Editor:
Since Hippocrates wrote a treatise titled “Of the Epidemics,” doctors have striven to “do no harm” while trying to do good. Methinks the time has come to stack the good against the bad to see how the teeter totters.
On one end of the plank we have unknown lives saved through self-isolation. On the other end we have instant poverty, debt, bankruptcies, and the promise of increased mortality rates as jobs are lost. We have stress, anxiety, depression, addiction, loneliness, suicides, domestic violence and child abuse. We’re seeing more deaths from cancer and coronary ailments gone untreated. Epidemiologists warn that the more we suppress the virus, the worse off we are in the long run.
Our health authorities have done a great job herding us into hygienic compliance, but I’m almost ready to trade “herd mentality” for some “herd immunity.” What about you?
PJ Reece, Gibsons
