What are your thoughts on how government is handling COVID-19

[Calliecake]

Doesn't it fall under states rights? Or maybe not, in the time of Trump.

I believe it falls under the states rights.

 

[Demon]

Me too. So Trump can just go ahead and declare everyone should go back to normal. As long as the governors are sane (and some of them certainly aren't), things will just continue as they are now until the governors declare the shutdowns are over. And I expect that will upset him very much to find out he in not in control.

 

[AGBF]

If you are not afraid yet, read about the powers which Trump probably has and about which we have no idea.

Opinion | Trump Has Emergency Powers We Aren’t Allowed to Know About (Published 2020)

Given that they could make their first appearance in the coronavirus crisis, Congress should insist on having full access to them.

www.nytimes.com

 

[missy]

The power lies with the states.
It is going to go state by state and hopefully sanity will rule.

Despite this truth I hold strong in that our state leaders will take the smart action.


but oh this is so true.

 

[AGBF]

OK...If ignorance is bliss, why aren't more people happy?

 

[missy]

OK...If ignorance is bliss, why aren't more people happy?

Maybe (more) people are smarter than we think?

 

[redwood66]

We can't be in perpetual lockdown across all states as some have very limited locations of infections. The cost to the local economy is too great. My concern is from neighboring states with higher infection rates driving over and bringing it with them to take advantage of local recreation. I don't know how long this is going to take and it is going to be so painful economically. The whole point of lockdown was to preserve the hospital space and ability to respond without overwhelming it. When local hospitals are nearly empty except for emergencies it has to be reevaluated. Wyoming is not New York and my heart breaks for NY.

 

[redwood66]

And I hope and pray it doesn’t get as bad anywhere else. We know how to slow it down and perhaps even stop it as each day we are closer to a potentially improved treatment and vaccine.

I hope not as well @missy.

 

[missy]

We can't be in perpetual lockdown across all states as some have very limited locations of infections. The cost to the local economy is too great. My concern is from neighboring states with higher infection rates driving over and bringing it with them to take advantage of local recreation. I don't know how long this is going to take and it is going to be so painful economically. The whole point of lockdown was to preserve the hospital space and ability to respond without overwhelming it. When local hospitals are nearly empty except for emergencies it has to be reevaluated. Wyoming is not New York and my heart breaks for NY.

And I hope and pray it doesn’t get as bad anywhere else. We know how to slow it down and perhaps even stop it as each day we are closer to a potentially improved treatment and vaccine.

And we need to look at the other countries who have gone through this before us and learn from their mistakes and successes. It’s too soon to lift the quarantine imo.

 

[missy]

I hope not as well @missy.

Sorry I edited.
Let’s not waste all our efforts by moving too fast.

 

[redwood66]

And I hope and pray it doesn’t get as bad anywhere else. We know how to slow it down and perhaps even stop it as each day we are closer to a potentially improved treatment and vaccine.

And we need to look at the other countries who have gone through this before us and learn from their mistakes and successes. It’s too soon to lift the quarantine imo.

It certainly is too soon in NY and other highly affected locations. But other states need to be able to reevaluate their own situations. It concerns me that locally we are not getting recovery numbers and have been holding at low infection rates for a week now with only a handful of new cases.

ETA - I don't know what the answer is but I know it can't go on indefinitely.

 

[Demon]

If you are not afraid yet, read about the powers which Trump probably has and about which we have no idea.

Opinion | Trump Has Emergency Powers We Aren’t Allowed to Know About (Published 2020)

Given that they could make their first appearance in the coronavirus crisis, Congress should insist on having full access to them.

www.nytimes.com

I have to say that is scary as hell. Especially with this president.

 

[Dancing Fire]

And we need to look at the other countries who have gone through this before us and learn from their mistakes and successes. It’s too soon to lift the quarantine imo.

Nobody knows when is the right time to open for business again.

 

[missy]

Nobody knows when is the right time to open for business again.

I agree with you. You won't hear me say that very often

But I can say now isn't the right time. IMO. Too soon. Look at the countries who went through this before us. Slow and steady is the way to go. I am not an expert. This is my opinion.

We started too late re the quarantine and we were too slow in taking this seriously (as a country) and because of that lost many lives that otherwise might have been saved. Let's not end the quarantine too early losing many more lives and perhaps undoing all the good we have done to this point.

JMO.

ETA - I don't know what the answer is but I know it can't go on indefinitely.

We agree on this point. It can't (and won't) go on forever but moving too fast can be disastrous. I too do not know the answer. But just to continue one day at a time re-evaluating every day and taking it from there.

Believe me I want to get back to "normal" as fast as is reasonably possible with the minimal harm possible.

 

[smitcompton]

Hi,

We will be able to consider re-opening some businesses as soon as we can have testing done on a large scale where there is low incidence of new cases. Google is preparing to test their own workers before they come back to work.
If you have a high degree of testing you can isolate who has been exposed and from where. Two types of tests are available, an antibody test and a diagnosis test. A faster result time also matters. That test was supposed to be available soon, but has been delayed. We still do not have enough tests for proper management of the Pandemic.

No re-opening until tests can be done. IMO

Annette

 

[Dancing Fire]

No re-opening until tests can be done. IMO

Annette

To all 340 million people in the US?

 

[MakingTheGrade]

Apparently White House is unwilling to bail out USPS. Not like that’s a crucial service or anything for things like say...mail in voting or tax returns or....

 

[redwood66]

The USPS needs to reform itself instead of constant bailouts.

 

[Dancing Fire]

The USPS needs to reform itself instead of constant bailouts.

Yup, Year after year.

 

[1ofakind]

No re-opening until tests can be done. IMO

And even then opening will be a process. Schools, conferences, mass transit travel, large gatherings etc will all have to be hampered unless people can get tested every time they go. People who are resistant due to antibodies should be good OK but nursing homes (for example) can’t open up for a long time because it only takes one person, one time.....even if they tested negative 3 days ago that doesn’t mean anything today.
The real answer is a vaccine or an effective anti-viral to lessen the impact if infected.

 

[House Cat]

Keep this in mind if we open states for the economy. We should be making sure the country is in the clear first. Otherwise, we will prolong the injury to the citizens and the economy if we let certain states free, ensuring outbreaks in those states and surrounding areas.

 

[House Cat]

 

[redwood66]

Not one person here has said just fling the gates open so hyperbolic memes are not helpful in the least. They're just divisive. Fed, State, and local governments had better be working on a plan to open things back up eventually.

 

[1ofakind]

The USPS needs to reform itself instead of constant bailouts.

I had a package mailed priority express, that’s supposed to be overnight to 2 day delivery and the sender paid extra for it. It started out 1200 miles SE of me. According to USPS tracking it went back and forth between two cities near it‘s point of origin, twice. Then it landed 200 miles west of me. Then 110 miles south. One more trip 100 miles east of me and then it finally made it to my town. Once here it only took 2 days to get to my house and although I signed up for updates I was notified only 30 minutes before the end of the 2 hour delivery window. It took 10 days to arrive. Sure lets bail them out. But even better... lets all VOTE by mail. What could go wrong?

 

[1ofakind]

Keep this in mind if we open states for the economy. We should be making sure the country is in the clear first. Otherwise, we will prolong the injury to the citizens and the economy if we let certain states free, ensuring outbreaks in those states and surrounding areas.

Some are saying it could be 18 months to 2 years before we are ‘in the clear’...if ever. This shut down is not sustainable at this level. There has to be a way to start things moving, even slowly. Otherwise we are simply choosing which kind of tragedy we think is the better one...more accurately, someone else is choosing for us.

 

[Demon]

I had a package mailed priority express, that’s supposed to be overnight to 2 day delivery and the sender paid extra for it. It started out 1200 miles SE of me. According to USPS tracking it went back and forth between two cities near it‘s point of origin, twice. Then it landed 200 miles west of me. Then 110 miles south. One more trip 100 miles east of me and then it finally made it to my town. Once here it only took 2 days to get to my house and although I signed up for updates I was notified only 30 minutes before the end of the 2 hour delivery window. It took 10 days to arrive. Sure lets bail them out. But even better... lets all VOTE by mail. What could go wrong?

Well, when voting by mail, most people are voting in their own state. We've had it in CO for a while now, and there are secure drop boxes all over to leave your ballot, so you don't even have to mail it. Seems to be working just fine here.

 

[House Cat]

Some are saying it could be 18 months to 2 years before we are ‘in the clear’...if ever. This shut down is not sustainable at this level. There has to be a way to start things moving, even slowly. Otherwise we are simply choosing which kind of tragedy we think is the better one...more accurately, someone else is choosing for us.

Or it could be much longer if people are released too soon and this pandemic is prolonged. Let’s also think about the casualties. Dead people can’t stimulate the economy.

The economy rhetoric without concern for the pandemic has to change. They have to figure something else out.

 

[House Cat]

Not one person here has said just fling the gates open so hyperbolic memes are not helpful in the least. They're just divisive. Fed, State, and local governments had better be working on a plan to open things back up eventually.

I’m not being hyperbolic.

Think about it...if you open up a state that has a mild problem, it will become a severe problem at some point. The only reason things are contained at this moment is due to shelter in place.

People are kidding themselves to think that the virus won’t spread because the state isn’t New York.

 

[redwood66]

I’m not being hyperbolic.

Think about it...if you open up a state that has a mild problem, it will become a severe problem at some point. The only reason things are contained at this moment is due to shelter in place.

People are kidding themselves to think that the virus won’t spread because the state isn’t New York.

But that doesn't mean that preparations and plans for states reopening shouldn't be made however slow they might be. It has to be discussed and preparations made at all levels because it won't be like flipping a switch. Your memes are hyperbolic IMO.

 

[1ofakind]

Or it could be much longer if people are released too soon and this pandemic is prolonged. Let’s also think about the casualties. Dead people can’t stimulate the economy.

The economy rhetoric without concern for the pandemic has to change. They have to figure something else out.

I am thinking about the casualties, all of the casualties. Child abuse, domestic abuse, suicides rates...these things will spike and in some areas already are. Suicides among farmers have been on the rise for years....and this is likely to cause another increase. Don’t be surprised if suicides in the elderly population spike as well. Theres a lot of talk about the mental health impact of continued fear, isolation and economic hardship at the same time. We don’t have to do it all at once but IMO we have to talk about an end to this. We have to talk about recovery. We have to talk about what comes next so that people don‘t lose hope and become a different kind of casualty.