Editorial

Learning to live with the virus

We’ve learned to live inside a bubble. We’ve developed a new vocabulary. We drive less, talk to friends more, and watch carefully our interactions with others.

The new habits came on suddenly and have become our standard practices during the past eight weeks. Now, those bubbles are starting to expand a bit as we shift to reopening.

Golf courses are back in business; stores and services in 24 counties in Pennsylvania are gearing up for customers.

In southeastern Pennsylvania, however, the message is “not so fast.” Yes, eventually we’ll achieve the numbers required for reopening. But we won’t be going back to things as they were before this pandemic overtook our world.

“We’re going to need to learn how to live with this virus until there is a proven treatment or a vaccine,” Montgomery County commissioners’ Chairwoman Dr. Valerie Arkoosh said during a recent news briefing. “And in the course of learning to live with it, we each have to figure out what we can do to make it as safe as possible.

“We will get through this if we each do everything that we can to be part of the solution. If we all follow data driven recommendations and evidence-based solutions, we will beat this thing,” added Arkoosh, who as a physician has been at the center of her county’s efforts to combat coronavirus and provide information regarding the outbreak. Her leadership has been a stable source of information for the entire region that includes Berks County.

Arkoosh said last week that residents have some time before the region reaches the goals that would allow counties to relax mitigation measures and reopen under Gov. Tom Wolf’s plan.

“Let’s use this time wisely. Each of us needs to think about what steps we can take in our personal lives and in our work lives to learn to live with social distancing,” Arkoosh said. “Social distancing needs to become second nature and socially expected in the same way that shaking hands used to be. I’m going to put shaking hands in the past tense, because we are not going to be shaking hands for a very long time.”

Business owners, Arkoosh suggested, should be thinking about steps they can take to operate responsibly in the future.

“For each business, it’s going to be different, but this is a good time to begin thinking about what it’s going to take to meet some of these social distancing goals,” Arkoosh said.

Those likely to face serious health complications from COVID-19 should think about what they need to feel safe during the ongoing public health crisis, Arkoosh said.

“How can our communities come together to support you? We need more testing, particularly the rapid virus testing,” said Arkoosh.

Wolf previously indicated if southeast Pennsylvania continues to have a higher number of positive COVID-19 cases, then reopening here will be slower than in places where the case counts have been low. The counties in our region are in the red phase of Wolf’s plan, which mandates that only life-sustaining businesses can be open, large gatherings are prohibited and there is a stay-at-home order in place.

As those restrictions become relaxed in coming months, we need to remain vigilant.

We are not going to call this “the new normal,” because there is nothing normal about wearing masks to the grocery store. The pandemic that has sickened thousands in our region and forced a shutdown of our economy remains with us, a looming crisis that requires our daily attention to keep it at bay.

Living with the virus means smart and safe distancing, continued online learning and no physical contact. We can restore commerce smartly and leave our homes safely if we work together.

And who knows? Maybe when we have a vaccine and feel safe, we may have gotten used to walks outdoors and weekly online chats with scattered friends and family. The future may be a calmer, more connected place post-pandemic that it was before. Time will tell.

— MediaNews Group