2,813,503 Americans die each year.
...647,457 have or will die to heart disease (heart attacks, etc.)
...599,108 have or will die to cancer
...169,936 have or will die to accidents (car accidents are a big part of this one)
...160,201 have or will die to chronic respiratory diseases
...146,383 have or will die due to a stroke
...121,404 have or will die due to Alzheimer's
......83,564 have or will die to diabetes
......55,672 have or will die to the flu and pneumonia
......47,173 have or will die to suicide
......18,777 of us thus far this year died due to covid-19
......61,500 is the expected death toll by August, according to current modeling
......80,000 or less is a center point of the (far less certain) models for all of 2020
If you don't stop living a normal life because of fear of, say, car accidents, or catching the flu, you shouldn't stop living a normal life because of covid-19 ... AFTER we get past the point where we know the medical system can keep up with demand.
The current isolation measures are entirely for that last bit: to flatten the curve of infection rate until the hospitals and medical crews are sure they can keep pace with demand.
Back at the early part of March, when we started pushing social distancing, the estimate was that we'd need about 6 to 8 weeks of it to flatten the curve enough.
We're about 4-5 weeks in now, and that initial estimate still looks about right. Maybe another 3-4 weeks, and the medical infrastructure will be able to cope.
We don't have to do this forever, just for a little while longer. Of course, we'll "return to normal" in stages, not all at once, but still we should start down that road in just a few more weeks.
Will there be a football season this year? Absolutely. And it may not even be delayed until October (that's just one of the contingency plans the college football community is considering; another is starting on time).
Relax, stay cool, things will play out alright. Just give it time, and for now continue to annoy everyone in your house by staying there.
I think you totally misunderstood what I meant. I'm not one of those who want to be seen at church so people will believe me to be a good man. I simply meant that a lot of Christians want to attend Easter service for their own reasons, whatever they may be. I really hope that they are there to honor the resurrection of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
That's as of today. Public opinion will change over time.
In a few weeks, say some time in May, we'll start getting back toward normal. Folks will go back to work, more and more as the month progresses. Restaurants will open for dine-in again, perhaps with lower capacity and spaced seating. States will go back to holding election primaries. You'll be able to easily find toilet paper because people will realize this isn't actually the zombie apocalypse (and the worst offenders' attics will be so full of TP they can't fit any more).
A month later, in mid-June, the news will no longer be focused on corona virus to the near-exclusion of everything else. Consequently, we'll hear about, think about, and have conversations about, other things. Covid-19 will begin to fade into the background, maybe not quite as much an after-thought as the flu, but heading in that direction. Everyone will be eager to get back to work, and restrictions will ease up even more.
By mid-July, people will start going on vacation, just like they used to. Seaside towns will no longer turn them away, business will be booming, the whole covid-19 scare will start to feel less like something we're living through and more like something that happened to us. It will move from "present" to "past".
Byearly August, [make that "late May"] the NCAA and its member institutions will agree that it's okay to hold fall camp.
In September, the football season will likely begin. Maybe as late as the start of October, but probably September. Maybe on original schedule, even.
At that point, the 72% who said back in April they wouldn't attend without a vaccine, they'll be significantly less worried. Covid-19 will be in a wider context by then.
Things are going to be okay. Let's just take it one step at a time, but we're turning the corner.
Go Vols!
p.s. Of those 72%, most don't attend football games in person anyway. The pollsters should have restricted the question to those who do normally attend games.
