How do we fight a global pandemic?

An old infantryman’s point of view: Maybe it’s time to stop hunkering down and start fighting for our lives

I suppose as you read this you must think, “This guy is full of himself. Does he think he’s smarter than the President and Congress, or all the medical experts in the world?”

Well, no. I’m not smarter than anybody, certainly not all the medical experts in the world, at least not as regards things medical. However, I bet I could stump more than a few of them when it comes to warcraft, government, business, or a few other topics. As for Congress, I would pit my knowledge against their collective smarts any day. Indeed, they operate in a political fog that obscures common sense. Finally, as regards the President, I suspect that we might be on a par in many matters, however, I have an advantage. I’m not laboring under the critical scrutiny that he is.

So, let’s get on with it. What is my proposal to wage war against a global pandemic?

Simply, it is to wage war. We are under attack and we need to fight back. Hunkering down in our foxholes (social distancing) isn’t going to work. It isn’t working. Even if we were able to flatten the curve, sufficiently spread out the infection rate so that it’s manageable, we would kill the “patient” – America. Just as we cannot hold our breath for more than a minute or two, a stalled economy cannot be endured very long.

In war there will be casualties. We must accept that. The medical community can’t. Their whole raison d’être is to prevent death, all death. Economics has no place in their diagnosis and treatment. However, our patient cannot be saved by medical treatment alone and if it dies, so do we all.

Thus, we must prepare to accept casualties. A more realistic goal is to limit them.

In war, we take necessary risks. I well remember a lesson early in my infantry training when we were being instructed in the design, construction, and use of holes in the ground. Foxholes and rifle trenches provide cover and concealment to infantrymen. However, if they only cower in their holes, the enemy ultimately will appear and stick them with a bayonet. At some point, they have to take a risk, stand up and fight back. That is what we must now do.

Our goal should be to limit casualties rather than prevent all casualties. To accomplish that goal, we must gather intelligence before we join the battle.

Data (at least that to which we are privy) tells us one key fact: Covid-19 appears only minimally fatal to the young and healthy. Allowing them to return to their normal lives would provide two key benefits:

1. The economy could return to near normal

2. As they contract and recover from the disease, they likely would develop immunities that might help in combating future occurrences of Coronaviruses.

As an additional benefit, the cost and availability of resources to treat serious cases of the disease would be reserved to the smaller part of the population at risk (the aged and those with pre-existing conditions). 

Simply put, we cannot afford to protect everybody all the time and, even if we could, the patient would die.