THIS IS LUNACY: 'We all want to do our part to attenuate the number of serious COVID-19 infections in our communities, but we cannot hand our lives over to the government, particularly when the virus has become an opportunity for Congress to pass pork-filled legislation, showboating governors to out-quarantine each other, and politically connected tech companies to share cell phone tracking data with the government.'.

• Author: Singleton, Marilyn M.

DURING MY LAST VISIT to the grocery store, after directing me to the hermetically sealed conveyor belt, the clerk, grinning proudly, said, "Welcome to the new normal." No, thank you. These ad hoc restrictions on our liberties are not normal--at least not in the U.S.

In the name of public health, prisoners have been released from jail; physicians are being restricted in what drugs they can use to treat their COVID-19 patients; and cancer patients are having their treatments delayed as "elective."

Every day, 7,400 people die in the U.S. from various causes, including infectious diseases, but running totals are not broadcast on every medium. The unceasing barrage of news programs about coronavirus have become a means to whip us into submission.

The mayor of Los Angeles was perversely proud that 99% of "nonessential" businesses were closed and threatened to sue those that have not closed. A local town issued 129 citations at 51,000 a pop for noncompliance. Riverside County will cite residents witnessed to have their faces uncovered.

ObamaCare's architect, Ezekiel Emmanuel, has suggested that the country stay on lockdown for one and a half years, or "until we find a vaccine or effective medications." This is lunacy.

According to a Kaiser Family Foundation poll, 40% of women, 37% of men, and nearly half of parents with a child younger than 18 years old report they either have lost their job, income, or had their hours reduced without pay. A classic 1979 study found that for every 10% increase in the unemployment rate, mortality increased by 1.2%, cardiovascular disease by 1.7%, cirrhosis of the liver by 1.3%, suicides by 1.8%, arrests by four percent, and reported assaults by 0.8%. Pre-pandemic, nearly 20 people per minute were physically abused by an intimate partner in the U.S. Predictably, episodes of domestic violence and child abuse now have increased. Closed businesses have become easy targets for thieves.

There is a rational course of action without shutting down human contact and the economy. Sweden has no more deaths or symptomatic infections per capita than many other countries despite merely choosing to encourage its citizens to physically distance as much as possible.

We must allow physicians to treat their patients as they see fit with effective drugs. Multiple physicians around the world are reporting success with hydroxychloroquine; a new off-label use for this Food and Drug Administration-approved drug. If this virus is akin to...