Second wave of COVID?

OK, so now ‘the powers that be’ are saying that another round of lockdown and shelter in place takes effect todday at 7pm. This may mean that restaurants, bars, and gyms once again face severe restrictions or possibly even close down.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for safety and doing whatever is necessary to defeat COVID, but this makes no sense. Einstein is attributed to saying: “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.” The first round of ‘lockdown and shelter in place’ did not work. It did however, cripple businesses, psychologically paralyze many people, and wreak havoc with the economy. Oh sure, blame the solution. There is no immediate solution. Measures currently in place were supposed to ‘flatten the curve’ in 14 days. We’re now into the 8th month. A big problem is that too many people refuse to follow COVID guidelines. Crack down on violators. Don’t just fine event venues for holding unsafe events, cite the attendees. Venues cannot completely control what attendees do every moment they’re on premises. Hit people in their wallets with fines and they’re more likely to follow guidelines and avoid venues not in compliance. Nobody attending, and violating venues will change or close.

Essential workers and essential businesses are allowed to operate as normal. What is an ‘essential worker’? Health professionals? Sure. Grocery store workers? Questionable. The grocery stockboy is now an ‘essential worker’ while still earning minimum wage. Let’s all stand outside our homes at 7pm and bang pots together to honor essential workers. Hmmm… Nice thought, but meaningless.

So why are we facing another round of ‘lockdown and shelter in place’? We’re relying on our previous experience with COVID. Wait a minute - we have no previous experience with COVID. Officials are basically flying by the seat of their pants. COVID testing shows how the virus is on the rise. Wait a minute - we have no previous experience with COVID testing. November is cold and flu season. The common cold, flu, and even pneumonia are viral. Coronavirus is a virus, too. Who knows how much COVID these tests are detecting, and how much is false positive caused by other winter viruses?

I have no say over lockdowns and stay at home orders. OK, bring it on. Let’s see what breaks first, COVID, the economy, or our sanity.