Dear governor, follow your gut and go slow

Dear Gov. Ned Lamont, Pump the brakes. You want the world to return to normal. So do we. So do Connecticut’s other 3.56 million residents But for all the complexities of trying to crack the enigma of this single-stranded RNA virus, we know one truth: Keeping apart saves lives.

Nothing has really changed over these last four months. There is no cure. Testing is not readily available to most of the public. If anyone wants to get together with a friend, they are as vulnerable as they were in March.

In listening to you in recent days, we get a sense of what your gut is telling you to do.

We like that you acknowledged Monday that “I probably would say I’m rethinking that, looking at what’s going on in other parts. We thought about increasing occupancy on things like restaurants. We’re down to 50 percent for indoor, but again Texas just lowered themselves down to 50 percent for indoor. As I look what’s going on in Texas and Arizona and Florida, we definitely take that as an indicator of what we want to do in mid-July.”

We don’t envy the decisions you have to make about the pandemic, but one step back right now might mean two steps up. We’re not even asking for a step back, but we need to keep the numbers down by holding steady.

Governors are in a lonely position in their home states these days. Everyone is looking to you for direction, and you know every decision will draw backlash from some quarters.

But at least you can commiserate with other members of the Governor’s Club. Some are learning hard lessons by starting too slow in introducing social distancing and the wearing of masks in public.

Others are reconsidering their scheduled phases to reopen business. Outbreaks of COVID-19 in Texas, Arizona and Florida convinced New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy to back off his plans to resume outdoor dining in the Garden State on Thursday.

That plan to open Connecticut bars around July

20, for example, should probably wait.

Our numbers are among the very best in the nation. You deserve much of the credit for that, as do Connecticut residents who have been wisely cautious.

You held firm against towns that wanted to accelerate openings. We don’t blame them for that instinct. Typical human nature is to socialize.

We also suspect you know how perilous the weeks ahead can be. July is traditionally party time in the USA. Fireworks for large crowds aren’t something you would schedule during a pandemic, but tradition has a way of erasing logic. Throwing caution to the wind can be deadly.

“I do get anxious because there’s a very narrow margin for error,” you confessed.

It’s OK to be anxious. We’re all in that club. But anxiety is better than regret. In 12 months, we all want to be able to look back at this summer of anxiety without regrets.

We don’t envy the decisions you have to make about the pandemic, but one step back right now might mean two steps up. We’re not even asking for a step back, but we need to keep the numbers down by holding steady.