Editorial: May 8 could be moving target for pandemic reopening
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May 8.
That’s when Gov. Tom Wolf is saying the state can slowly start to come out of its coronavirus shell, tentatively getting back to the business of being normal again.
It’s more than two weeks away. And maybe that’s enough to make a difference.
After all, a lot can happen in that period of time. On April 1, for example, there were just 5,805 people in Pennsylvania diagnosed with coronavirus. On April 20, the number was 33,232. That’s an increase of 472%. Deaths took a 1,527% jump from 74 to 1,204.
Maybe in the next 18 days, the numbers could work in the opposite direction. Maybe the tide can turn. It will turn at some point, so May 8 could definitely see that happen.
For some, that’s not soon enough. It’s already too late, protesters in Pittsburgh and Harrisburg seemed to feel as they took their message to the streets Monday, demanding the state be “liberated” and “reopened” and honking horns as they condemned Wolf for the lockdowns.
They want their jobs back. They want to know how they’re going to pay their bills and buy groceries.
Small business owners may be the most squeezed. They need their doors open so that they can put food on their own tables and those of their employees. At the same time, they need to ensure the safety of both customers and colleagues.
White House adviser Dr. Anthony Fauci of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease told the Associated Press that America isn’t ready to get back to normal right now. Pennsylvania is one of the states hit hardest by covid-19.
“We have to have something in place that is efficient and we can rely on and we’re not there yet,” Fauci said.
But May 8 may be different.
The answer isn’t just about negotiating a detente between Wolf and the protesters, between Democrats and Republicans, between the areas with high infection rates like Allegheny County and the areas with low ones like the rural counties where there are only a couple of cases and no deaths.
Because you can’t negotiate with a virus. The two sides may have different ideas about how to address the virus and the economy. But the kind of give and take used in negotiations over the state budget and federal legislation won’t convince a body not to get a disease.
They also won’t make the economy bounce back like a trampoline.
So math and science have to be the yardsticks that measure the disease and the impact, not passion and politics. We can’t negotiate a deal between the opposing forces, but we can negotiate a path around the obstacles if we try, like letting more businesses find smart solutions to opening their doors in limited ways.
May 8 is a good target, but we have to be realistic about the numbers and recognize that the target might change.
Because a lot can happen in two weeks, especially in a pandemic.