One very big decision that the current leaders of both the local and the federal government face is when to begin lifting restrictions and opening up businesses. As we all know, schools have been mandated to finish out the 2019 – 2020 school year online. However, just as we have been mandatory closed so have many businesses that are considered non-essential are also closed or have limited operations. These closures and limited operations are hurting the ability of many to make money. Thus, the big questions is when it is deemed safe, when it is deemed time, to reopen the business community.

Fox News’ Greg Gutfeld said on “The Five at Five“ that both the belief that lifting restrictions on certain activity too soon may cause the contagion to re-intensify and the belief that a prolonged shutdown would devastate the economy is an example of the “prison of two ideas.”

If you have listened to the news and the president’s briefings at all, even if you have been forced to hear it as you walk through the room, you have most likely heard someone discussing when the economy should reopen. There are doctors who say not yet, and there are economists who say they can’t keep businesses closed much longer. Yes, it is a debate not only between the medical community and the economic community but also between political groups and people in general.  

It is true that we would all like to go back to the way it was before the coronavirus and be able to finish the school year, play spring sports, go out with friends, go shopping or out for coffee or to the gym or wherever we enjoy. However, as bad as it is for us, the longer things stay closed the harder it becomes on small businesses to continue to operate on a limited basis. Both large and small companies are struggling.

Yet people are still getting sick, and some are having to be hospitalized and others are not able to get better. What we see on the news about  New York City is really very terrifying. 

A task force of economists and medical professionals is meeting to decide how to proceed.  How we save the economy and save lives is the question. I would say it is like a prison of decision as to what to do and when.  

Each governor is trying to decide if their state can reopen. The federal government is trying to decide if it is a decision to be made state by state, depending on how many cases of the virus are in the state or the community. The news media talk to each other, to the medical experts, and to government officials, and some say we must wait.  Others say we might be able to open up certain areas of the country that are not having as many cases of the virus. Then they go on to talk about how people will react if they are living in an area that cannot reopen. They discuss the need to continue to “social distance”. They discuss if shaking hands will be a gesture of the past. Will we find other ways to greet people? Will we have more people work from home? Will we do more of our lives online in the future? Will we have to carry a certificate of vaccination or immunity?

It all makes my head spin. As much as I want to get back to what we believe is normal, I am glad I don’t have to make the decisions on how and when that will happen.