‘We can reopen society’: Top doctor says time has come to move past ‘extended social isolation’

• May 8, 2020
• by
• Ben Marquis

As many doctors and scientists continue to advocate lockdown measures meant to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, one leading medical expert says it is time to “reopen society.”
Dr. Steven Shapiro, chief medical officer at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, made his proclamation during a virtual roundtable discussion on Wednesday, Breitbart reported.

The event was hosted by U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey (R-PA) and focused on the current state of the nation’s coronavirus response plan.
“We radically transformed our hospital operations”
Shapiro noted that “we radically transformed our hospital operations to create a safe environment for patients and staff” by postponing or canceling many elective surgeries and instituting a “38-fold” increase in the use of telemedicine over the past few months.

“We indeed saw a steady stream of patients but never ‘surged,'” Shapiro added, explaining that even at its peak in mid-April, just 2% of the beds at his hospitals were being occupied by coronavirus patients.
Furthermore, he said the network had access to a combined 750 ventilators, of which only 48 were in use at one time, according to Breitbart.

Another common concern is the transmission of the virus within the elderly community, particularly among those living in nursing homes. In all of the 38 senior living facilities owned by UPMC, however, Shapiro said there were “zero positive cases” of the virus.
Echoing previous assessments that the coronavirus is “a disease of the elderly, sick, and poor,” he said the median age of related deaths was 84 and no child had died at a UPMC facility, Breitbart noted.

“Humans are social beings”
In response to his anecdotal evidence and the low rate of infection observed in many parts of the country, Shapiro argued that it is time to begin reopening — with the exception of hard-hit areas like the epicenter of New York City.
Late last month, former chief of neuroradiology at Stanford University Scott Atlas made a similar argument, calling on leaders to “ignore the panic and rely on facts” by beginning the process of reopening the economy, as MarketWatch reported.
The wrong approach, Shaprio cautioned, is “extended social isolation” following months of restrictive guidelines in every state. “Humans are social beings, and we are already seeing the adverse mental health consequences of loneliness, and that is before the much greater effects of economic devastation take hold on the human condition,” he said.
Those who continue pressing for more economic shutdowns routinely cite the advice of medical professionals among their reasons. As Shapiro proves, however, not every expert is interpreting this crisis in the same way.

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We need to get this to the state governors.

What's the best way to do

I am afraid that many governors that locked down their states are in the deep pockets of the pharmaceutical
companies that doe out large sums of monies to election campaigns.
The American voter has to wise up and vote out these owned and paid for politicians or it is going to be
curtains in what freedom we still possess.