To open or not to open during the pandemic

That is the question that is being asked by the governments local as well as the national as to how to deal with this situation since the virus is still being spread with no sight of vaccine coming anytime soon with the need to alleviate the suffering of the people who are cooped up in their houses and also for the poor and middle class who don’t have the luxury to work from home and their services are essential to put food on the table and pay their bills. The people who are stuck at home have started to get restless as the weather becomes warmer and most of the people want to come to the beach and do activities with their kids so they have started to protest all across the United States to lift the lockdown and get on with their lives. I can understand that part as I have been working for the last eight weeks from home and don’t go outside for at least 4 days of the week.

The case of opening is also valid in the sense that people and the economy of all states are hurting under the strain of low tax collection and more unemployment benefits being shelled out. Although the Federal government has stepped in to help but it is not enough since not all categories of jobs can be saved unless the economy opens up. And even if the economy opens, the fear of contacting the virus is so huge that it is unlikely there will be demand for businesses to stay afloat amid very high unemployment numbers. It is a catch-22 situation, and personally with so much financial pain being afflicted on the American public who are mostly living paycheck to paycheck even with high earners and working remotely, It is about time to open the economy with strict social distancing and protective measures and start resuming our new normal life whatever that means.