It's impossible to read through all the posts, forgive me. Jumping on here to see what people think about a couple things (may have already been mentioned, sorry).
I've been thinking about masks. Is the reason for the advice not to wear masks solely because of the shortage? I'm wondering, for the next pandemic, should everyone stock masks like smoke/CO detectors and then use them? What I'm getting at is we've been told masks are not effective at stopping the spread of Cov2, but that can't be correct, can it? If you go to a medical office, whether PCP or emergent, and you show symptoms of say the flu pre-Cov-2, you are told to wear a mask because you might be contagious. Fair enough; why, then, shouldn't everyone wear a mask at this point, beyond the shortage? I'm just trying to get an intellectual handle on what exactly is contraindicated about masks. You do have to use and treat them properly, but assuming that is the case, then shouldn't we assume everyone is asymptomatic and be wearing masks? I've been bothered by this messaging on the part of the CDC.
If we are starting now to get shelter-in-place orders in some areas (or have the strong potential of it), what are we to do about supermarket cashiers? They need masks, certainly. But beyond that, in my area they are not limiting people in at any given time. Shouldn't there be an order of only so many people in, only so many items purchased, pay by cashless payment, and maybe even round up to the nearest dollar to reduce friction (just collect it as a local tax, or donation to the poor)? It seems the point-of-sale is not being addressed.
Finally, for the next pandemic: once a few confirmed cases of a serious RNA/SARS-type genetic material is in the country, should we ramp up our response to this point more quickly to stop the spread?
Very scary out there, hope everyone is well (and can someone summarize any info in the thread about people who have it? is it truly as bad as I read, even with milder cases?)...
Best of luck to all...