We're not going to play football this fall **!!!!**

[Political Hack]

I'm not sure how much of that is a foregone conclusion (we will see cases come back, we will see more deaths, there will be people of all ages that find out they have underlying conditions they're unaware of, but we won't necessarily see PPE shortages or the healthcare system overrun), but to the extent it's a foregone conclusion, there's no sense in delaying it. It's going to be bad and tragic but manageable and less bad and tragic than just sticking our heads in the sand and hoping we find a treatment or vaccine before everything falls apart.

1) Hospitals and states are relying on FEMA and HHS/CDC to source PPE already. Their regular suppliers are out. If another wave hits anytime soon, we will again experience PPE shortages.

2) Going back to Todd's point about the advancement of medicine in the last 100 years: the longer we can avoid a 2nd wave the less tragic it will be. We will know how to treat it better, we will have more resources available to treat it, we will have time to study vaccines (likely spring before it's even feasible), we will learn more about the vulnerable populations, we will learn more the spread and infectious rate, we will have testing and tracing widespread and available to identify clusters and growth more rapidly, etc... The longer we implement social distancing orders the better off we will be from a health standpoint. You can't argue otherwise logically.

3) We can't let people starve to death and go bankrupt because 1% of the population may die. I realize that and agree. However it has to be phased. This battle between the "two sides" to "open everything" or "shut down everything" may be the dumbest thing I've ever seen or heard of in the history of this country. This is not a black or white issue. It's a huge gray area that has to be managed day to day. We need better data to help manage social distancing while also trying to balance the nation's economic health. Testing and tracing would give local government officials the confidence they need to press the gas and brakes accordingly. Once that happens, it makes sense to take calculated risks. Right now, (and I've used this before), we walked into the middle of a pitchblack bathroom started peeing and hope we hit the toilet. It's absurd how poorly this has been managed.