Trump Should Reopen the Country for Business
President Trump previously stated he aimed to reopen the country for business by Easter. April 12th is only a couple of shorts weeks away, and many think that is too soon to lift the closures imposed on businesses, schools, and social events (now extended to April 30). Some say they fear for their lives if they contract the coronavirus. They claim it’s selfish of people to leave the safety of their homes and possibly spread the virus to others.
Trump said our country was not built to be shut down, and he is correct. Our economy needs to resume functioning, and hints of his plan to divide the country into zones according to Covid-19 cases and gradually reopen businesses is a glimmer of hope in these financially volatile times. Unemployment soared overnight. Workers in hard hit industries such as hospitality, food service, airline travel, and entertainment (yes, performance arts are important) lost their paychecks indefinitely and without warning. The stock market fell fast and hard, dissipating value from retirement accounts, college funds, and other portfolios across the country.
Supporters of the massive shutdown say the drastic move was necessary in order to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus. The virus causes Covid-19, which has claimed approximately 30,000 lives worldwide. New York is currently America’s coronoavirus epicenter, reporting over 52,000 cases and over 700 deaths. Less populous and more inland states are experiencing much lower infection rates. Idaho has under 300 confirmed cases of Covid-19 and 5 deaths. North Dakota has about 100 cases and one death.
Shutting down the economy in states that are far removed from the coronavirus epicenters doesn’t significantly help the national goal of flattening the curve. Economies in designated areas can be safely reopened without hampering the efforts of those working hard to stop the spread of Covid-19, though. Travel to and from the hot spots should be restricted. Resources need to directed to where they are most needed: cities experiencing a rapid surge of confirmed cases, nursing homes, retirement communities, etc.
A push to reopen carefully vetted sections of the country doesn’t prioritize dollars over lives. The shutdown has negatively impacted citizens’ lives in a multitude of non-monetary ways. Domestic violence rates are on the rise, as people are confined to close quarters and dealing with the stress of losing jobs and trying to pay bills. The government has ordered people to stay home as much as possible, which leaves many vulnerable women and children with no safe place to go during the day.
Some landlords are showing leniency towards renters who unexpectedly lost their jobs in the crush of coronavirus closures. Many are not as understanding, evicting tenants of all income levels who suddenly can’t pay their next month’s rent.
America is a vast, diverse country, and a one-size-fits-all approach doesn’t work. Residents of areas that are not hot spots for the virus should be allowed to reopen businesses, send their kids to school, and keep their local economies functioning. The nation needs to maintain a baseline economy at the very least in order to weather this storm and not fall into a deep recession – or, worse yet, another depression.
What idiotic bozo is saying we have to open back up for business? That will just start this entire virus thing all over again by he 2x4x8x16x32 and on and one all over again. We have started the quarantine time to let the virus die out, cure those who have it or put them in their graves. Which do you want to be. I would rather let the medical people tell me when it’s safe to come out again, let the inoculations be developed and take place. Let my family come out safely and not worry about catching this virus which as we know is deadly. Until then, I will continue to be over cautious, play it safe, go into isolation, order things on line, clean items as they come in, and continue to wash. wash, wash, my hands and face. Anyone who violates the stay at home orders is putting us all at risk. Just do as they say and do the Chinese Hunkerdown.
Wow, David. You’re really uninformed. Sure, it appears you’ve listened to all of the bullshit being peddled by the media, but you seem to have no other source of information. This virus is not nearly as deadly as you make it out to be. Yes, it’s worse than the common flu, but it’s not something that dooms someone to their grave automatically. When you look at the REAL numbers, many people are getting the virus and recovering with very few to no adverse effects. Also, a venture out into the world is not a death sentence. You’re welcome to become a hermit if that’s your prerogative, but don’t lambast others for wanting to live their lives while also washing their hands, sanitizing everything, and being safe.
I hate to break it to you, but I have read that this virus does not die out. It stays in the body like HSV-1 (Herpes simplex virus 1 – or cold sores). Once you have it, you have it for life. It can stay dormant as long as you maintain your health. 85% of carriers have little to no symptoms. One of them may be you, so take you temperature every morning.
The reason for Chinese Hunkerdown, quarantine and social distancing is the reduce the instantaneous demand on healthcare facilities and healthcare workers. At some point, everyone will either have the virus, or have been vaccinated, like polio, measles, etc. This will take time.
Chicken pox is a form of the herpes virus, and is highly contagious, and if left without treatment in a compromised person, can end in death. We do panic over measles, because everyone knows the symptoms (a lot more obvious that COVID-19), but they do not show up for several days after infection. Plus, a lot of the population is vaccinated by now. When I was a kid, there was no vaccine, and lots of kids got the virus, and are still alive to tell about it.
When we get past the lack of test kits, we will have a better handle on who needs to do what. In the mean time, try to keep distance, and keep a jar of antiseptic wipes close by, and use them everywhere you go.
Everyone depends on business to keep functioning fro survival. It is not trivial to balance the health of the economy with the limiting of contagion.
Correction: We do NOT panic over CHICKEN POX……
David, This is a race against time, until we can develop a treatment and a vaccine. Since treatments are being tested now and a vaccine is due in a few months, it could be viable to open up the less risky areas, get them back on the economy, knowing that the risk is considerably less. Trump has extended the emergency orders out of an abundance of concern for safety, but he is impatient to get us moving again.
This post bares the ignorance of a man with no skin in the game. My grandfather has mild COPD but is otherwise healthy. My grandmother has more than one autoimmune disease and is always sickly. My great-uncle nearly died from shingles and his body was broken because of it. My best friend has bad asthma.
All of these friends and relatives are vulnerable, especially my grandfather, who almost certainly would not recover, and if he did, would have so much scar tissue in his lung areoles from Wuhan Pneumonia and COPD combined, that he would probably need oxygen.
Opening up much of the country will exacerbate these dangers. Even smallL-time, selective opening would doom us all, because the Constitution guarantees free travel between states.
Let’s say that only North Dakota has a governor crazy enough to reopen after your “extreme vetting” BS . Do you think the North Dakotans are going to stay in North Dakota? NO!
Partially reopening ANY state that has had to shut down WILL KILL MANY MEN.
Your article is stupid and your comments are ignorant.
Whoever wrote this is a complete idiot. President Trump got it wrong in the beginning, and now he is getting it right. We have not tested even a smidgeon of the population for this virus so there’s no science to support your plan. I’m guessing you don’t have children or elderly relatives with or near you — most of us do, and we don’t want them to die. Go ahead — get yourself infected and see how productive you are working from the ICU hooked up to a ventilator. I am a strong conservative, but this website keeps publishing silly disinformation about the coronavirus being overhyped. This absurdity makes It hard to take the rest of what you write seriously.
Everything should be opened up. Closing schools is stupid. People are going to schools for lunch pickups. Kids from 10 schools have 4 pickup spots for lunch. When you drive by these spots you see crowds of adults and kids. They are not keeping 6 ft apart. Kids are playing on the playground with lots of other kids that they would not have come in contact with regular school sessions. Parents are visiting with each other. College kids could have sheltered in place in dorms. Instead they were pushed out into crowded airports, train stations, bus stations, etc to mingle with people who had the virus. Then these college students and people they came in contact with took the virus back to their hometowns where there was no virus. People in grocery stores are not keeping their distance and are brushing up against people who are trying to keep 6 ft from them. All the rules they are telling us to follow are the same rules you follow for the flu. If people would follow the rules and practice good hygiene this virus would be no big deal. It is more contagious but a lot of people have recovered with just mild symptoms. Data they are giving us is incomplete because they have not counted the people who had Covid-19 but did not go to doctor or were denied test because of shortage of tests or answered that they did not travel out of country. All this mass panic and CYA ideas by the politicians made the situation worse than it should have been and has destroyed our country.
A 60-day “stay-home” policy would be survivable as far as the big picture goes, but would bring havoc to a LOT of individuals that live paycheck-to-paycheck. Transactions are contracting drastically and will grind to a near halt. Banks, utilities, and small business holding debt from customers could be helped out, but whatever is done will not cover all the bases. Sales tax revenue will drop considerably, causing issues for State and local governments that are just getting started into construction season.
Financial transactions are like blood pressure for the economy. The economy is populated with small business that employs more people than all the big business put together. Small specialty businesses will die first. Mom-and-pop frame shops, pet stores, flower shops, bakeries, etc. Very sad.
The Swedish response to the COVID-19 problem is described here:
http://www.aier.org/article/what-sweden-has-done-right-on-coronavirus/
They have found a middle ground that relies on the population to behave with a rational self-interest. Hunker down if you need to – like the elderly. Go to the grocery store at 0700. Wear a mask and do not touch your face.
Can we count on Americans, especially rural Americans, to do the same? I think so. Big cities need more precautions than farmlands. This would go a long way to solving the negative effects on the economy.
II agree that some parts of the country should be opened up. It is ludicrous to make those in areas that are hardly affected adhere to the constrictions of areas experiencing massive COVID-19 cases. We need to get the economy going again or we will be living like Venezuela in a short time.
The Swedish plan is starting to show cracks from within:
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/mar/30/catastrophe-sweden-coronavirus-stoicism-lockdown-europe
Sales tax revenue in truth will not be effected it has already been collected just in a far shorter time every time those panic attack psychos. wanting on their hoard shopping rampages buying up all sanitizing sprays and wipes, Isopropyl alcohol once the prior mentioned were sold out, toilet paper, paper toweling, disposable diapers, etc. all of which are taxable by the oppressors of this nation, sales tax is nothing more than one of the many ways the government provides charity to the wealthy while they give jobs to the people of just about every other nation than our own.
why is it that we can not share this on face book this is a shame get this out their
Has anyone heard of these Blue light UVC emitting devices that it is highly probable would almost instantaneously kill the Covid-19 virus?
Rather than take advantage of the taxpaying poor through their servant politicians who constantly provide them with gifts rather than the severe punishment they should receive for their wicked acts in this case being 50% responsible for the Covid-19 pandemic force them to install such lighting throughout their outlets and offer blue light filtering lense glasses that also fit over prescription glasses at a token price of $1.
The evil wealthy abominable inhuman/inhumane individuals that they are would still be turning a hefty profit especially considering they would most likely never have to shutdown business in the event of another epidemic or pandemic.
You can make your problem as big as you want to build it in your mind. Easter is gone, and our COVID numbers are slowed,. Two years ago, we made it through a serious flu epidemic, without all the publicity of media hype. According to the CDC, in 2017-2018 the flu epidemic in America, had 45 million cases, 810,000 hospitalizations and 61,000 deaths.The news media didn’t obsess about it, so the nation didn’t live in fear with numbers. It’s a strategy to push their Socialist agenda. Let those who can work and protect themselves, get back to work please. Many have recovered with or without testing, or hydroxychloroquine. Those with health conditions should remain at home and protect themselves as they have before. Let’s not put our nation into bankruptcy in fear of the enemy, but do what we need to do to keep the American economy going. The people who have health issues made it through the last epidemic, so pray they can do it again. The longer we wait to resume our lives, the harder it will be for many. Now is the time.
Open the Fing economy. People die every day. We have to stop living in fear. Most of these comments make me sick. We are being controlled like robots. Wake up people.