Don - the reason it's not worse elsewhere is precisely BECAUSE we took the measures we did. They're painful but successful prevention doesn't mean the threat wasn't real. And if we reopen too early without appropriate precautions - everybody wearing masks, 6 foot distancing in the workplace and at restaurants etc., adequate testing and contact tracing - we will enter another peak before you know it.
BTW - don't just rely on deaths - morbidity is pretty awful too - and don't assume this is over - we will be dealing with it for the next two years at least.
It's easy to say "oh, they shouldn't have postponed elective surgeries " but really - would YOU have wanted to go into the hospital for say a non-urgent hernia repair knowing it was the most dangerous place in your town for catching Covid? I sure wouldn't.
Yes, healthcare business has been hurt just like everyone else. But there would be a lot more economic pain if we hadn't done this. And there would have been a lot fewer deaths and less economic pain if w had done what South Korea did.
When this peak subsides about 1 in every 500 people in New York City will have died. ! in 500. That your area has been spared that so far is a testament to the effects of the measures that have been taken.
