time (for example at protests in downtown San Diego), I would strongly encourage you to take extra care to isolate yourself from those at risk or those who may come in contact with them.

I am less sympathetic to those who want to get back to normal just so they can go to Disneyland or to their favorite restaurant. As we reopen the economy, we have to do so carefully. Theaters, restaurants, and amusement parks are among the last things that should be reopened.

We will need have adequate testing and hospital capacity to handle the additional case load. Each area will be different in this regard, and New York City should not be treated the same as Ennis, Montana. We will also need to have grace for one another, as well-intentioned mistakes will be made along the way. Ideally, we should also have contact tracing, contacting those potentially exposed to an infected person. This practice, along with aggressive testing, was used very effectively in Taiwan, So. Korea, and Singapore, to minimize caseload. Unfortunately, we are not yet able to do contact tracing in the US.

While I am very sympathetic to individual rights, and am in general for small government, we may need to voluntarily lay down certain rights for a time in order to protect each other. Pray for our leaders, regardless of party, and take care of each other!

I’ll have another post soon on the topic of antibody testing.

Don’t fear, but be smart!
Erik

¹ Editor’s note: As of the date of posting, the statistics here were correct. As of July 7, 2020, however, the situation has reversed. New York State as 398k confirmed cases, California has 284k confirmed cases. New York state daily cases are trending downward, while California daily cases have been trending upward.