This story is part of “Together/Alone,” a column from Spectrum News Chief National Political Reporter Josh Robin that explores life during the COVID-19 pandemic.
NOTE FROM JOSH: The following exchange is based on text messages I received from people I know, reacting differently to current events. Names are changed and I’ve edited portions of the exchanges for clarity and brevity.
WADE: This can’t go on.
ROD: Good morning to you too. What has to stop?
WADE: This standstill. The economy is cratering. People are cooped up — for a virus that isn’t as bad as we were warned.
ROD: Whoa. This virus will kill you. If anything, we’re not taking it seriously enough. Why does the president say he won’t wear a face mask? That sends a horrible message.
JOSH: Easy on the politics. Carry on.
WADE: A month ago, Fauci was warning 200,000 could die. We just passed 50,000 here. And, sorry this is callous, but they are overwhelmingly old and/or sick to begin with. We are, largely, choosing elders/medically fragile over an entire generation of healthy people.
ROD: Plenty of non-elderly people are dying. And we don’t have all those deaths precisely because we are being smart and staying home. People are generally not complete fools and will not start congregating anytime soon. If and when they do, the virus will shut things down for us. No good options.
WADE: There are thousands of empty hospital beds! Why are there empty restaurants and stores? Our politicians are instituting very draconian measures and they could be more minimal. People would not be as frightened if the data were better explained — and people at risk told to quarantine. In NY, at least 95 percent are age 50 plus, and in one study 89 percent had one major underlying health factor. Meanwhile, 26.5 million filing unemployment nationwide.
ROD: I’ll give you data. Do you know how quickly this virus spreads? In Wuhan, China, where this is thought to have started, it doubled about every 2.5 to 3.5 days. That’s waaaay more contagious than the 1918 Influenza outbreak… which killed maybe 40 million people — a lot of them, by the way, when it came back in a second wave.
WADE: This is not 1918; for one, we have something called a modern ventilator. But this may turn into 1929, when the stock market crashed and soon enough people were lining up for free soup. This is a nasty disease, not Bubonic Plague.
ROD: A little longer behind closed doors isn’t going to kill you. This virus will, especially if people don’t quarantine. Did you not see how hospitals got totally overwhelmed in New York? That happened in smaller cities, too. We’re nowhere near the top when it comes to available bed space, even before this. A totally overwhelmed hospital isn’t able to care for other issues, like if your kid needed an appendectomy. We could see a quick overrun of social order. Police, sanitation, fire all unable to work.
WADE: When I go out, should I wear a face mask and catcher’s gear, too, in case something falls on me? You can’t live your life in fear. We are asking 330 million people to sit down for the sake of less than 5 percent of the population.
ROD: U would be singing a different tune if your mom got it. And by the way, plenty of people in their 50s either died or got seriously sick. That sailor aboard the Theodore Roosevelt who died was 41. We are all interconnected. There are no easy fixes.
WADE: Here’s another stat. About 60 percent of people have less than $1,000 in their savings account. If you were a barber, or a bartender, you’d be the one singing a different tune. Look, this isn’t exactly polite to write, but we are freaking out about people in nursing homes dying. What do you expect when someone goes into a nursing home? They’re going to come out and run a marathon?
ROD: No, but every life is precious. MDs all the time say they see a patient on death’s door… then the patient lives for years longer.
WADE: Medical folks would shut us down if there was a hair on their ham sandwich. How’s this for precious lives? Someone graduating college, deep in debt with no jobs. Or kids trapped in apartments, getting lame educations on their computers — if they even have computers.
ROD: Lot to unpack here. You’re suggesting there are easy answers when there aren’t. Start with kids: Ok, open schools. Are all teachers, especially older ones, going to show up if they’re liable to get sick? And what happens if an older, sicker grandma picks up the kids from school? She’d be exposed.
The boss tells you to report to work, and then you get the virus. Can you sue the boss? As for the jobs, this shows how feeble our economy was before this. People were getting their Chinese-made junk from Amazon before.
WADE: Fine. Deal with that in the election.
JOSH: Watch the politics.
ROD: It would be nice if we had a time machine and shut things down in January as we should have. Or even February. Then we might be looking like New Zealand today. They are doing relatively great. Kids slowly headed back to school.
WADE: Rod, what do you suggest, people just stay home? Heart disease kills more people over a year — one every 37 seconds. Now, gyms are closed, people are drinking more. Domestic abuse. That can’t be good for your health.
ROD: Even if you did open stores, I don’t see a lot of enthusiasm for buying stuff. I think people have been spooked and reminded of what really matters: calories, vital medicines, a roof.
WADE: Sounds enticing. I’d like to go to a restaurant.
ROD: Your waiter would have to wear a face mask and gloves.
WADE: How appetizing. Dessert a Jell-O cup? Does the table have wheels? “Waiter, more bread please, and I’ve fallen and I can’t get up!”
ROD: Slowly, slowly. This has been a month and a half. Seems like a small price as we get testing going. That is going to be key to us opening up.
WADE: How’s that testing going, anyway?
JOSH: Easy on the politics.
ROD: Ok, I gotta go. My kid has a playdate; I gotta log her on Zoom. Stay healthy.
WADE: Can we stop saying that already?
ROD: What would you prefer?
WADE: Love you.
ROD: Love you too.
SANITY CLAUSE
Volunteering. It seems impossible, given that we can’t physically go anywhere, but there are plenty of things you can do to help the less fortunate, without leaving your couch. I typed “volunteering online” in my search engine, and came up with ideas from translating to proofreading to texting those in need. Perhaps your local school district needs your help with online tutoring.
TRAPPED PARENT TIP:
Online museums. If you’ve been hoping to visit a certain museum before this pandemic, only to find it out of reach, you may want to look for online exhibits and programs. It’s obviously not the same, but many cultural institutions have (free) fascinating offerings for kids and parents. I’m going to give one shoutout: The Lower East Side Tenement Museum. When my ancestors first came to the United States, they settled in a Manhattan building like the one housing it, and it gives me strength to know they and others overcame far tougher circumstances.
