Listen to the real experts

There are many conflicting opinions on how to defeat the coronavirus. Tactics vary by country, by state, even county and city. I tend to put my trust in science, rather than the politicians. And one of the leading scientists in the arena of pandemics is a man named Dr. Larry Brilliant. If that name sounds familiar, it is probably because he is largely credited with the eradication of another pandemic, smallpox. He has also helped fight flu, polio and blindness. He was a scientific advisor on the movie “Contagion” which largely predicted what this pandemic would look like. His advice, in addition to wearing masks, avoiding large groups and social distancing, is to test, test, test. And when we find people who are infected, find out who they were in contact with and test them. And when someone is found to be infected, they should be quarantined, and paid to stay there. Pay them $50 a day to quarantine for two weeks, and pay for their lodging. They did something similar in Mower County, Minnesota, the site of one of the state’s biggest outbreaks. The county provided hotel stays for the sick and elderly who couldn’t isolate at home and delivered meals to them from the local jail. Data shows the efforts are working and the spread is slowing. When it comes to dealing with this pandemic, we need to get creative, and listen to the real experts.