2020 was COVID, it altered the way we lived as well as impacted how we voted. In America’s past a seminal event such as this would have normally brought us together as a country, sadly all that we have experienced is separation. Separation from our loved ones, separation from our places of work and sadly in some cases separation of common sense.
While the uncertainty that we all experienced as COVID began was more than warranted, the caving to the fear mongering took on a life of its own and dominated the headlines for the better part of a year. People cowered in their homes as they awaited the next dictate passed down from our elected officials. For those of us that live in Republican states where governors acted cautiously, the impact of the restrictions were not nearly as harmful. Those that live in Democratic states were put under authoritarian style rule where non-compliance was met with at best scorn and at worst a visit from authorities and the impact has been devastating.
As a resident of a state run by a Republican governor, I have really appreciated what was done in regards of a lockdown and the general COVID policy that was enacted. We had short periods of time where we had minimal lockdown restrictions. However, changes were quickly made when more information was gathered, and it was determined that we did not need to lockdown any further.
PRESIDENT TRUMP
Much of the blame for COVID fell at the feet of President Trump, he was blamed for all the sickness and death that was happening around us. You could not turn on the news without fresh reports of how many people had contracted the virus and died under his watch. At every turn he was met with resistance, when he enacted a travel ban, he was racist, when he did not institute a national lockdown, he was not proactive enough.
Regardless of your thoughts of President Trump’s actions during the COVID pandemic he did operate under the principles set forth in the 10th Amendment with decisions being left to the states. It was important that President Trump allowed the states to make decisions for themselves on what was best for their citizens. He realized that a national lockdown would have been an abuse of Federal power as other countries around the world locked down. Instead, he offered help, he helped with PPE and ventilators and any other issues the states were having but resisted the urge to mandate a lockdown.
COVID also impacted the election, to deny this would be an escape from reality. While COVID was not the only reason for opposition to President Trump, the faltering economy caused by blue state lockdowns and the constant reminder by news agencies of the number of cases and deaths under his watch impacted how people voted. President Trump was in a no-win situation, with the actions that he chose to make, he did not do enough. If he would have instituted a national lockdown, I assume he would have been accused of doing too much.
HOSPITALS
When COVID first began we heard constant calls for lockdowns to ensure that the healthcare systems were not overrun. We were told we needed to ensure that hospitals had the capacity, the PPE, and equipment necessary to treat any patient that walked through the doors. We constantly heard about ICU capacity reaching its peak and that hospitals were not going to be able to treat patients if lockdowns did not continue. The news media parroted these calls which continued to instill fear in people and in turn increase their support for further lockdowns.
While the media did not outright lie about hospital capacity, they did choose the frame the data to paint a pro-lockdown picture in order to instill fear to drive compliance. People that do not work in a hospital do not realize that ICU capacity always runs between 80-90%. These units are very expensive both in labor and equipment and for them to run at lower capacity means financial trouble for a hospital. Another key factor that was not reported was that most hospitals have what are called MICU units. These are mobile ICU units that are used to expand capacity when there is a surge in demand. While there was strain on hospitals, to paint a picture that they were all being overrun was dishonest.
If these facts would have been understood by the general public, I feel like people would have had less fear regarding hospital capacity and would have further questioned the need for tyrannical lockdowns.
POLITICS
Within days of President Biden’s inauguration, it has become clear that state lockdowns have been purely political maneuvers. California which at one time had the most draconian lockdowns is now beginning to lift restrictions. We also heard from the mayor of Chicago, Lori Lightfoot, instructing bars and restaurants to open as quickly as possible. Lastly, the King of COVID, Governor Cuomo, has begun easing restrictions in New York. The timing of the easing of restrictions shows that politicians are not even trying to hide the fact that they have been playing with our lives and livelihoods for purely political reasons.
While it is not surprising to learn that these lockdowns were political it did come at a high cost. It came at the cost of the countless number of businesses that have now been shuttered because of these restrictions. People who have worked their whole lives to build up businesses were told to close or else. Some fought against these restrictions and tried to remain open but in the end the cost was too high, and some have had to shutter their life’s passions for good.
It is hard to say without knowing these politicians’ internal thoughts whether it was to tank the economy to ensure that President Trump was not reelected or if it was a power grab. Either way they got their wish, President Trump is gone and now they have the power in the future to grab power whenever a crisis is severe enough.
OUR CHILDREN
The saddest part of the COVID response was closing our schools and the impact that this will have on our children in the years to come. While the initial closures were understandable when COVID first emerged in the spring, the continued closures were not and are bound to have a lasting impact on our children.
In a model presented by the Brookings Institute which takes into consideration lost wages for the time missed in school, on average the American student will lose $1,337 per year in future income because of the four months of school that was lost. While that does not seem like much, when grouping all children who are in school “the cost to the United States in future earnings of four months of lost education is $2.5 trillion – 12.7 percent of annual GDP.” While this may be only an estimate, it gives us a picture of what the consequences of school closures can be for the financial future of our children.
While we can only make models to estimate the future financial damage that school closures will cause for our children, the mental health consequences can be seen now. According to a New York Times article, “an early-warning system that monitors students’ mental health episodes has sent more than 3,100 alerts to district officials, raising alarms about suicidal thoughts, possible self-harm or cries for care”. This is only in one school district; one can assume that this is repeating itself across the country.
The Clark County School District in Las Vegas, Nevada where these alerts above originated is pushing to open in-person learning in their district. Along with the 3,100 alerts that they received they also saw a doubling of their suicide rate from the year before, from 9 to 18. We are failing our children, by continuing to succumb to our fears we are creating irreparable damage to our children some in the form of loss of life.
As parents we need to come to the realization that some cowered in fear and supported long-term school closures to the detriment of our children. As parents we normally make sacrifices to ensure that our children have a better life. This may be the first time where we have given into the fear, and our children are going to be paying the ultimate price. As parents we are better than this, hopefully in the future we will realize that, so we do not repeat our mistakes.
THERE WILL BE AN END
COVID will eventually end, we will open back up and life will resume some semblance of normalcy. However, how and when it will end is still unknown at this point. As a nation we have made a lot of mistakes over the last year in relation to a response to COVID. As more data comes out on the consequences to our economy and our children, I hope that if there is a next time, we take a harder look at all the consequences of our decisions.
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