Removing the Parachute

The big topic this week is when to "reopen" the economy. It's only been a couple weeks in most places - in my area the lockdown has been over a month - but governors and legislators are starting to see the curve flatten, and want to get back to at least somewhat normalcy as soon as possible. However, the best analogy I saw for this is that it's like saying, "The parachute has slowed our decent, we can take it off now," before you've actually landed. If things reopen too soon, not only will it undo all the good that's been done so far, things will end up worse. The other analogy that keeps getting shared is from the 1918 flu pandemic: Philadelphia lifted their restrictions too soon, so they could throw a parade to raise morale for the war effort. Days later, every hospital bed in the city was full.

In some states people have been holding protests (without appropriate social distancing), and I've seen plans for more, including in my own state next week. I know people and businesses are suffering; states are running out of money for unemployment claims, and people are still waiting on their small stimulus checks that were promised weeks ago. There has to be some kind of creative way to resolve this and make sure everyone has the support they need. As I've been saying, it's going to be really hard for a really long time. But I feel like people will have even more to complain about if everyone starts getting sick and dying and can't get the medical care they need...