Every number has a name; every name has a family–somewhere. I mourn their loss.
I am grateful to the healthcare workers and first responders, as always.
And, I am grateful that the peak of the pandemic appears to be passing, at least here in the US.
Numbers change every day. (As does tabulation methodology—setting that aside for another day.)
Just weeks ago, the peak was a theoretical concept in a model, on a graph. We know now that the situation can improve – it has improved, and it will improve.
Some are now fearful of a second and subsequent waves. Nevertheless, let us be grateful that this wave has been met and that it is receding.
Questions of liberty and legality aside (for now), governments are re-opening The Economy. Here in the U.S., the federal government has issued guidelines. Here in Ohio, the State has set a date.
Just what it all means is in flux. Nevertheless, it is coming.
Some businesses closed in this period. Some thrived. Some will never reopen.
And that’s a tragedy too—for all individuals throughout the chain—from customers to employees to vendors to the communities in which these businesses have operated—for all the families involved.
Business is not something we do between binge watching TV. It is fundamental to how humans live socially, cooperatively, non-violently.
The longer the closure, the more damage done.
It is time to be open for business.