As storms and dark clouds swept the interior of America on Resurrection Sunday, folks continued to hunker down in isolation away from everybody else. Government - local, state, and federal - ordered everyone to isolate or suffer consequences.
Every history of totalitarian governments includes government control of the masses “for the public or common good.” Are we there yet in America? Hardly.
What is different with the current crisis? Full-fledged panic in the media, markets, and on main street. What is driving this panic? The answer, sadly, depends on where one stands politically.
The LEFT fears that if we reopen America too early or without proper consideration of and preparation for a relapse, millions will die. The RIGHT fears that if we don’t reopen America reasonably soon, America will sink into a deep economic depression.
Fear is driving both cases, and fear is not the only thing, uh, we have to fear. This is not an either/or situation, that old fallacy long propounded by politicians across the spectrum. This is a both/and situation where we need reasonable minds to plan for both community health exigencies and for economic realities at the local level. We built America from the local community up, and that’s how we need to begin digging out of this crisis.
One of the main challenges facing communities is what we still don’t know. Models and expert analyses of COVID-19 and this pandemic have been all over the board, literally changing daily. Nevertheless, we do know some things, and we should begin planning to reopen by first establishing what we know for sure.
In America people are still catching the coronavirus. Elderly and those with underlying health conditions are more likely to die. We need extreme means to protect the most vulnerable. Overall the survival rate in America is roughly between 96 and 97-percent. While the rate of infection appears to be higher than other common viral infection rates, experts still can’t nail down that rate until more testing is done.
That raises questions of prevention and treatment. Medical experts continue to say a vaccine against COVID-19 is 12 to 18 months away. Some in America’s medical community are touting a combination of chloroquine and other medications that have been approved for decades to treat malaria. At the very least doctors and patients should be given the freedom to take chloroquine as a therapeutic, especially if the prognosis is dire due to a patient’s age or infirmities.
Americans have decades of experience dealing with seasonal epidemics. Local outbreaks of measles, chickenpox, and mumps were common in the 1950s and 60s. Influenza has become an annual threat in America. Herd immunity has historically developed over time for all but the most virile strains.
Of course, we should use whatever means available to protect the most vulnerable among us. We should also begin to reopen our communities to commerce, asking people to continue practicing reasonable protocols like washing hands, staying home if sick, covering nose and mouth if sneezing or coughing, and other motherly admonitions.
No one-size-fits-all paradigm will work in every community. Local civic, business, and medical leaders should meet together to develop and implement a comprehensive plan with contingencies that will allay panic and restore a sense of normalcy. Together, we can rebuild America one community at a time.
Daniel L. Gardner is a syndicated columnist who lives in Starkville, MS. You may contact him at PJandMe2@gmail.com.
