Hope Doesn't Make the Virus Go Away

I understand the pain that restaurants and bars are feeling during the pandemic.  I also understand how difficult it is to be constrained from dining out or meeting friends for a drink and conversation.  The proliferation of quickly thrown up outdoor bars and restaurants allow us to pretend that our lives are getting back to normal.  But, that's just an illusion. The virus is always present. 

The tragedy here is Trump's absolute failure to implement a coherent national strategy to address the pandemic. In fact, Trump's consistent undermining of medical, science and community leaders advice and actions have fragmented and diminished efforts to mitigate the impact of Covid-19.  

What we have are piecemeal, ad hoc attempts to deal with a deadly virus and pretend to have normal lives.  Outdoor haircuts allow us to carry on with the routine of our lives.  Outdoor drinks and dining allow us to pretend that we have defeated the virus and that we are enjoying a normal life.  But, that's not reality.  The virus is everywhere and it's just waiting for a new host to invade.  

It is unclear what percentage of workers transmitted the virus among themselves, or to patrons or whether customers brought in the virus. But the clusters are worrisome to health officials because many restaurant and bar employees across the country are in their 20s and can carry the virus home and possibly seed household transmissions, which have soared in recent weeks through the Sun Belt and the West.

Since late June, scores of popular restaurants throughout the country, including in Nashville, Las Vegas, Atlanta and Milwaukee, had to close temporarily because of cases among employees. Texas and Florida also had to close bars this summer after a surge of new cases hobbled those states. In a recent week in San Diego, 15 of the 39 new cases in community settings stemmed from restaurants. And in Washington, D.C., cases have begun to sneak up since the city reopened indoor dining.

As long as our national policy towards the pandemic is to pretend things are getting better and to hope that the virus just disappears, we aren't going to have anything approaching normal lives.