Schools, Hospitals, Lockdown

Two good articles at The Federalist on two aspects of the shutdowns that are coming back to bite us in the *ss--hard. Just as we need to understand epidemiology and testing and the demography of this pandemic, we need to think about effective v. non-effective counter measures.

Much of this is the result of the PC takeover of our health institutions, which pursued liberal social goals rather than preparing the country for the inevitable epidemics that everyone knows will occur and reoccur. Was funding Wuhan's bat virus research--including molecular engineering of new viruses that could spread human-to-human and evade early detection by our immune systems--a good use of resources? Or even a good idea? How much was spent looking for an AIDS vaccine over decades--and where is that vaccine? Enlisting public health in the crusade against the Second Amendment--instead of making sure we have masks in case of, like, What's Happening Now?

Increasingly I worry that this is leading to a massive Leftist takeover and makeover of America. Naturally the educational establishment is in the forefront, although the makeover of elections is also very much on the agenda.

Highly Ranked, Wealthy Virginia School District Still Can’t Teach Kids Online After Six Weeks

Fairfax's online schooling difficulties, delays, and incompetence are not an anomaly as governors indefinitely suspend kids' futures due to coronavirus mass death theories that are failing to materialize.

Some excerpts and this anecdote. Locally, on the news, we hear NOTHING about learning going on. Repeat: NOTHING. One would expect human interest stories about kids learning online from their homes. No. NOTHING. All mention of the schools ceased once meal services were assured. That's right. I know this is nothing new, but it still comes as a bit of a shock to realize that government run schools are largely about feeding kids, not educating them (full disclosure--I've never attended a government school).

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Fairfax is one of the highest-ranked school districts in the state and nation, and the tenth-largest in the country. It spends approximately $16,000 per student per year, according to federal data. 

Fairfax’s online schooling difficulties, delays, and incompetence are not an anomaly as governors indefinitely suspend kids’ futures due to coronavirus mass death theories that are failing to materialize. A survey of 82 of the nation’s largest school districts, which educate nearly one-fifth of American school kids, found in late March that only 10 percent were providing defenestrated children “any kind of real curriculum and instruction program.” 

U.S. News and World Report wrote of the survey: 

None of the 82 districts they reviewed are attempting anything comprehensive, where, for example, students engage in live discussions with teachers and classmates. And just four districts – less than 5% of those reviewed – provide formal curriculum, online instruction and student progress monitoring. 

Instead, the majority provide links to general online resources, but no direction on how to use them. Some districts – 38% of those reviewed – provide a curriculum, but not instruction. 

... 

Instead of instruction, school districts focused more on social concerns such as continuing taxpayer-funded feeding programs that both congregate people back into schools and duplicate several other federal and state food welfare programs. Numerous school districts have decided to either give all students a pass/fail grade or, as in the case of San Francisco, award all children As for this school year regardless of what they have learned. 

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While governors have closed schools for the rest of the school year for at least half the nation’s children so far (the rest have closed them, at least currently, until May 1), ... a study in the prestigious medical journal Lancet found closing schools is one of the least effective ways to reduce coronavirus transmission. “Recent modelling studies of COVID-19 predict that school closures alone would prevent only 2-4% of deaths, much less than other social distancing interventions,” the authors wrote. 

...

Earlier this morning I read about a major hospital in Michigan--far from the Detroit hotspot--effectively being closed. And then I read this:

Instead Of ‘Flattening The Curve,’ We Flattened Hospitals, Doctors, And The U.S. Health Care System 

Across the country, hospitals shut down 'non-essential' procedures in preparation for a surge of coronavirus patients that never appeared.

Preserving the availability of medical resources during a pandemic seems like a good idea, but it's difficult to see how closing hospitals and putting medical personnel out of work advances that goal. There had to be a better way.

When the lockdowns began last month, we were told that if we didn’t stay home our hospitals would be overwhelmed with coronavirus patients, intensive care wards would be overrun, there wouldn’t be enough ventilators, and some people would probably die in their homes for lack of care. To maintain capacity in the health-care system, we all had to go on lockdown—not just the big cities, but everywhere. 

So we stayed home, businesses closed, and tens of millions of Americans lost their jobs. But with the exception of New York City, the overwhelming surge of coronavirus patients never really appeared—at least not in the predicted numbers, which have been off by hundreds of thousands. 

Yes, I know this begs numerous questions.

Meanwhile, hospitals and health care systems nationwide have had to furlough or lay off thousands of employees. Why? Because the vast major of most hospitals’ revenue comes from elective or “non-essential” procedures. We’re not talking about LASIK eye surgery but things like coronary angioplasty and stents, procedures that are necessary but maybe not emergencies—yet. If hospitals can’t perform these procedures because governors have banned them, then they can’t pay their bills, or their employees. 

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I’m sure the governors and health officials who ordered these lockdowns meant well. ... 

However, in hindsight it seems clear that treating the entire country as if it were New York City was a huge mistake ...

But that appears to be the goal of the Left--transforming the USA into NYC.