Few issues have revealed the depths of inequality in society quite like education during a time of quarantine. For the better-off among us, there are school-provided laptops to keep students on track, with parents available at home to fill in the gaps. Fo

ELECTIONS

Our election systems are also due for an overhaul, but in this case the solution couldn’t be clearer. Many states have no-excuses absentee balloting that allows people to vote by mail in every election, and that should be the standard nationwide and in Connecticut. There is no need to make people take time off work, wait in long lines and potentially expose themselves to sickness in order to cast a ballot. Voting by mail is secure and reliable, and should be a priority regardless of the pandemic’s status.

HEALTH CARE

Less straightforward is the problem of health care. A post-virus future must allow more people access to lifesaving care that is not tied directly to employment. Connecticut has worked toward that goal with the introduction in recent legislative sessions of a public option that would allow anyone to sign up for the state employee health plan. The virus upended any chance of its passage this year, but it should be a priority once legislative schedules return to normal.

Coverage, however, is only the beginning. As the nation has rightfully saluted frontline health care workers who have borne the brunt of the coronavirus fight, we have also seen the shortages nationwide of vital equipment and paraphernalia. Working to ensure health professionals have the tools they need to provide necessary care takes on even greater importance in a post-COVID future.

The right tools for health professionals must extend to nursing homes. More than half of the COVID-19 deaths in Connecticut are related to nursing homes, in part because of the vulnerability of the aged. But it also points to the need for greater state oversight to ensure uniformity of safe care, for the employees as well as for the residents.

BThe history of war has taught us that the worst of human conditions can benefit future lives. Innovations on battlefields have done this for generations, from the invention of the ambulance to casualty care that transitioned to American streets.

So with the profound setbacks of the pandemic comes opportunity. We welcome your own ideas in the form of letters to the editor. While the crisis has caused physical distance, it has also fortified a sense of community, not only in our towns, state and nation, but throughout the world.

We stand together, unmasked, eyes on the future.