All I can say is that I hope everything goes well with the various “reopening” maneuvers that are taking place around the country.
Really. I hope Texas’ plans to start reopening businesses this week is not met by a serious COVID-19 uptick. Same goes for Georgia’s plans. Closer to home, I hope Ventura County discovers everything is hunky dory after it allows some businesses to reopen, as well as groups of five or more to gather again. And here in the Coachella Valley, if golf courses are indeed allowed to reopen tomorrow, I hope that causes no ill effects.
Yes, and I really, really hope Dr. Anthony Fauci is wrong when he says all of this could backfire horribly.
Oh, one other thing: I hope all of these moves to quickly reopen aren’t being driven by the protests that have taken place in recent days … because these protesters really shouldn’t be given much attention.
While the protests have gotten a lot of ink, pixels and airtime in various media sources, they won’t here. Here’s why: They’re not worth the ink, pixels and airtime. God bless these protesters, who have every right to exercise their First Amendment rights (although depending on the locale, they could and perhaps should be ticketed for violating orders regarding masks and social distancing, but I digress). But their numbers have been small, for the most part—and they’re definitely not speaking for the majority of us.
As CNN points out, recent polls show that the vast majority of us—more than 80 percent of Americans—believe stay-at-home orders are a good idea. You know how hard it is to get 80 percent of the country to agree on ANYTHING these days? Yet here we are.
Still … I am being genuine when I say I hope that these tentative reopening steps go well. The sooner we open things back up safely, the better. However, the key word there is “safely.” And if these openings go well, it will be despite the experts’ warnings and overwhelming public option. In other words, it’ll be due to dumb luck.
But, hey, this country is due some dumb luck. Right?
Today’s links:
• From the Independent: The news out of most small businesses in the valley is dire—but such is not the case for a La Quinta record store, whose owner picked the perfect time to go online. In the latest piece in our Pandemic Stories series, get to know Matt Lehman of Finders Thrift and Vinyl/Spatula City Records.
• Yet another study, this one out of Los Angeles County, shows that if antibody tests are accurate, a stunning number of people have already been infected with COVID-19—and didn’t know it.
• New York Magazine examines the baffling battle between hospitals and the Trump administration for needed personal protective equipment.
• The New York Times talks to a bunch of experts about the country’s immediate-intermediate future. Warning: It’s alarming.
• OK, after that bit of horror, here’s a salve, also from the NYT: You can calm down, just a little, about the chance the coronavirus will get you by lurking on the surfaces of clothes, newspaper, mail and the like.
• If you’re not one of the 2 million-plus people who’ve seen it already, you should know the fourth episode of John Krasinski’s Some Good News puts on a prom.
• While you’re on YouTube: The valley’s very own Pom Squad offers up this video for people in assisted living or in nursing homes—or those of us of all ages who are stuck at home.
• Here’s the latest on the whole pets and COVID-19 matter, from The Conversation. The short version: Yes, pets can get the virus, but you probably don’t have much to worry about.
• Speaking of pets: Some dogs in the UK are being trained to test whether humans have COVID-19 by using their sense of smell. Yes, really.
• The local American Outreach Foundation has started a petition for the federal government to support health-care workers who die from COVID-19.
That’s all for today. Buy our Coloring Book—and support the Independent, the CREATE Center for the Arts and the participating artists themselves while doing so! Or consider adopting a small business and giving them the gift of some dirt-cheap yet extremely valuable Independent advertising! Wash your hands. Wear a mask when you must go out. Be safe. More tomorrow.