At the risk of getting flamed a bit and trying to keep politics out of it, does it seems like IF the R0 number is that high, then likely this thing was here long before January 21 and the rate of asymptomatic people is much much higher than we know? The first human to human transmission case occurred here in Chicago at the end of January, a woman traveled home from Wuhan and gave it to her husband. Wouldn't it spread just as fast here as New York City? Currently Chicago's biggest hospital system is nowhere NEAR even close to alert levels for running out of supplies or equipment (confidential inside info so I'll leave it at that). There are stories of people showing up to donate blood in small communities where 60 people are tested, none of whom have symptoms, 67% of which have the virus. Guys, I know this is serious, and I am not trying to downplay anything, but just what are we really accomplishing by sheltering in place AFTER this thing is very universal? There have been numerous stories of folks contracting this without coming into contact with a KNOWN case, but it had to come from somewhere. Could we in fact be beyond the real height of this thing?
Some other interesting statistical oddities include the number of pneumonia deaths this season are dramatically lower than in previous years. Are these cases being reported as Coronavirus deaths? We know not everyone dying has a test, especially early on. Some people were told no by health departments when they asked for tests for deceased family members. I apologize and don't want to "trigger" anyone with my statements here, but if we can't air our opinions and occasionally vent here then what's the point of a forum? Maybe it's only me, and I risk a lot of push back for saying it, but feeling a bit angry that through all of this we aren't even allowed to talk about plans for putting our economy back to work. Coronavirus is dangerous, of course. But what happens in 6 months when people don't have health insurance or money for other necessities?