Lockdown: Other health issues are being neglected

Shutting things down two months ago was the right thing to do. Now, the right thing is to open up the gates.

European nations have been easing restrictions since the end of April, opening restaurants and museums as well as businesses. As one Swiss official said, “We can learn to live with the virus.”

Learning to live with COVID-19 requires understanding what it does and how it spreads. It does not spread evenly through a state like icing on a cake. Instead, it tends to cluster in crowded venues and densely populated areas, especially those with aging populations.

The lockdowns are already causing more people to become vulnerable to COVID. Too many Americans are postponing checkups, vaccines and “elective” surgeries necessary to keep them mobile.

Excess screen time and snacking are causing students to put on weight. Instead of making healthy people sick, leaders should focus on mitigating the primary risk factors for death – mainly, the American epidemics of heart disease and diabetes.

This story was originally published May 27, 2020 at 10:23 AM with the headline "Lockdown: Other health issues are being neglected."