Easing restrictions in Republican-run states
What happened
Republican governors across the U.S. took the first steps to reopen numerous states this week—a move met by cheers from business leaders who say extended lockdowns will wreak economic devastation, and by warnings from public health officials that a new surge in infections will follow. The easing of restrictions came as the U.S. passed 1 million confirmed cases—a third of the world’s total—and 58,000 deaths, more than the U.S. suffered in more than a decade of the Vietnam War. Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp ordered the most expansive reopening, allowing barbershops, gyms, tattoo parlors, nail salons, restaurants, and theaters to open, with restrictions on the number of patrons. In Texas, Gov. Greg Abbott ended stay-at-home orders and announced that retail stores, restaurants, theaters, and malls can open Friday, at 25 percent capacity. The reopenings there and in Florida, Mississippi, Colorado, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Missouri, and other states prompted alarms from health officials and some mayors who say it’s too soon and will reverse gains made by six weeks of social distancing. “It’s not a matter of whether infections will increase, but how much,” said Columbia University epidemiologist Jeffrey Shaman.
As many Republican-led states eased restrictions, Democratic governors in New York, Virginia, New Mexico, and other states extended stay-at-home orders into May or gave notice that they would. The result was a patchwork of conflicting regulations and admonitions that left business owners debating whether to open and employees and customers wondering if it was safe to return. “It’s awesome that they want to get the economy going again,” said Olivia Wise, a waitress in New Braunfels, Texas. “But it’s not worth risking getting my parents sick.”
Mixed signals from the White House added to the confusion. President Trump said Georgia was moving too fast—an abrupt reversal of his previous criticism of stayat-home orders. He then praised Abbott’s opening of Texas, encouraging all governors to reopen schools soon. Vice President Mike Pence predicted the epidemic will be “largely behind us” by Memorial Day. That prediction was quickly contradicted by White House coronavirus response coordinator Dr. Deborah Birx. “Social distancing will be with us through the summer,” Birx said.
What the editorials said
Gov. Kemp “is moving too soon,” said The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. There are signs “a dire situation is getting better,” but our hard-hit state is not close to the testing capacity needed “to detect
Kemp has struck a reasonable balance, said The Wall Street Journal. His order is “no free-for-all”: Businesses must follow distancing restrictions, bars remain closed, and the elderly remain under a stayat-home order. Kemp is “right to believe that the economic well-being of Georgians is at least as important as the public-health dangers posed by the coronavirus.” We’ll soon find out if there is a surge of infections, but “we applaud his concern for the millions who, unlike the elites who dismiss their worries, can’t earn a living on their laptops.”
A new wave of infections is coming, said
in Dr. Anthony Fauci, President Trump’s top adviser on infectious diseases, says it’s “inevitable” that the U.S. will see an infection spike as states ease restrictions. If states don’t wait until the number of new cases shows a steady, two-week decline, or don’t continue to require social distancing in reopened businesses, Fauci said, “we could be in for a bad fall and a bad winter.” Fauci wants Covid-19 tests to be widely available by late May or early June, said in
but the U.S. has still conducted just 5.4 million tests. Covid-19 is “too deadly to let it rip through the population.” For the U.S. to achieve herd immunity, “up to 80 percent” of Americans must be exposed to the virus, which could result in 2 million deaths. That’s obviously unacceptable. Without a “miracle drug,” the prospect for deliverance from this pandemic seems “more remote than ever.”
tina Maxouris
What the columnists said
the true scope of the disease,” not to mention the contacttracing system required to prevent outbreaks. “We are all anxious to get back to work,” but to encourage people to dine out, go bowling, or get their nails done puts all Georgians’ “health and lives” at risk.
A “patchwork” approach is exactly what we need, said Rich Lowry in NationalReview.com. That term has become a pejorative, but states like New York and Michigan that contain hard-hit cities are also full of counties the virus has barely touched—and they are subject to the same restrictions. Our diverse country is inherently a patchwork, and “it’s absurd to pretend otherwise in our response to the virus.”
We’re being offered “a false choice between saving lives or saving the economy,” said Aaron Carroll in The New York Times. Businesses won’t survive without customers, and polls show about 80 percent of Americans aren’t ready to venture out. To create confidence, we need five to 10 times the number of tests a day we’re now administering to identify who’s infected and who’s not, and to build a workforce “to conduct contact tracing and isolation.” That’s how we save the economy.
Chris
“We need nuance,” said Virginia Heffernan in the Los Angeles Times. To suggest we should explore “commonsense revisions to the quarantine” isn’t the same as advocating “packing Petco Stadium for a Padres game.” Deciding how to move forward rationally is “a discussion we can’t back away from.” We’re “in this for the long haul,” said Dr. Robert Pearl in Forbes.com. And we have to face “the unfortunate truth that every path forward is booby-trapped.” If we move too slowly, the economy suffers long-term damage. Move too quickly, and we’ll be hit with a lot more illness and death. “We can’t allow politics or panic to push our nation too far in either direction.”