Listen to the Virus

Listen to the Virus
It will dictate our future

Once again, we are at a life-threatening crossroads. After fits and starts in the battle to contain COVID-19, we finally saw state and federal governments agree to a plan to slow the spread of this deadly virus through aggressive treatment of those who become ill from it, school and business closings, restrictions on large public gatherings and enforced physical distancing requirements. There is little doubt that the rate of infection increases has gone down, hospitalizations are starting to level off and the death rate among those infected is slowing down. 

These measures, popularly called STAY AT HOME orders, are working and lives are being saved as a result.  

As with all pandemics, the measures needed to beat them come with a staggering economic cost. More Americans are out of work now than we saw during the Great Depression. Businesses are closed and many will never reopen. Savings have been depleted. Investments have taken a substantial hit. People are clamoring for help. Food banks cannot keep up with the demand. Stimulus checks and unemployment benefits will help some and cannot come soon enough. 

Besides the economic toll, government services and quality of life programs are being curtailed. Some see individual liberties being curtailed. Protests by some of those aggrieved by the orders closing parks and businesses are springing up here and around the country.

We must choose how we will move forward. Do we continue the stay at home orders, keep non-essential businesses shuttered, keep schools closed and require physical distancing to protect lives? Do we heed the calls to re-open the economy, put Americans back to work and risk more deaths?

It is at this cross-roads where our political divide rears up once more. 

On Thursday afternoon, President Trump retreated from his earlier proclamation that he would be the one to decide when to re-open the country. Instead, he finally listened to his scientific advisors and legal team and recognized that the nation’s governors should be making the decisions about when to re-open their individual state economies based upon the conditions presented. He offered a reasoned plan for all to follow on how such decisions should be made. 

First, we need to look at the rates of infection, hospitalizations and deaths. Are they going up, down or staying level? As long as the rates continue to rise or stay high, economies should stay closed and physical distancing enforced. 

Second, with declining rates of infection, hospitalization and death, we need to ramp up our ability to test people to see if they are infected. Without testing, we will be operating blindfolded and if infection rates start going back up, we will not know it until it shows up in increased hospitalizations. Then, it will be too late. 

Third, with any economic re-opening and lessened restrictions on physical distancing, the chances of a new wave of infection and death will go up substantially. We must rebuild or hospital capacity to be able to handle any new wave. That means more hospital beds, more protective equipment for healthcare workers and first responders and more ventilators and other life sustaining medical equipment.

Fourth, we need to develop and test the efficacy of a vaccine to inoculate the public from contracting the virus in the first place. This will, by most scientific measures, take the better part of a year. 

Under the President’s guidelines, governors can slowly re-open their state’s economies as they are able to meet each of the listed benchmarks in turn. Some states have been hit harder by the pandemic than others and will be slower to reopen than those with fewer infected citizens. 

Governor Evers also spoke about these issues on Thursday. He too recognized that a slow, measured response to the virus threat was needed to protect Wisconsin citizens as much as possible. Evers will not be throwing a switch to re-open Wisconsin, but will use a dial to lessen restrictions as the benchmarks are reached. It will take time. 

For starters, Gov. Evers extended his stay at home order until just after Memorial Day, May 26. The need for the extension is manifest and is in keeping with President Trump’s guidelines. He will allow some businesses to reopen under physical distancing guidelines and offering limited services.

Unfortunately, the republican leaders in our legislature do not see fit to follow their President and Governor. Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald and Assembly Majority Leader Robin Vos both signaled Thursday that they would pull out the stops to pass measures to end Evers’ orders. They seem hell bent on putting Wisconsin back to work and letting the lives of the vulnerable in the balance fall where they may. This is at least consistent with their efforts to force people to vote in the last election during the pandemic, making many choose between their right to vote and the risk of contracting a deadly disease. We know how that turned out.

Now is the time for restraint and listening to the scientists. As Dr. Anthony Fauci, President Trump’s advisor on infectious diseases, said recently, “the virus will tell us when to re-open the country.” We ignore it’s call at our peril.