We Can Do Better (COVID-19)

Photo by Unsplash

Originally written 3-24-2020 as the COVID-19 outbreak was just beginning in New York, but quickly growing. Governor Andrew Cuomo specifically made mention to basketball in his briefings, telling New Yorkers that it was unacceptable to play under his regulations.

Is taking people out of their physical work space/closing schools enough to make a difference when a significant portion of people will continue their social lives as usual?

Literally watching a group of 10 kids - young adults - playing a game of basketball right in front of me defying a direct order from the Governor. What’s the point of it all and tanking the economy in the process if people can’t follow a few straightforward directives over the course of a few days? Will my personal efforts even make a difference?

Meanwhile, 25k identified cases in New York, weeks away from the forecasted peak....

We can do better.

(Forced) remote work sucks. Not being able to visit a best friend because his dad is a respiratory therapist assisting COVID-19 patients at a hospital where two respiratory therapists have already been infected... that also sucks. The Spring vacation I was dreaming up- postponed. Boohoo. These are minor inconveniences - hiccups - that pale in comparison to the very real sacrifices being made on the daily.

Medical staff on the front lines - not unlike my friend’s father, a senior with diabetes, might I add- risking their health in their efforts to save the lives of another. Countless individuals now without a job, without a paycheck, potentially without food on the table because their livelihood has been destroyed. Scientists and (some) government officials working around the clock to help us find a way out of this mess and resolve this public health crisis.

Huge, terrifying sacrifices are being made, meanwhile, you can’t wait a few weeks to play that game of basketball with your friends?

What does that say about you as a person? Are you apart of the infection or the cure?

Tell me, am I the crazy one?