Does anyone believe we can stop the spread of a virus? We never have in the history of the world.

We’ve developed treatments, and we’ve found ways to contain a spread. But inevitably, a virus is going to travel where it’s going to travel, and there’s nothing we can do to stop it.

So, if we agree that it’s going to spread, why are we trying to slow it?

When we first became aware of COVID-19, it made sense to take measures to slow the spread as we a) wanted to manage hospital admissions, and b) learn as much as we could as quickly as we could. We did both of those things, and we continue to do so.

But now, our hospitals are not overrun with coronavirus (some are close to full, but that includes everyone who put off elective procedures March through May), and the number of people dying is shrinking weekly. In fact, coronavirus deaths have shrunk to the point that the CDC no longer considers this an epidemic. (That’s one tier below pandemic.)

Meanwhile, human immunity 101 tells us that humans are exposed to bacteria and viruses all the time, all throughout their life. This is a good thing because it helps us build immunity. (Perhaps you’ve heard the phrase, “whatever doesn’t kill us makes us stronger.”)

What’s happening now is that as the virus continues to spread through the United States, we’re slowly building the immunity. Why would you want to slow that down?

The lockdowns and keeping kids out of school are causing so many other problems that are not COVID-related. Depression, suicide, anxiety, fear, domestic abuse, drug use, alcoholism, stress, heart disease, diabetes, etc are all on the rise.

It’s as if we collectively forgot, as a country, that there are other maladies and diseases besides coronavirus. There are other ways to die, and those are still killing us. All this focus on coronavirus has made the others worse.

If we keep trying to slow the spread, we will continue to increase our risk of death from other causes.

What we need to do is accelerate the spread. Obviously, we need to protect those at risk, as they should be aware to take greater caution. But the rest of us? We need to get out there, take the masks off, and give each other great big hugs and kisses.

God knows we need it, and our country needs it, right now. And this way, we can all share the disease, build up our immunity, and lessen the risk of transmission to those at risk.

This is how it works. I’m not making this up. It’s the way we’ve been dealing with viruses since there have been people. Why do you think the Spanish Flu isn’t still raging through society?

I think we’re all ready to move forward and get past this, so let’s apply some common sense and have at it. Sure, we will lose some people along the way, but the chances are, we would have lost them, anyway, and even if we all stayed inside, we’d all inevitably die sometime.

And hey, at least this way, we can comfort the sick and attend their funerals.