Originally Posted by
Excargodog
The issue of mass transit use in the NYC Metropolitan area is a huge one. Before COVID, 40% of the total passenger miles travelled were on mass transit, mostly subway. The only other city in the US where mass transit acconts for as much as 10% of passenger miles is Chicago, and it is the barely 10%.
But another huge factor is simply population density. That’s been the main determinant of infection rate and severity of infection since Biblical times.
Mass transit may be a factor in spread, but I think we would make bigger strides in reducing deaths if we could just figure out how to stop elderly people from getting infected and dying. Are elderly persons (esp those in care facilities) really using mass transit?
I'll completely admit my bias here as an airline employee, but I'm reluctant to blame mass transit as causing deaths. We don't seem to be seeing a lot of risk/death among airline employees or travelers, so even if it is spread that way it doesn't seen that consequential in terms of death.
At this point, my thoughts are that there's no practical way to stop the spread of the disease. However, we're extremely fortunate that it mostly impacts a specific segment of the population. We need to figure out how to protect them. Today, that means mostly protecting them from exposure, and it's clear that we're failing at that. There are some indications that we're getting better at treatment for those who become seriously ill. The vaccines are promising, and they may ultimately only be necessary for those who are at significant risk of severe illness and death from the disease.