Everyone that is panicking over a spike in infections seems to have a hard time remembering that there is a drastic disparity in the demographics most affected by this virus and more importantly that testing rates overall for the nation are still increasing. We keep casting a wider and wider net, we're going to catch more fish...but those fish were already out there!

Those that are most susceptible to health risks are also by and large not a part of the economy's labor pool. Keep the at-risk population protected. Keep the generally low-risk population at work. We cannot duplicate the lock-down of March through May should another wave of infections appear. It would be economically catastrophic on top of an already damaged economy AND it wouldn't be a rational decision based upon who the at-risk groups are.

The time frame and causes of the testing spool-up aside, we greatly increased our death rates by shoveling infected elderly into close quarters with other elderly. The evidence that this was a bad idea was present early on, but no one had the stones to stand up and demand a change of course when there was still time for a meaningful change to policy. Accounting for the financial incentives for coding things as COVID-19, for the CDCs admission that one does not need to be actually diagnosed with COVID-19 to be counted as COVID-19 death or COVID-19 infection, or top officials admissions that we are also counting anyone who dies WITH the virus, and not specifically FROM the virus, and it's no wonder that things look horrible.

There is still much to learn about this virus, but one thing that is clear at this point is who the most and least risk demographics are. That is actionable information that we can use NOW to greatly enhance our practices.