If I hear one more public service announcement telling me, “To help us recover from this pandemic, please social distance, wear a mask and wash your hands often,” I will throw up.

Let’s back up and review a pandemic. First, there are only two ways out: 1) If a disease is extremely lethal, we quarantine everyone infected until they die or recover; or 2) we create herd immunity by either developing a vaccine and inoculating enough people, or a sufficient number contract the disease and recover, and the infection rate eventually plummets. That’s it.

Quarantine is out because the lethality doesn’t warrant it. 

Next, waiting for a safe vaccine is unwise and the ensuing damage is far too great.

This leaves one option — achieving herd immunity.  This needs to be the goal. Anything else is psychological limbo, prolonging suffering.  So, let’s get on with it.

This means that we actually have to contract the illness. Many of us. Why is this fact so unobvious?

Rest assured, we will achieve herd immunity whether we like it or not. The only question is, how long will it take?

What we’re doing now is greatly delaying the inevitable and causing unnecessary suffering as we dawdle.

Unfortunately, the vulnerable will die. But they’re dying now. Look at the spike in suicides, the death toll due to undiagnosed illnesses, and the millions of life years lost to depression caused by destroyed careers.

Instead of embracing these realities, we seem stuck in the paranoid mindset that the only alternative to an economic shutdown and loss of liberties, is untold number of preventable deaths. That’s ridiculous.

When I see the Gov. Polis chastise a fraternity for a “social gathering,” I cringe.  Why can’t we realize that 20-somethings contracting the disease is about the best way through this? So, lighten up, Governor.

When it comes to masks, I’m opposed to their general use for several reasons. Namely, because they work. That’s right; they’re effective at slowing the spread of the virus.  And, if we’re to emerge from this crisis, we actually need to allow it to spread. 

Charlie Danaher

Boulder

Send us your feedback: Click here.