Last night, I wrote that I thought it was time to think about opening up after the coronavirus, especially in the vast swaths of rural America (where I live), where the horrific disease seems and is mostly remote, even though our lives have been shut down, our businesses closed, our freedom to move freely taken away.
Just when people in my part of the world started finding jobs again, a generation or two after the trade pacts took most of the jobs away, the jobs up where I live are gone again, and many are not ever coming back. For my neighbors, this is a horror, as is their empty bank accounts, sheltered children, and barren kitchen shelves.
Students can’t pay tuition, parents can’t buy food, children are isolated and alone for weeks, reports of depression, anxiety, domestic violence are skyrocketing. Overnight, we have created an entirely new and brutal universe of poverty and despair.
The longer they are shut down, the deeper and more enduring this universe will get.
Those government checks will last a week or two, they are band-aids on a bullet wound.
For the first time in a long time, most of my long-time readers disagreed with me, most of them in the most civil, thoughtful, and persuasive way. Their messages made me think long and hard and well into the night about what I wrote.
I appreciate them; they were honest, eloquent, and persuasive.
Janet, from California: Jon, I feel stir crazy too, and I feel bad for people who are losing their business, but life is more important than money, and we need to learn to feed and take care of each other in Crisis. If we open too soon, the working poor will be the most vulnerable being sent back to work in unsafe conditions.
Melissa, from the Bronx: I don’t think I agree Jon. As a health care worker with my healthcare worker daughter on the front lines in the Bronx, we need to give it more time. It is not under control in N.Y.C. and N.J… people are risking their lives..to squash this epidemic. Most scientists, epidemiologists, and Doctors are begging people to stay home...
Lisen, From Iowa: Living in Iowa with more cases every day and a Governor who is opening up certain things regardless, I am concerned with your words. How about our Government takes care of these people who are out of jobs and small businesses instead of taking care of real estate developers, large companies, ect.? I want to go back to my students, but we need to be safe. We need testing and certainty of care before that can happen.
Helen, from the Midwest: No thanks for me. I feel like nothing will get that much worse in a couple of weeks financially, and I have lost both my jobs still waiting on unemployment and am 64, but nothing is worth people’s lives to me. A couple more weeks or maybe a month then a slow opening at first. But this half-crazy mixed bunch of openings could be the trigger that sends us into a much longer closure. Nothing is worth the lives of anyone. No one in this country is expendable. No matter your age, race wealth. Nothing. That’s just me
Margaret, a small business owner California: Thank you for saying this much more diplomatically than I can. Our county is looking at S.I.P. (sheltering-in-place) until the end of May, with mandatory face coverings starting soon when we go out. The charitable organizations are facing big losses with the cancellation of many major events through August already announced. I hope we can do this right before our economy loses too much more ground.
Those messages are valuable and should be widely read. This is the kind of meaningful conversation that makes social media worthwhile.
But I have to be honest, I still believe that parts of the country can be opened up now, slowly, carefully, and thoughtfully. I don’t accept the premise that the argument is life versus money.
Where I live, the argument is life versus life.
Why is one kind of suffering valued, and another kind disregarded?
I was struck by a comment from Tomislav Mihaljevic, the C.E.O. of the greatly respected Cleveland Clinic of Ohio, and an advocate of what he calls “tailored and discriminating solutions” for the Pandemic that recognizes regional differences.
Dr. Mihaljevic is a supporter of the lockdowns across the country to contain the virus and save lives. But he also says, “we cannot hold our breath forever.” Our country will never be able to test 330 million people. We will be living with Covid-19, he told the New York Times, “for a long time.”
For me, the issue isn’t whether to stay sheltered or not.
Some places need to be; it is beginning to appear that some areas don’t need to be.
I wouldn’t presume to tell anybody when specifically to open up, or how to do it. Mostly because I don’t know how. In my state, I trust the governor to decide.
But I do feel that the conversation needs to be about the value of human life “in its totality,” as Dr.Mihaljeic put it. That means fewer restrictions on activity for the people at the low end of the risk spectrum while taking additional care of those on the high end of risk.
I read a lot every day about the suffering in urban hospitals, I read very little about the suffering in rural areas.
I spent much of my life in cities – New York, Washington, Boston, Philadelphia – and my daughter lives in Brooklyn. I am keenly aware of the suffering in those cities, particularly in poor and minority communities. I ache for the health care workers in that awful front line.
I understand how much help and support they need, from the patients to the nurses and doctors to the police officers and nurses and ambulance drivers and grocery store clerks.
But I live in rural America now, and I can say with conviction that the virus itself is not the only cause of great suffering. Rural communities have been hollowed out by our politicians and economists, pushed aside in the stampede to the new global economy; they are being hallowed out again, this time from a virus.
Several restaurants and businesses in my town have already decided to close, no one in or near our town has gotten sick. My county is one of the smaller counties in upstate New York, and it is 80 miles long. There have been four cases of the coronavirus reported here.
In communities with few jobs, there are now many fewer jobs, people who were beginning to benefit from the economy are once again and almost instantly living in poverty. Food pantries are out of food, mothers, and fathers terrified of how they will be able to feed their families or find work again.
I am not talking about American Airlines or Mariott Hotels, I’m talking about Steve and Judy, who lost their jobs on the same day and have no food to eat or money to pay their car loan or mortgage or get their broken-down car repaired. They’ve worked hard all of their lives, paid their bills, and supported the sick parents.
And they have three small children who don’t understand the long lines at the food pantry.
“I’m terrified,” Steve told me,” I take long walks with the dogs so the kids won’t see how scared I am. I don’t think our jobs are there anymore. I don’t know what we will do.”
Two of the biggest hospitals near here have laid off hundreds of people because everyone is afraid to have elective and needed surgeries or treatment – heart attacks, strikes, new cancers – or because the hospitals have been ordered to prepare for an onslaught of coronavirus cases that have not materialized.
Some of them, doctors say, will get sick and die, not from the virus but because of it.
The hospitals here are eerily quiet and hemorrhaging money. Charities – the institutions that help a lot of people in rural America – are closing and folding. If they are gone, there will be no help for these people.
In my county, there were four cases of the virus. To the west, there are huge agricultural counties that have had no cases at all. Social isolation is a way of life, not an order from the government. There are no large gatherings of people to avoid.
Many farmers here, already hanging on by a thread, have been forced to dump their milk and bury their crops because there is no way to get them to market, and no open markets.
Gerald, a farmer and former neighbor in the tiny town of West Hebron, told me, “I can never recover from this. I’m done. I’m 71 years old. Nobody will hire me ever.”
He cannot begin to imagine how he will feed his family or even feed his cows. We have already seen a raft of suicides here – teenage addicts and struggling farmers – those deaths count too. Pigs have been slaughtered on at least two farms nearby because there is no way to get them to market, or no market to get them to.
You don’t have to get the coronavirus to suffer or be victimized. Several people accused me of being indifferent to the harm I might cause if things were opened up and I was free to move about freely (I am not, as an older person at risk.)
But that doesn’t hold up for me.
As a person at high risk, I would probably be asked or ordered to shelter in place whenever I could, to wear masks, sanitize my hands, to practice social isolation, and stay away from any group of people larger than one or two.
I don’t take the subway here to go to work. It is very easy to stay away from people.
And I would be happy to do it, especially if my being restrained could help other people feed their families and keep their lives and dignity.
I thought Dr. Mihaljevic was wise in his message and perspective. We ought to do more for the cities and communities where the virus has come and spread, and we might consider opening up for the many communities where they have not.
Isn’t that worth trying? As always, I’m not telling other people how to feel or what to do. This is just how I feel.
I can’t disagree with a single of the messages I got disagreeing with me last night.
But we don’t all live in the same places, with the same circumstances. I happily accept the responsibility I have to care for myself and be mindful of others. I have done that and will continue to do that.
But I am witnessing equally unbearable fear and suffering all around me – and rising anger. People who can work need to work, people who have families have the right to care for them, and rural America has already paid the price for political and social indifference.
I love New York City, but it is another world from here. Human life is valuable here also.
So with those many qualifications and provisos, I appreciate the response, and I still believe it is time to start opening up the communities that can safely – and statistically and rationally – be opened up.
That means the immediate goal, says Dr. Mihaljevic, cannot be to eliminate the risk of the coronavirus, but to mitigate, manage, and frame reasonable and realistic expectations for it.
I believe in the notion of valuing human life in its totality. Suffering is suffering, wherever it is. Whenever we can ease it, we should.
My wish is that we begin to explore and experiment with opening up, especially in the many places where the hospitals are empty, the infection rate is flat or non-existent, and the suffering is great.
I live in southwest Minnesota in a community of just over 13,000 people which is the county seat and largest town in the county. I am an essential worker at age 71 who runs the drinking water treatment plant and distribution system. Our county has had only 1 death from the Covid-19 virus, but for that family this is a terrible loss. There have been times in my life where I was unemployed for a whole year. I did not have health insurance and luckily did not face anything like the Covid-19 virus. I lost my car because I could not pay the lease. I did not have any savings, but I survived. My children were just out of high school, so I did not have to worry much about them. I lived in a midwestern city that did not have reliable public transportation so it was very difficult to even search for work. Another time I was without work for 4 months without savings or insurance and both my children were in elementary school, but at that time the doctors’ office would bill me for payment instead of demanding it at the time of service. So I know what it means to be without resources and be worried about the future. I lived in the country and rented a house from a farmer who lived across the driveway, but I burned wood for heat and he would never have thrown us out. But as a trained biologist, I think it is imperative for people to continue sheltering in place. I would never deliberately expose myself and others to a very dangerous virus. I believe that the failure in this country’s response to this disease is that the government would rather bailout the rich rather than the middle or low class people who really drive the economy. Many other countries have and are providing their people more financial support as a way to combat this disease. No one in this country should have to risk their life or others’ lives in order to live.
Thanks George, your message is powerful and vaulable, thank you…I think you are spot on about helping the rich and not the needy..We are doing it again..
There are two sides to every story, and I’m glad that this side is finally beginning to get some attention. The people who want to open back up aren’t calling for it because they want to eat out or play in the parks, they’re calling for it because the restrictions are literally destroying their lives. I think that our leaders are between a rock and a hard place, because whatever is decided, some people are going to die. The question is how to minimize the damage. My personal opinion is that it makes no senses to treat the whole country the same, because the risk isn’t the same. I live in St. Louis, where we’ve been on lockdown for five weeks and our numbers are just now peaking. The rural areas surrounding us didn’t go on lock down until recently and their numbers are much, much lower with many communities not having any cases at all. So it’s not a “one size fits all” in my opinion.
Sorry for the lengthy comment, this just triggered something in me. I’m so glad to see that the comments on your facebook page have been respectful. That’s what is needed now…people with different opinions, in different situations, having honest conversation about the best way forward. Thanks for helping get that going on your blog!
Thanks Ann, this a good discussion to be having, the people who read my blog are consistently respectful and thoughtful, I appreciate them very much… I see most people disagree with me about this, it’s an important conversation to have. Thanks for your post, it is valuable…
I live in Canada so my opinion probably doesn’t mean much to most Americans, but I agree that the economy needs to open up sooner rather than later. Perhaps not a full opening right away, but in thoughtful stages I think it’s necessary. Naturally I’ve been following the Canadian politicians more closely than those in the U.S., but what I’m hearing in Canada is the need for constant caution and wait, wait, wait. Our Prime Minister is on TV every day saying how we’re all in this together and that the government is there for us. He says it so often I’m getting sick of it. But what no politician has ever said is how the government will help people once the pandemic is over. I’m worried that everyone will be left to sink or swim on their own and millions of lives will be ruined. There will likely be some aid available, but our government has a history of making the eligibility requirements so stringent that very few people will actually qualify. It’s very important to try and keep people healthy, but if people don’t go back to work soon, the world may fall into another depression and instead of spending billions fighting a virus, we’ll be spending billions on welfare, soup kitchens and homelessness. It’s like cutting off your nose to spite your face.
My humble thought regarding the farmers is–if they have trucks (pick-ups or whatever) running why don’t the
growers of produce donate their crops (rather than bury them) to the pig farmers so they won’t have to kill all their hogs due to lack of feed. In exchange they can give a pig to the farm family who contirbutes produce
Barter system! Saves such a huge waste when many are in need. I have lived in small towns in the country most of my 85 years and since everyone knows each other, why couldn’t they do this? Wear masks etc. when meeting to swap. No group-just one or two to move the stuff. Make arrangements over the phone. Is it possible?
Once again we are encountering the challenges of not only “state’s rights”, but also the rights of cities and counties to govern themselves. I’m not real clear on how it all works, but I am clear that once we start moving around the virus is going to move with us. This seems like a good time to let the governors and mayors do their work without second guessing them. Suffering is suffering…who can say that one person’s is worse than another’s. It seems to me that this is a time to think of the common good.
Jon, if you’re going to quote figures, please be accurate. As of this morning, there are 42 active cases of COVID-19 in Washington County, not 4, including 2 deaths. (See https://www.coronainusa.com/). You do your readers a disservice if you skew data to suit your argument.
Belinda, I’m happy to correct my mistake, I was using figures from a day or so ago. The 2 dead figure hasn’t changed, and most of the cases were in the northern part of the country, near Saratoga Springs and Glens Falls, neither of which is in my county. Glens Falls Hospital and Bennington Hospital, the two major hospitals that serve us, have furloughed hundreds of people between them. I don’t know anyone who knows a person who was diagnosed. I appreciate your correcting me – I am happy to conceded mistakes – and forgive the huffiness, it’s just a part of the times. The higher figure does not change my feeling or thinking in any way.
P.S. the county figure is probably substantially higher right now, and is expected to get up close to 200..A lot of these cases are not from new infections, but older ones.The local hospitals have just laid off about four hundred people, their wards and emergency rooms are empty..Everyone uses stats in their own way…
Good morning Jon…like you, I have a child who lives in Brooklyn. He’s vulnerable health wise and isolated. He goes out to the deli, walks briefly, and comes home. He has ways of reaching out. Most of his business is with China. His Chinese friends sent him N95 masks. Big boxes. He walked them over to his local hospital to help the frontline healthcare workers. He sent his Chinese friends masks too. Back in December. We live in a global community. My point is that we are all faced with different and difficult situations. I believe you articulated very clearly the challenges faced by our rural communities. I say open slowly but thoughtfully. We each carry a civic responsibility to each other. Until this virus is contained, six feet is six feet. Masks where necessary. Some businesses can operate with new guidelines. Respect for others Is so important. Cuomo, I believe is pragmatic and sensible enough to go slow in New York State. Ditto for me in New Jersey. Mental illness. depression, fear, loss, and economic hardship affects all of us.
That sounds right Joanne, I am not suggesting anything to the contrary for you and your son…
I for one agree with you Jon and I’m another over 70 vulnerable person.
The fact that farmers are having to dump thousands of gallons of milk and millions of pigs and chickens are being “depopulated” (usually gassed) without being sold speaks to the flaws of a horrible, disease-producing system that brutalizes billions of animals and dehumanizes workers.
Yes, one feels for the farmers, but what about the slaughterhouse workers who can’t take time for bathroom breaks or even to sneeze and thousands of whom have been infected with the virus?
What about THEIR rights?
Please take a moment to read this NY Times article: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/24/business/economy/coronavirus-smithfield-meat.html?smid=fb-share
It is a very hard dilemma and one would not want to be a governor right now.
I live in Cortland, NY which has only had 32 cases. My daughter lives in Ithaca, NY which has had 130 cases.
I worry for my small city that has had to close many businesses and recently announced that all city pools will be closed for the summer due to lack of money to open them.
Yes, we can expect things like depression, drug addiction and even suicide to rise, but these are the unfortunate sacrifices that have to be made in order to defeat or at least mitigate a deadly virus that has capacity to devastate entire communities and potentially kill millions of people.
As long as their are trains, planes, trucks and automobiles, no community in the US is an island unto itself.
What is true today may or not be true tomorrow.
I don’t like wearing face mask and will miss my local pool this summer. I most of all, miss seeing my daughter.
But it is what it is and we have to adjust. That is what people have done through the ages in response to wars, natural disasters and other challenges.
Time to put our big boy and big girl pants on.
One door closes, another opens.
I live in Atlanta. As everyone knows, Georgia’s governor, effective yesterday, lifted state-wide restrictions for gyms, hair/nail salons, etc..; Monday, state restrictions on dine-in restaurants are lifted. Mayors cannot override Governor Kemp’s directives; so employees of places no longer “shut-down” must show up for work or lose unemployment compensation. Not every owner of an “open” businesses will open – unclear unemployment status of their employees. Meanwhile, schools are under the jurisdiction of counties – Atlanta counties have closed public schools until fall. The employees of “open” businesses are generally low-income, younger people with school-age children: who to look after children while parents, terrified of bringing virus home, go to work ’cause if they don’t – lose unemployment compensation? Atlanta hospitals struggle with new virus cases, lack of supplies.
On the other hand, my relatives who farm 1K acres in north Alabama, theoretically can’t leave their houses, much less harvest hay with hired help, the only way hay can be cut and baled. When you’re running tractors / combines in hay fields, working day and night to bring in a harvest , hefting bales onto trailers- all this about social distancing is meaningless. Not to mention: cattle to tend / castrate / send to market, corn to plant: all ya’ll can – well, you know.
It’s a big ol mess.
Meanwhile, at my ancestral farm in Alabama, my cousins are theoretically forbidden to leave their houses
Georgia governor Kemp started opening the businesses of the state yesterday, by allowing barber shops, hair and nail salons, tattoo parlors, gyms, massage parlors, and bowling alleys to re-open. It is rumored the governor has made a huge investment in the production of a new movie/reality show that has the working title BOWLING FOR CORONA.
🙂 how not to do it, I think..
Thank you. Thank you. Very well said. Shout it from the roof tops of reason and rationality. We have to start opening up by using some reasonable plan. There are a million good reasons why now it is so important to start giving people back there lives. Life is life. Our nation needs oxygen to be able to start breathing again.
If your part of the state opens up won’t people from other parts of the state pay a visit? Will they bring the virus with them? I guess no one can answer these questions.
Thank you for your thoughtful writing
I guess it depends on how they do it..whenever they open up, that will be a risk…some of these regions are far enough away from civilization that nobody will go there, and if they do, there are nothing but farms and convenience stores…No shopping, not enough people..
I have no answer as to how each region or state government should handle the “back to work” question. It is a difficult and consequential decision, I only hope the governors are well informed and better intentioned.
I think two things are true; 1) This virus will be with us, continually infecting and killing as it can until the day a vaccine is developed and delivered in high enough volume to stop it. 2)Until that time, for the living, life will go on and it will be up to each one of us as individuals as to how we keep ourselves, and each other as safe as we possibly can.
I wish each and everyone of you well.
As of midnight 4/24, Washington County has 113 confirmed cases, 30 of them diagnosed yesterday. This is Washington county only, not Saratoga county which has over 300. Because testing is only for those who are symptomatic the figures don’t include presymptomatic and asymptomatic people. Depending on which stats you go by this could easily quadruple the number of people who are contagious. It’s an awful situation. I live in Bergen county N.J. and we are at 14,300 as of yesterday. My town has 91 cases, it goes up every day despite being on full lockdown. People are staying in, wearing masks if they have to go to a store. Restaurants are closed or takeout only. Here is a link to the NYS site with a full breakdown by county. Sad but this is far from over.
covid19tracker.health.ny.gov
Yes, I know about these figures, Gail..I get the same daily report..as of yesterday, Saratoga, Glens Falls and Bennington Hospital have furloughed more than 500 staffers, their emergency rooms and wards are virtually empty. It will not be over for years, if then..That doesn’t mean some people cannot return to work safely and thoughtfully…
While I see many sides to this issue, and am not against bringing back some businesses in a sensible manner, there are many issues and a few not covered. Here in my part of California, we are finding that there have been previously undetected cases much earlier than previously thought. In fact three cases are earlier than the first case in Washington. This throws many of the case numbers in chaos and raises questions on the many asymptomatic people there may be out there. There also are many questions on the testing as some people who have recovered get sick again and then test positive for both covid and the antibodies against it. Troubling. Do we get immunity and are the tests reliable. Finally you can open a business but will people feel safe enough to come back. Even your small town may need to sell products outside the area. So many questions so few answers. I too share things with you. I am 75 , do not have your type of health problems but watch the statistics. Strangely more seem to be dying in the 40 to 50 age group than in the over 60. Maybe because our age group isolates more, but worrisome that they are finding heart problems and other problems also associated with covid. Here in California they are starting some innovative programs to help. One of the best is FEMA helping the state to pay restaurants in rural areas to provide three healthy meals a day for some of the low income elderly that live alone and cant get out. They are allowing 66 dollars a day per person. That seems high but as it is also to help get people back to work, and the fact that they are delivering the meals and checking up on the people, probably reasonable. They are also hiring the people that formerly had jobs taking airline reservations to do wellness checks on many elderly. I know your distress as I live in a rural area with not even one market and few other businesses. There’s got to be a path through this dark valley and together we will find it.
Yes, it’s d efinitely complicated and needs to be dealth with carefully..
I know there are many people still with jobs and receiving paychecks. Or they have jobs that they can go back to once the ok is given. My husband and I are not in that group. We work for our school district as service workers. I guess it will be September but no one has said for sure. Unemployment has not been received since we applied a month ago nor have we heard or been given a date when it’s coming. We are told we are one of millions. We have not received the stimulus check either. Something about direct deposit, maybe June. I am sure there’s a slew of others out there in each state (rural, suburban, urban, city) in the same sinking boat, each with an individual situation where it really doesn’t matter if businesses open. This isn’t a one size fits all situation. It’s way too complex and confusing. To stay afloat we are using up our meager savings we had for retirement that should have happened five years ago! Hope and patience is my mantra.
Many people are not in that group, good luck Linda..
Many in rural areas appear to think that they have done a good job of avoiding the pandemic. However, while they are somewhat isolated from the most rapid spread, the evidence suggests that when the virus gets into rural areas it spreads to a larger portion of the population more quickly than in more urban areas because the populations are lower and people tend to go to a smaller number of key places–stores, churches, etc.. Whether you agree with those observations or not, rural areas seem to be as if not more at risk ultimately from the pandemic than other regions–the average age of the population is high (the average age of farmers in the US is 65 and these communities have more people in nursing homes), they have less access to health care (half of the counties in the US do not have intensive care units, much less ventilators), they often have poorer diets (many rural areas in the US are in food deserts, the people have lower incomes (poverty levels are quite high), such areas often have a higher level of pre-existing conditions (diabetes, obesity, poor diets) and these regions will be the last to get vaccinated when one is developed. It isn’t a question of if the virus will reach rural areas but when and if it will be able to be contained. There is a need for farmers to farm, but we can find ways to do that with social distancing. Perhaps if we redefined what “essential services” relative to regions and ways to maintain social distancing in each of those contexts, then we could ensure that lives are less disrupted. But, rural areas need to take care about opening up at any price.
Thanks Jason, I’m struggling to understand why there is so much appropriate sympathy for the people suffering in cities, but almost none for the people struggling in rural areas…We are no all gun-toting protesters up here…We also care about the sick and the dying, and our own communities and families..We also follow instructions and self-isolate and stay inside..I don’t get why it’s so hard to understand that all of our communities are not exactly the same..
Our Governor Cuomo has a plan that will work but it is slow and gradual. I hope that all New Yorkers – those living in cities and rural areas – will cooperate with it. His plan calls for qualifiers in order to enter phase 1, and then a 14 day interval before moving forward. If during those 14 days and by careful monitoring we see the numbers going up, you go back to the previous phase, which would be shelter-in-place and NY on pause again. I am on a fixed income but I do have empathy and compassion for those who are suffering financial loss, and who fear no hope of recovery. But we must first and foremost be safe from this deadly virus, and help each other out with sharing our resources in the meantime.