The irresponsibility of the media, national public health officials and China has effectively destroyed our economy, individual businesses and American lives.
It is time to look for the exit ramp.
On March 14, Ramsey Archibald, son of John Archibald, was responsible for a completely ridiculous piece of video that rightly scared the heck out of many Alabamians.
Archibald helped push the message that 2.5 million Alabamians would get the coronavirus, adding, “Let’s be conservative and say 50% get COVID-19.”
But wait, there’s more.
The video also makes the following claims:
- 500,000 will need to be treated at a hospital.
- 125,000 will need treatment at an intensive care unit.
- 25,000 people could die
The Alabama Media Group “data reporter” painted this projection of millions getting sick and 25,000 dead as the best-case scenario.
He — and his publication — got it wrong. Big time.
But it worked. In concert with other lunatics, they declared that Alabama Governor Kay Ivey wanted people to die, or was at least cool with it, if she didn’t declare Alabama to be a “shelter-in-place” state.
After all, they just heard of such a thing and the smart states were doing it, so the dummies in Alabama should do it as well.
I, for my part, saw this for what it was and pointed out that at some point the governor’s office would cave and make the order, so she should just do it.
That’s exactly what happened.
The numbers began to change.
March 14 — 25,000
March 31 — 1,700
April 1 — 7,300+
April 2 — 5,500+
April 5 — 923
April 8 — 634
Now, this other info came from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation projections.
Archibald’s info? A CBS News piece and a calculator. The projection went from 25,000 to 634 in less than a month.
The national line moved from 2.2 million to 60,000+ in that same time frame.
But the storyline didn’t reflect that change.
“People will die!” after all.
It won’t change now either.
It’s time to acknowledge that Alabama should be figuring out how to get back open for business.
Here is my suggestion how:
- Social distancing continues until August 1
- All businesses, outside of bars, restaurants and sporting events, can open on May 1
- Bars, restaurants and sporting events can open on May 15 with half occupancy
- Everything can fully open up on June 1
- Dates can change based on data
Why these dates?
Why not? Archibald based his on less.
The other steps we took were based on incorrect information and a guess.
Nations in Europe are doing similar things, and I thought people wanted us to be like Europe.
Give Alabamians some hope. Let them know there is a light at the end of the tunnel. Be optimistic, but safe. Be smart, but understand that people are suffering here.
Jobs and businesses are already lost, unemployment is through the roof. It’s time to show the people of Alabama that there was a reason for that.
Dale Jackson is a contributing writer to Yellowhammer News and hosts a talk show from 7-11 am weekdays on WVNN.
