This post does not deny the effectiveness of social distancing or quarantine for COVID-19. I am not encouraging people to suspend these practices before official determinations have been made public. This post is to help physicians, thought leaders and public officials understand and weigh the risks and benefits of extended lockdowns versus more measured and earlier return to work measures.

We have already flattened the curve

Social distancing works. We have gone from predictions of millions of deaths, to hundreds of thousands and now we are predicting about 60 thousand deaths. This is with the likely over reporting of death. Dr. Birx admitted the attribution of death to COVID-19 has been liberal. If the death count were limited to deaths directly caused by COVID-19, it would likely be even lower than this.

The most effective time for social distancing is early in a pandemic. Lockdowns also slow the development of herd immunity, which helps a society move past the virus.

We can still practice good hand…

So far, the only effective weapon to slow the spread of Covid-19 in the US has been lockdown. There is another way. We can build on the success of South Korea and expand it. Early mass testing allowed South Korea to isolate and quarantine those with the virus and those exposed as well. Now, that the virus is so wide spread here in the US, we have to go even farther.

We need to commit to test every American before April 30, 2020!

With so many asymptomatic carriers this is the only way to stop the virus. We now have…