A recent poll shows 60% of Americans want their leaders to be prudent in decisions to reopen places of business as the COVID-19 pandemic appears to be easing its grip.
The Wall Street Journal/NBC survey shows a majority of Americans are not in a great hurry to open the economy as long as the virus presents an imminent threat to their health. Their concern is that by throwing the doors open, the pandemic will resurge. In Kansas, the number of reported cases continue to increase. Two weeks ago, the number of cases that tested positive averaged 75 a day. This last week, the number jumped to 100 a day. To date, Kansas is nudging 2,000 cases with 100 deaths.
The U.S. death toll from the pandemic is 41,115, with the virus quickly overcoming heart disease as the leading cause of the death. Cancer was left in the dust weeks ago.
The restrictions to stay home are intended to guard the public’s safety while the virus makes its way across the country. The unfortunate consequence is a comatose economy.
THE DEBATE has quickly become political with those making decisions about public health being portrayed as infringing on our civil and religious liberties.
Conservatives are protesting that, essentially, it’s their right to become infected.
If it could stop there, they’d have a strong argument. Trouble is, this virus is highly contagious. So no one has the “right” to get infected and then pose a danger to others.
When Gov. Laura Kelly ordered churches to refrain from holding services, it wasn’t because she’s against religion, but because a preponderance of the state’s cases have been determined to originate at church gatherings. That’s a public health concern. It is also why she ordered public schools to shutter their doors. She cares about our safety.
Opponents are trying to portray Kelly as heavy-handed when in fact Kansas has been more lenient than many states. Businesses able to enforce social distancing measures have remained open.
In the weekend’s WSJ/NBC poll, 75% of respondents said they remain worried that either they or a family member would contract the virus.
The best way to assuage those fears is for widespread testing of the virus. The more we can verify and then isolate those who have the virus, the quicker the rest of the populace can go about their business. With only a small fraction of the U.S. population being tested, there’s no way of knowing the true scale of the rate of infection.
Those of us in rural Kansas perhaps forget how cosmopolitan we have become, thinking nothing of day trips to to Lawrence or Kansas City. Seventy-five percent of Kansas’ 2,000 confirmed cases are in the Kansas City metropolitan area. It’s by no means a stretch to think one such trip could bring the virus this way.
Let’s be smart and safe.
First the testing. Then the rollout.
— Susan Lynn
