We are not in a perfect world. Our world today, with the dark shadow of COVID-19 hanging over everything, is far, far from perfect. And worse than that, COVID-19 is deceptive. If there were a hazardous fog, like a chlorine gas leak, we would know what to do. Or if thick smoke from a nearby fire, or volcanic ash was falling, we would understand. But it\u2019s not the air, or the earth, that\u2019s threatening. It\u2019s us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Humans are the threat. But how big a threat are we? It\u2019s like that old Amway pitch, circles connecting to circles. We have our own circle, our immediate household. But someone has to go to the grocery store, and, unfortunately some have to go to work. So they create all new circles, circles that include people they don\u2019t even know. And they bring all the possible infections of all those people back into their own immediate circle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And who knows who\u2019s infected? In fact, you may not know that you are infected yourself. Does someone in your circle have a cold, the flu, a bad hangover? Or is it COVID-19, and you are now in the fourteen-day incubation window? And that\u2019s the whole point of wearing protection, facemasks and such, in public. No one, including yourself, knows.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In a perfect world \u2013 we would have tested people coming into the country last December. A corona-virus team would have met folks at the airports, identified the infected, and traced all of their contacts. Blame whoever you want, but we didn\u2019t do that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In a somewhat less perfect world, we would have done what we did \u2013 sheltered in place.\u00a0\u00a0We would have done that to \u201cflatten the curve\u201d in order to keep hospitals from being overwhelmed with COVID patients.\u00a0\u00a0And we did that, in a piecemeal kind of way.\u00a0\u00a0During that time we would have made sure we had all of the equipment, from PPE to ventilators, available.\u00a0\u00a0And again, in a clunky way, we\u2019ve managed to do that as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
While everyone was at home, we needed to find a way to keep people supported financially.\u00a0\u00a0The $1200 handed out by the Federal government was too little, and for many, too late or not at all.\u00a0\u00a0So for the four to six weeks we \u201cflattened\u201d we also created an enormous economic pressure to get \u201cback out\u201d.\u00a0\u00a0So that didn\u2019t work out very well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So here we are \u2013 under pressure (Bowie song \u2013 insert here) and we are opening.\u00a0\u00a0The problem is, while we flattened the curve, we didn\u2019t end the disease.\u00a0\u00a0It\u2019s still out there, just as much as it was in March, and the curve is perfectly capable of spiking again.\u00a0\u00a0So we need to take precautions:\u00a0\u00a0social distance, masks (yes, for you for me, and vice versa) and we need to realize that things ARE NOT BACK TO NORMAL.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And we need to test, and trace, and do the public health things to control the disease. Those things that we could have done in December and January, but failed to do. And we need to create a financial safety net for folks who get infected, so they can say to their family and their employers, \u201cI\u2019m not working so I don’t infect others, and we won\u2019t suffer financially\u201d. Any other alternative puts infected folks out in the work force \u2013 something that is unacceptable for ANY disease, much less one as infectious as this one. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
So what if we just ignore all of that, and \u201cgo back\u201d to the good old days, two months ago?\u00a0\u00a0COVID-19 doesn\u2019t have a political agenda; it doesn\u2019t favor Biden over Trump.\u00a0\u00a0The virus knows one thing:\u00a0\u00a0how to spread.\u00a0\u00a0So if we don\u2019t do the right thing now, the virus will do its thing.\u00a0\u00a0It will infect many, many more people, and by our own actions we will kill some of them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And we will be forced to close again, but this time it won\u2019t be as easy.\u00a0\u00a0Before all of this, 40% of Americans couldn\u2019t afford a $400 expense.\u00a0\u00a0While I can\u2019t find a statistic to point you to, I think we can all agree that the percentage is much higher now.\u00a0\u00a0And there seems to be no appetite among some of our leaders to fix the financial problems that face average Americans.\u00a0\u00a0It\u2019s all about \u201cgetting open\u201d and \u201cgoing back to work\u201d.\u00a0\u00a0So the second time, when the Governors (certainly not the President) say, \u201cstay home,\u201d there\u2019s going to be Hell to pay.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We are making American workers face an impossible choice. They can work, support their families, and face disease. Or they can stay home, keep their circle safe and healthy, and face poverty. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
And that\u2019s not a perfect world at all.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"