The first case of COVID-19 in the United States was reported
on January 20th. Of course,
this is akin to finding one termite in your garage and thinking that there are
no others. Of course, by January 20th
there were an unknown number of infected Americans who were silently and
efficiently transmitting the virus to others.
It’s easy to say now what we all should have done then.
The rapidity of the explosion of worldwide infections has
been staggering and humbling. Compare
the known infections and mortality in America today with the state of affairs
on January 20th, only 3 months ago.
Just prior to posting this, the known number of U.S.
fatalities to COVID-19 is 150,000.
For some perspective, our country lost over 58,000 individuals in
the Vietnam War, but this horrible tragedy was the result of 8 bloody years, not
just several months.
The current diabolical enemy is a merciless adversary. Like a terrorist, it scares those who have
not been infected. It makes us hide and
hunker down. It kills enough people to
make us all feel vulnerable. And, it has cratered our economy so deeply that it makes the
post 9/11 economic damage seem like a modest downturn.
A deadly and invisible enemy.
But we will get through it. I was proud that it seemed that the country had largely come together to get to the other side. For the first few months, we listened to our public health experts and sacrificed. We were willing to participate in something that is so much bigger than ourselves.
But as time went on the public's patience waned. Businesses demanded to be set free. Masks became a divisive political issue. Governors opened up their states with the hope of pulling an inside straight. Many of them were forced to admit defeat and ordered an economic retreat. And many Americans simply ignored the public health recommendations and filled up beaches and bars putting all of us at greater risk.
But as time went on the public's patience waned. Businesses demanded to be set free. Masks became a divisive political issue. Governors opened up their states with the hope of pulling an inside straight. Many of them were forced to admit defeat and ordered an economic retreat. And many Americans simply ignored the public health recommendations and filled up beaches and bars putting all of us at greater risk.
Perhaps, when the next pandemic descends upon us, and it will, we will
all recognize that immediate containment and contact tracing is a better pathway than delay
followed by collective mitigation. Will we have the discipline and trust in our leaders to fall in line? How many shutdowns can the country and the world endure?
I hope and pray that the current experience has been so frightening and
traumatic that we will do the right thing when COVID-22 or COVID-24 attacks. And hopefully, the world’s scientists are learning now how to better design therapeutics
and effective vaccines, which may ultimately be our most potent two-pronged weapons
against invisible enemies that do not even exist today.
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