As the U.S. crosses into the six figure range of confirmed COVID cases, now leading the world despite inadequate testing, we are desperate for answers from anyone that ACTUALLY knows. Sifting the memes, the videos and podcasts passed between friends, and the opinion articles how is one to know WHAT to believe? What of the NGOs? If they are as corrupt as we are lead to believe and if our own government can’t pass legislation to help with the crisis that’s ONLY about the crisis and doesn’t have party-line garbage in it, how can we expect any large organization, especially outside our borders to have our interests in mind?

China down-played this whole thing when it started and so the rest of the world didn’t give it proper consideration. The Navy Seals say, “It’s easier to keep up than catch up.” The world sure missed that boat. The U.S. was no exception. If we were the leading edge of social distancing the president would have been ridiculed and accused of many things. When he waited to respond, he was ridiculed and accused of many things. Trump certainly shouldn’t be blamed for the state of the medical community’s readiness. (If you disagree, please comment below)

Where’s the middle of the road? Where are the independent thinkers?
” By the mid 1790s, Jefferson and Hamilton had both quit Washington’s Cabinet. Meanwhile, the Democratic-Republicans and Federalists spent much of the first president’s second term bitterly attacking each other in competing newspapers over their opinions of his administration’s policies. ”
The divisive nature of parties is nothing new. Why do we act as though things are going to hell in a hand basket now? (They are the way they’ve always been- history repeats itself but we don’t heed the lesson and just repeat it)

Anecdotally, we see the effectiveness of social distancing in 1918 with the Spanish Flu but how many of us are heeding the warning now? The economy seems more important to some than human life. So if Trump tells everyone to go back to work, people will complain. But if he says stay home, people will complain. I think if he sends people back in the next few months it will be too soon. It might initially look good and then we’ll have a resurgence of the virus and it will tank the economy way harder than it already has.

(Check-in to the updated COVID watch page)

In an article from The Atlantic, the author proposes 4 hypothetical timelines of the U.S. returning to semi-normal life.
1. Two to Four months, but this is highly unlikely and would probably result in large increase in COVID cases
2. Three to Four months with slightly reduced social distancing and some continued alterations to activities of daily living.
3. Four months to a Year with quite a few possibilities or variations in that time span.
4. Twelve to 18+ months- vaccines take a long time to perfect and then manufacture. Who gets the vaccine in what order?

If you’re asking yourself- keep asking. If you’re wondering- keep going. If you want to go out, don’t. If you NEED to go out, do what you must.