Category: COVID-19

As I started my journey of Graduate School in the summer of 2020, Covid-19 was just beginning to wreak havoc on our country. As a firefighter, an EMS educator, and a long time healthcare worker in the Emergency Medical Services field, I admittedly was skeptical about the seriousness of this disease and the impact that it would have on my community and this nation. We have seen over the years many diseases come around with much the same warnings in advance that did little to no damage to the nation and its people. As I got on the rig every day, I along with my colleagues treated it like any other disease and went along treating patients and doing what we do every day. Were we ever wrong in our arrogance?

As numbers continued to climb, our workers continued to be exhausted, working long hours while we worked overtime, exhausted all of our personal protective equipment and one by one, we too got sick from this very dangerous virus. One of my own contracted the virus, became so sick he fought for his life in the hospital for three months, forty-five days of which he was on a ventilator.

As workers began to become ill and forced to quarantine, this made for a managerial nightmare. Firefighters, forced to pull forty-eight hour shifts in order to keep the stations staffed, experienced many sleepless nights as our call volume went up by thirty percent. My firefighters worked tirelessly through all of this and service to our community never faltered. Masks, quarantines, and online schooling for their children have inconvenienced many people during the past year. Some have had to change the way that they do business and adapt to the current state of existence to which we live. I have seen all too frequently in the past year, the mental anguish that being on the front line of this has on the workers. Mental issues are rampant in doctors, nurses, and frontline EMS workers, and people whom I have, throughout my career, seen smiling, joking, and laughing do not do that quite as often anymore.

On January 4th, the reality really became clear. I was diagnosed myself with Covid-19 and pulled out of work to quarantine. Little did I know that after receiving that horrible news, that it would be a blessing in disguise. Two days later my father tested positive, we do not know where he contracted the virus, because he quarantined with my mother who had a surgical procedure done the week prior and had not had contact with anyone. With my mother still recovering from surgery, I was able to spend time with my dad, and take care of him as the rest of my family, due to his illness were forced to stay away. In the early morning of January 10th my father lost his life to the effects of Covid-19. When this hits your immediate family, close friend, or co-worker it becomes too real, the consequences are unforgiving.

I am not writing this for pity, for condolences, or for myself. I decided to write this for strength for others. You are only limited in this life by yourself and what you can push through in the face of adversity. I am a firefighter, an EMT, a father, and a full time student here at Clemson, and through all of this I come out of this determined, focused on the future. In this world filled with sickness and hate, choose to love, choose to be kind to each other, and make sure that the people that you care about are safe and that they know that you love them.

The political climate in the United States is becoming increasingly hostile. In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic and response, presidential election, and movement to challenge police brutality are polarizing the country. Each of these bring their own health and economic concerns as well as a feeling of instability.

As of September 2020, in America there have been some 6.7 million COVID-19 cases and nearly 200 thousand deaths due to COVID-19 according to the WHO. The stay-at-home orders and mask mandates issued to curb the spread have faced political and public scrutiny. Some of the lockdowns prompted protests. In Michigan, hundreds of people, many openly armed, gathered at the state capitol building to call for the reopening of businesses. The Pew Research Center has reported growing division between Democrats and Republicans on many COVID-related topics including the perception of disease risk, opinions on measures used to reduce the spread of COVID-19, and the confidence in medical science.

The presidential election is also increasing political tensions. President Donald Trump has said that his main opponent, Joe Biden, wants to “take away your guns, destroy your Second Amendment, no religion, no anything, hurt the Bible, hurt God,” even though Biden is a practicing Catholic. On the other side of the aisle, Biden has said that Trump’s reaction to COVID-19 was “almost criminal” and caused Americans to die. With this rhetoric, it’s unsurprising that 54% of Democrats and 52% of Republicans “said the opposing party was so misguided as to be actually dangerous”. Speakers at both presidential conventions earlier this year did little to assuage those fears, arguing that their opponents represented an existential threat to the country.

The country is also facing civil unrest after George Floyd’s death while in police custody. Since his death, there have been protests in at least 140 cities around the United States, some lasting more than one day. Minneapolis, the city where Floyd was killed, has reported that at least $55 million in damages occurred over the course of the protests in that city alone. Killings by police are continuing to be caught on camera. After Jacob Blake was shot 7 times by police in August, protests increased sometimes drawing counter-protesters. Two protestors were killed by a 17-year-old in Kenosha, Wisconsin during these demonstrations. There are also political divides about whether systematic racism is a problem in America with the gap between the two sides growing.

Politics and partisan ideology have been creating a hostile environment, and the events of 2020 have solidified it. Their combination has led to increasing instability, frustration, and fear among the American people. When people believe that the other political party actively wants to do them and the country harm, it is nearly impossible to have a reasonable debate.

The year of 2020 has brought many changes in the world. The COVID-19 pandemic is one of the many events that have affected both policy and daily lives.  COVID-19 or “Corona-virus” is a respiratory disease that is infecting people all around the world.  The only precautions that can be taken to assist in preventing the spread are staying at home, social distancing, wearing a face mask, and washing hands.  COVID-19 has changed the way people live; businesses are having employees work from home and some are shutting down due to the inability to stay open during these times.  Specifically, within the State of South Carolina, Workers’ Compensation is being affected by COVID-19 but it can potentially be a complicated situation for the Workers’ Compensation Commission, insurance agencies, lawyers, and claimants to handle.

The Workers’ Compensation Act in South Carolina offers benefits to most employees who either 1) have an on-the-job work injury or 2) an on-the-job work exposure.  Benefits that injured or infected workers are entitled to include medical treatment and two-thirds of their average weekly wage (temporary total disability, or TTD). Currently, the South Carolina House of Representatives is considering a piece of legislation, H 5482, that has been proposed in response to the COVID-19 pandemic relating to Workers’ Compensation. If passed, H 5482 creates “a rebuttable presumptions of compensability for first responders, health care providers, and correctional officers who contract COVID-19.” With this piece of legislation, there will be four categories of entitlement to temporary total benefits as long as isolation is required: people directed to isolate by his/he employer due to confirmed/suspected COVID-19 exposure, people who receive a COVID-19 diagnosis from a physician, people with a presumptive positive COVID-19 test, and people with a lab confirmed COVID-19 test.

The upcoming months within workers’ compensation is cloudy. Besides providing benefits from COVID-19 exposure and/or diagnosis, there are other elements that could be changing as a result of this pandemic. The workplace environment that is covered by workers’ compensation will be debated on due to the number of employees that are now working from home; and many employers are considering keeping this way. If an employee is working from home and is injured, will that be covered by workers’ compensation if the injury would have been if they were still located in the workplace? For example, if Sarah were to trip over her computer cord while working at home and break her wrist, would she be entitled to benefits under the act? If that same situation were to take place in the office, it would or should be covered under the Act. If her house is now her workplace, if that considered the same thing?

COVID-19 will continue to make an impact on the Workers’ Compensation Act and system for years to come. There are many implications that are arising out of the pandemic and litigation is only just beginning. Claims are now beginning to be filed and even then, litigation does not begin. Some claims may not ever see a hearing; others will be drug through many hearings and in-depth debates. Workers’ compensation has a long road ahead of them but with Bill proposals already in the State’s House of Representatives, it is hopeful that the Act and Legislatures can be proactive rather than reactive once larger priorities are able to be managed.

The first half of 2020 has been an interesting case study on the effectiveness of different methods chosen by governments to deal with crisis of the Covid-19 pandemic. When comparing policies set by different countries in response to Covid-19, the outcomes based on their responses vary greatly. While some countries took swift, decisive action based on facts and data in an attempt to mitigate the damages caused by the virus, other countries took action slowly. Although we are still living in the midst of the crisis, new information about consequences of governments’ actions or inaction is steadily emerging and from that we can conclude which decisions were effective and which were not. Policy makers had to make difficult choices, but the effectiveness of those choices had a direct and significant effect on the outcome in their country.

Two nations whose responses can be compared to determine whether they handled the Covid-19 crisis effectively are South Korea and the United States. The countries responded to the pandemic differently from the very beginning, when the first cases of the virus were newly confirmed within their borders. South Korea responded using intense testing and contract tracing methods to quarantine people quickly as they came into contact with infected individuals. The South Korean government used data and facts, including studying the response to a previous respiratory virus epidemic in their country, to determine which actions would be the most effective and took those actions immediately. The United States government on the other hand was slow to acknowledge that the virus was a problem within its borders, was slow to test, and was slow to prohibit travel to mitigate the spread of the disease. The failure of the United States government to ignore the preliminary data from countries that were hit by the pandemic before them, and the failure to act quickly and decisively contributed to the fast spread of the virus across the states. It also resulted in the economy of the United States suffering immensely as the country shut down en masse, prompting a secondary financial crisis as unemployment numbers went up significantly when people lost their jobs and businesses had to close.

Another comparison between the South Korean and the United States governments’ response to Covid-19 is the information and messaging that went to their citizens. While South Korea’s government disseminated information in January encouraging citizens to take measures to slow the spread of the virus, the United States government downplayed the threat of Covid-19 and did not treat it as an emergency until mid-March. The United States response was ineffective because the virus was able to spread for weeks among a population that may not have known the gravity of the situation. Another factor that contributed to the virus’s spread was the mixed messaging that came from different state governments in the US. Some states took extreme lockdown measures earlier than others, leading citizens to believe those states were overreacting. A final factor that contributed to an ineffective response to Covid-19 by the United States government was politicizing the pandemic. A virus is not an inherently political issue and partisan politics should have no effect on decisions made by governing bodies in their response to disease outbreaks.

The steps that South Korea and the United States each took lead to quite different outcomes. Per Google statistics, South Korea has confirmed close to 12,000 cases in total, with less than 300 deaths. The United States has confirmed over 2 million cases with 114,000 deaths. The United States accounts for about 4.25% of the world’s population but accounts for over 28% of the world’s confirmed Covid-19 cases and over 28% of the world’s Covid-19 deaths. A disproportionate number of United States citizens have become sick or died as a result of Covid- 19 and that statistic is a direct outcome of ineffective governance during the Covid-19 crisis. The South Korean government’s response to the pandemic is a great example of how effective governance has kept their citizens relatively healthy and saved their lives. The United States’ response shows how ineffective governance during a crisis was a threat to the health and lives of their citizens.

Effective governance is crucial during a crisis and state governments would be wise to evaluate which responses to Covid-19 prove to slow down or stop the spread of the disease as numbers of cases begin to rise again in many places. If their policy makers analyze the data, make decisions based on facts and science, are transparent with their citizens, disseminate information quickly, and have consistent messaging then the crisis will be much less burdensome on their resources and they will have much lower sickness and death rates.

Full disclosure, I wasn’t sure I was going to publicly post this when I sat down to write it.  Then I remembered at the end of the day, my job is to ensure everyone goes home safe and lessons are learned from mistakes, even if those mistakes are my own or my departments.  COVID-19 has posed incredible challenges to the agencies tasked with responding to issues.  The biggest challenge I have personally encountered so far, is how to communicate information that is vital to agency response to those responsible for actually responding.

Currently, I am splitting roles between front line supervisor and planning team member for the department’s incident management team (IMT).  The benefit is I get first hand insight to the decisions that are made and assist with making them.  The downside is I get information that is not for general release for a multitude of reasons.  Those who I am tasked with leading in my every day role know where I spend the rest of my time.  They know I have information and they try really hard to get that information, and I can’t blame them.  The communication from my department from the onset has been lacking.  That said, the department is in the unenviable position of responding to a crisis that has not been dealt with on this large of scale in over 100 years.  Even with that factor, the department has committed 2 of the 7 deadly sins outlined in Sujan Patel’s 2017 article for Inc. titled “The 7 Deadly Sins of Manager-Employee Communication (and How to Avoid Them)”, being unapproachable and using passive-aggressive communication.

The previous sentence was painful to write because I know there are many in the department who do not intend it to be that way.  My department also has a chain of command which makes the unapproachable part seem normal, but it does not and SHOULD not be that way, especially in these uncertain times.  Now more than ever the department leadership needs to engage with its employees and reaffirm their commitment to the success of the department.  Insulating themselves and responding to inquiries with phrases such as “check the blog” or “that question has already been answered” is just not sufficient and seems almost cold.  The responders are afraid, their families are afraid, and the public they are tasked with helping are afraid.  A leadership presence is required more than ever, not only to calm those under their command, but to deliver a strong message that can be relayed to the public.

For now, I’ll continue to calm those under my direct command, pass on what information I can when I can, and do my best to ensure other departments can learn from mistakes that are made prior to making the mistakes themselves.

As we settle into our new normal within the world of COVID-19 and evaluate the ongoing national response to the Coronavirus outbreak, we’ve seen varying degrees of effectiveness in managing the viruses spread across all levels of government. Regardless of where one stands on the political spectrum, there has been chaos, confusion, and uncertainty about the future amongst both sides of the political table. We’ve reached a critical crossroad, where political interests and loyalties meet humanitarian decision-making with economic implications…two ingredients in a recipe for disaster.

From the most senior administrators, the delay in prioritizing the virus as an impending catastrophic event led to the chaotic response that ensued across the country, particularly in Washington, New York, and California. Although, what is occurring is unprecedented, there were instruments and safety nets in place to prevent an all-out failure by leadership in foreseeing the disaster associated with viral events such as this. In 2015, on the heels of dealing with an Ebola crisis, then President Obama requested common sense, bi-partisan support from Congress in funding a Pandemic Response Team so that “5 years from now or a decade from now” the U.S. would be poised to respond to another flu-strain. Exactly 5 years after that request, the globe is under siege from a flu-strain that has crippled world markets, invoked fear and panic, and has shown how unprepared we were for what was forewarned. Exacerbating the effects of the virus was the decision to disassemble the Pandemic Response Team in 2018 for fiduciary reasons, as well as the firing of the CDC liaison strategically positioned in China’s CDC equivalent agency. The early warning systems put in place were haphazardly dismantled piece by piece until we could barely see what was in front of us, the fog of war becoming thicker by the minute.

On a state level, the responses by Governor Cuomo and many others have been inspiring, especially when considering the added challenge of citizens feeling their constitutional rights are being infringed upon through the “shelter-in-place” orders. Spring breakers refused to have their getaway from school ruined and continued to crowd the beaches, party, and risk their own safety for a few days of vacation. As a resident of Florida, it has been noticeable how behind the curve our state was in issuing lockdowns and closures. The Spring Breakers and snowbirds that refused to leave the beaches continued to cause additional personnel management issues for hospitals and emergency responders as their recklessness continued to inundate hospitals with positive cases as healthcare workers burned through Personal Protective Equipment faster than it could be resupplied. Being weeks into the response, the decisions of Governors across the country are going to drive the direction the virus takes. Similar to Hurricane Katrina, where the storm’s initial impact was tough, but manageable, the flooding from the broken levees led to the unsettling images that were burned into our nation’s Emergency Management history. The state response is similar to the levees, if they fail to control the building pressure to prematurely reopen government the secondary wave is going to be catastrophic and the damage irreparable.

As we continue to navigate these uncharted waters, we mustn’t forget those who are looking to us for guidance, strength, and leadership. On a world stage, the past few weeks have shown us that despite the hope we place in others to do the right thing, when push comes to shove, people tend to resort to primal instincts of placing “I” above all. The hoarders and price gouging are exhibiting the worst of our society and sending a terrible message to our foreign allies and enemies alike that the U.S. may not be worthy of the head of the international table. Our inability to manage supply lines, show common decency for others, or to protect our first responders are clear-tell signs that we may not be the tip of the spear as we think of ourselves to be.

It’s easy to identify the surface-level impacts, but we cannot overlook the generational impacts occurring. Our Baby Boomers and Gen-X are the most at-risk for health related complications and death, while our Millennials and Gen-Z are dealing with a sudden financial downward spiral with the highest unemployment rate in our country’s history. Looking to the future, our youngest generation is experiencing a lesser-discussed crisis with potentially greater impact on their developing personas. COVID-19 has forced school closures around the nation and led to more questions than answers regarding our children’s educational future. With Virginia closing schools for the remainder of the school year and Florida contemplating reopening on 01 May, how do we ensure kids’ re-entry to school is as least impactful on their acclimation back to a classroom environment after forcing online education during a pandemic? Do they repeat the grade? Are they required to attend summer school to make up missed lessons? Are students who don’t have access to technology in-home responsible for missing work when their parents were depending on their attendance at school throughout the year for their education? We as a nation have to do better if not for our own safety and security, then for the safety and security of our most vulnerable populations.

The response to the COVID-19 is presented a myriad of public policy problems. To me, what is most troubling is the amount of authority that has been vested in government bodies at all level. So far this week, the governor of South Carolina has closed all public beaches and boat ramps. In addition to those restrictions, most, if not all, state parks are closed.

I’m troubled by the government’s actions in closing areas where social distancing could still be practiced. I’m equally troubled by the ripple effect this could cause on individual’s physical and mental health.

From a law enforcement perspective, I’ve heard stories of county jail’s refusing to accept arrested individuals. I’ve also heard that at lease one jail will not hold anyone unless they are charged with a  capital crime.  I have serious concerns as to how this policy will contribute to lawlessness and victimization.

In terms of the government’s response, I feel that the government has done a good job of responding to this crisis. I’d contend this is an unprecedented event, so we are in uncharted territory. I’m encouraged by the government’s work to provide relief to the various interest groups. The government has been working to help hospitals, business, and individual persons.

I think it a tremendous testiment to the resolve and commitment of our govenment and the ability of our representatives to govern by how rapildy the various relief bills passed through congress. For the first time in a while, there was a truly bipartisan approach to legislation.

There are several takeaways from this crisis. First, there is an incredible amount of goodwill that is being demonstrated. Everyday we see stories about communities and people coming together to help. Second, this crisis has demonstrated the downside of America’s foreign reliance. There is a significant amount of medical goods and equipment. This has certainly created national security implications and in some ways, reduced the ability to treat patients.

I’m not sure there is a clear path forward, I think this is something we have to take one day at a time.

Like millions of Americans and fellow citizens around the world, I am nervous about the overall threat COVID-19 presents to our society. While this disease might not be as deadly as some other pandemics we have had in the past, the rapid spread of this disease is worrisome if we do not unite under a common goal of eradicating this disease in the least costly way possible.

I believe we as a country did not take the correct measures to ensure our citizens were protected prior to COVID-19 arriving in our country. We should have seen from the ongoing threat the virus was already presenting in nations such as China, Iran, and South Korea that this virus had the potential to directly impact not only a large percentage of the population, but also cause untold damage to the economy. Our country failed to make sure we were adequately prepared to deal with an outbreak of this magnitude. The national emergency stockpile was not replenished, even when it was known by this Administration and the previous one that supplies needed to be restocked. If our federal government had done a greater job of resupplying its emergency stockpile it is likely to infer we would not be dealing with as widespread of a shortage in medical supplies as we are currently experiencing. However, I do believe that the federal government has been responding fairly well to this ongoing issue in recent days. Trying to ensure citizens get paid during business closures, as well as injecting money directly into the market to ensure a depression does not occur, are necessary steps that have been taken by the federal government in recent days. However, it will be interesting to see if they continue to take such measures as these to ensure its citizens are protected from homelessness, loss of savings, and ultimately free of disease.

I believe our state and local entities have responded more effectively to this ongoing crisis than our federal government has. The social distancing policies, along with closing indoor dining in restaurants, I believe, have greatly reduced the potential for citizens to come into contact with the pathogen, helping to slow its growth throughout the nation. These policies have been implemented as a measure to try and ensure we stay healthy, even if it means sacrificing our temporary wants and desires for long term longevity. The medical field and their staffs have been doing a tremendous job responding to this outbreak and deserve all of the praise in the world for their tireless pursuit in working towards a vaccine and helping those stricken by the virus recover. It is impervious that the individuals receive the praise and adoration they deserve not only throughout this issue, but after it is done to ensure they are never taken for granted.

I am nervous, however, that this situation will continue to get worse and people will begin to show their true side. We have already seen the lengths people will go to, including hoarding, price gouging commonly used items, and fighting others over simple goods and services. If this situation does spiral out of control, I find it difficult to infer people will not devolve into more ruthless versions of themselves. Rather than fighting for the good of society, I fear a majority, or at least a substantial portion of the population, will fight for themselves, without worrying what effects their actions might have on the general population (case in point, the spring breakers in Florida).

We must do what is right, as a city, county, state, and country, to ensure this crisis is resolved as quickly as possible with the fewest number of lives lost. However, we cannot destroy our economy and our very way of life in order to do this. There are necessary steps that will need to be taken if this outbreak continues to get worse, I just hope we as a country and a society do not devolve into a less civilized version of ourselves because of the strain this virus is placing on our society. I desire for us to learn from this outbreak, and take the necessary steps to ensure the likelihood of something of this magnitude does not happen again, or happens again at a much more mild level than it presently is.

If I had to define the US response to COVID-19, the word would be divisive. From the top down, each level of government has struggled to make timely and effective decisions. Having just started work at a hospital, this situation begged the question: why, in the middle of flu season, in 2020, in a country with as much advanced medicine as the United States has, are we this ill-equipped or prepared to handle a SARS virus?

From the federal level, President Trump’s response to the crisis has been botched to say the least. From calling the virus a hoax to promoting an untested drug for the virus, his messaging has been disconnected with that of the CDC and contradictory to the warnings from those countries that have already struggled with the pandemic.

At the state level, SC Governor McMaster has painstakingly closed category after category of nonessential businesses down, while the majority of the state begs to have a stay-at-home order in place. There have been several governors, particularly NY Governor Cuomo, who have been ahead of the curve in the preparedness of their state, however South Carolina’s governor has been slow to make any real movement throughout the crisis.

On a local level, the only park and facility closures have been the main policy related items I have seen. Unrelated to policy, I have seen that our County Fire-Rescue has implemented different PPE procedures than the hospital or any other local healthcare facility, creating their own shortage of N-95 masks. The CEO of our hospital was approached by the Fire Chief today with this issue and stated that they would no longer be masking patients and would be passing that duty along to the hospital. I feel this could be an ethical issue, but luckily our facility has effectively managed our supply of PPE and has the ability to don all patients coming into the facility even when brought in by the ambulance.

There were a few things that came to mind that were unrelated to government policy, but that I felt were necessary to think about concerning policy on COVID-19.

• Strategic National Stockpile and the different procedures of hospitals and hospital groups and the usage of PPE. If this is a national resource during the pandemic, shouldn’t we have universal rules for its usage?
• The knowledge by local governments of their rights to enact stay at home orders. I think that if local governments in SC hadn’t enacted their own orders and instead put pressure on the Governor to enact a statewide order, then SC might not have been one of the last states to do this.

Ending on a positive note, and while it doesn’t have anything to do with government, I think it is important to note the response of the public as a whole (or a majority). Teachers have pulled together online learning for students in just days, stores have created special shopping hours to protect the more vulnerable, doctors are innovating the way we use ventilators, museums have gone virtual, people are sewing homemade masks, patronizing their local businesses in spite of the changes they’ve had to make, and thanking their healthcare workers and first responders. In a very uncertain and often negative time, the public has come together to form their own set of social policies; most of which I hope remain when COVID-19 is gone.

Wash your hands and stay home, people.

How do you know you’re making the right decisions when you’re dealing with something no one in the last 100 years has ever had to deal with? At the federal level, the response to COVID-19 has been reactionary and there’s a lot of woulda, coulda, shoulda going on right now from the public. Reports have stated that employees of the pandemic branch of the CDC abruptly resigned in 2018. Their positions were never refilled. With no specific group to handle the situation, President Trump appointed a task force in January to develop a U.S. response to the potential crisis. In February, the president named Vice President Mike Pence to head the group, which has since been providing regular updates to the public on policy decisions and other actions regarding the outbreak.

How do we know what would have worked? A lock down on all out of the country travel right from the start? A mandatory 15 day lockdown? I can’t even imagine our country succeeding at a stay-at-home ordinance. Some of us have to go to work. We have friends who are working in hospitals who could possibly bring the virus home to their loved ones who in turn could take it to work at their City Hall. We’re still going to grocery stores for essential needs and getting gas to get to where we need to go. How do we really know where we got the virus in the first place?  We know the first confirmed reported case was identified in China in December 2019. The first confirmed case outside China was reported on January 20, 2020, in Japan, Thailand, and South Korea. The first case in the United States was identified in Washington state on January 21. But these are all confirmed reported cases. We don’t know if the U.S. had a case before January 21. Is it possible? Yes. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) started to push basic precautions such as hand-washing and cleaning frequently touched surfaces. On March 11, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the outbreak a pandemic. It seems like social distancing is widely seen as the best available means to “flatten the curve” of the pandemic, a phrase that epidemiologists use to describe slowing down the spread of infection. This approach can save lives by keeping local health care systems from being overwhelmed.

I believe South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster is doing the best he can at responding to COVID-19. He’s doing everything he can to keep groups from forming while avoiding a mandatory stay-at-home ordinance. I was a bartender for years and I feel for the servers out there who are out of a job right now, but the decision to close restaurants was the most obvious one since that’s the business where germs are spread the most. I’m not a parent and I don’t have much knowledge about working with kids but closing the schools made sense in protecting kids and their families. With schools, restaurants, and businesses closed, the only thing to really do when the weather is nice is to go to the pool or the beach. I believe the governor had no choice but to close our beaches and boat landings because that’s where law enforcement saw the most people over the weekend. It was busy everywhere and people definitely were not social distancing.

At the local level, it looks like municipalities are doing their best to continue operations. I’m grateful to have a job that allows me to work from anywhere and I’m grateful that I was able to pay my rent today. But there’s a lot of people who can’t say the same right now. We were on an economic high just over a month ago. I hope we’re able to get back to where we were and maybe even better.