A few weeks ago, President Donald Trump made a comment about the effort to fight the coronavirus pandemic that caught my attention. He said that the cure should not be worse than the virus, itself. Today, with the nearly total shutdown of the country, it may be coming to that.
There is no doubt that COVID-19 is frightening. Since its inception in China at the end of 2019, it has spread rapidly not only throughout the United States, but also across the globe. As of this writing, reports put the number of cases worldwide at more than 2.1 million with deaths totaling about 144,000. In the U.S., those numbers are about 671,000 cases and over 33,000 deaths.
Although all 50 states have been affected, there are areas labeled “hot spots” where the illness has been much more prevalent than in other parts of the country. New York and New Jersey are two of those places. Ohio has been relatively fortunate. There have been a total of 8,414 cases reported with only 407 deaths.
How the nation and several states have handled the pandemic has come under scrutiny. Some feel that officials have overreacted in their effort to stem the tide of the virus. They say that restrictions put into place are too severe, and have caused a situation worse than the coronavirus threat, itself. Their point is that as the lockdown on living continues, it may reduce the number of virus cases, but it increasingly causes a detrimental affect on the economy in every segment across the country. Although they agree that some restrictions have been necessary, they argue that officials have gone too far with the result causing a misery of a different kind. Thousands and thousands of workers have lost their jobs, many of them permanently. The closing of businesses in many cases will be permanent as owners have lost all their money, and won’t have enough to reopen, even with the help of the government bailout.
And speaking of the bailouts and assistance, many who have applied for help, including unemployment compensation, have not received funds yet because of the tremendous backlog of requests under a system that was never designed to accommodate such a huge number of filings. The possibility is emerging that if the current shutdown continues for the foreseeable future, it could bring an economic collapse worse than the Great Depression of the 1930s.
And then there is the emotional side of those negatively affected by the shutdown. Economically, consider the plight of people who three months ago were employed and in business happily enjoying life, but now have nothing. They can’t pay their mortgage or rent, or in some cases can’t put food on the table for their families.
And what about the affect of family members being unable to visit loved ones in hospitals and nursing homes, especially when the patients are in very serious condition or on the brink of death? Their only means of communication is by cellphone or a wave through the window if the room happens to be on the ground floor.
President Trump’s comment should be taken to heart by every state and local official making these difficult decisions to fight the coronavirus disease – is the effect of the cure worse than that of the virus? In addition, each of them should put themselves in the situation that the person lying in the hospital or nursing room bed is their spouse, parent or other loved one, and then decide what is the best course of action going forward.