Making It Easier To Handle

You know what would make this pandemic easier to handle?

Here are a few things:

• Competent leadership of the federal response. 
• Leaders who aren't petty and hand out federal (not personal) medical supplies to states that most need them, regardless of the political affiliations of the governors. 
• Knowing that medical personnel have all the personal protective equipment they need to safely treat patients with Covid-19
• Knowing that hospitals have enough ventilators -- a number determined by physicians, not politicians -- to treat hospitalized patients
• Good weather to make it more conducive to spending time outside
• People following recommendations from medical experts  
• Politicians worrying more about people dying from Covid-19 and less about the stock market 
• So-called religious leaders not continuing to hold services despite recommendations and government decrees to avoid large gatherings 
• An end to hoarding 
• Most of all, everybody doing their part to bring this pandemic to an end.

I, like millions of others, are staying at home except when it's absolutely necessary to be in public, such as to buy groceries. I, like millions of others, wash my hands frequently. I sanitize things inside my house that I touch a lot, such as door handles, the doors of the refrigerator and microwave, etc. 

Yet people still congregate in large groups. Certain churches still hold services attended by large numbers of people. And to no one's surprise, the virus spreads through these groups.

Medical personnel are getting sick and several have died due to lack of adequate protective equipment. The least we can do is stay home and stop the spread of this virus. The longer people ignore the recommendations of public health officials, the longer we all will have to deal with this pandemic.

This isn't fun for anybody. Not for businesses struggling to survive. Not for employees who aren't getting paid. Not for first responders and grocery store employees and truck drivers. Not for medical personnel who risk their lives, and the lives of their families, every day.

I know this is boring. There is no end in sight. But the least we can do is stay home, wash our hands, and help bring this pandemic to an end. Please. Be part of the solution, not part of the problem.