Victor Davis Hanson // National Review
We are a few days away from a rendezvous with some tough conclusions about COVID-19.
A number of concurrent developments are coming to a head. Most will bring light where so far there was only heat.
Greater information about the virus might cause as much acrimony as conciliation. Some experts will be discredited, others reaffirmed.
Antibody testing is expected to get under way shortly. Soon, several representative studies will give the country an accurate idea of how many Americans have been infected in the past few months.
With a more trustworthy denominator to compare against known deaths, we will finally learn just how lethal the virus is and whether comparisons to a severe annual flu are legitimate or still inapplicable.
Likewise, there will be greater precision in distinguishing those whose deaths were exclusively virus-related from those who were afflicted by serious chronic illnesses along with the virus. That will also help provide better data about the actual toxicity of the virus.
