April 26, 2020
For a little over a month, we’ve been closed for business, told to “shelter in place” and “stay home for Nevada.” Whether or not that was a good policy decision, the question remains: what happens when it’s time to reopen? When will we know the right time? What are the costs of staying closed?
On April 16, 2020, our Caucus, not wanting to look insensitive, simply asked a series of pointed questions seeking information from the Governor. Behind those questions should have been an obvious set of realities that needed to be addressed. Ten days later, those questions remain unanswered.
Of course, this COVID-19 virus is nothing to take lightly. Though medical experts may disagree on where to strike the balance between preventing the spread of the virus so that it doesn’t overwhelm our emergency medical services and curtailing economic activity such that Nevada cannot avoid an economic disaster, the fact is that inaction would result in devastating medical crises, and overreaction would result in economic ruin for entire nations. Neither does that address the predictable increase in domestic violence and suicides that come with being cooped up without hope. Do the “needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few?”
A look around the country, even the world, will suggest no one answer appears to be uniquely “right.” Some states did not shut down at all, and some did not shut down fast enough to avoid catastrophe. But Nevada is unlike any other state in many respects. Some counties have seen no infections at all, while others have seen many. Some have underutilized medical facilities, and others have little more than a country doctor’s office. As of late, no hospital seems to have exceeded 80% or so of capacity, due in part to ever-increasing capacity changes as they anticipate a run. Regardless, the entire state is in lock-down with no end in sight, and no plan for what that end might look like. It took us six weeks to get here; we should have a plan to get out of this mess. Yet we have none.
Neither has anyone answered the questions.
Ultimately, it appears from the most recent reports that the virus is not as bad as we thought it would be. (See e.g. here.) This suggests the end might come sooner than we expect. It also suggests we can do things now to reopen Nevada before more damage is done. For example:
Restaurants can space tables and bar stools so that no one is closer than 6’ from someone they didn’t come in with;
Retailers can control the number of patrons in their stores and their proximity based upon the merchandising layout;
Barbers and stylists can utilize the same protocols dentists and optometrists used when HIV became an issue;
Golf Courses can insist on one-person-per-cart; and most importantly,
People can be treated like adults and be allowed to protect themselves if they fall into a “vulnerable” class.
Of course, we would expect people to continue to follow sanitary protocols: washing hands and using face masks when appropriate. But this “plan” should be developed by local leaders and businesses. Lyon County will look very different in their plan than Clark County. They should be allowed to do what they think best. If we’ve learned anything, we know that one-size-doesn’t-fit-all.
We don’t need a benevolent but paternalistic approach to this as much as we need the body we call “We The People” to engage in positive, cooperative efforts to see each other through. Bills don’t get paid when people are unable to work. We can’t expect manufacturers to pay their workers when they can’t get paid for what they produce. Landlords can’t keep unemployed tenants when their mortgages don’t stop having to be paid; banks can’t survive if landlords don’t pay on their loans. it’s a circle of interdependence that simply cannot expect the unemployed (who still haven’t received their Unemployment Insurance benefits promised them) to be the financiers of last resort.
Instead, we need people to agree to go back to work in a careful, considerate way that allows the economic engine to get started. If we wait much longer, people will lose what little they have left, then their hope. And when people lose hope, we lose everything.
April 29 Addition:
Today we saw an amazing story: WHO Hails Sweden for not shutting down. On this same day, our Governor refused to release our struggling citizens go back to work. Neither did he articulate a plan, just a plan for a plan. This is a mess.
May 6 Addition:
Finally, today the Governor told us of a plan to reopen, starting in three days. Too bad nobody knew what to expect so as to be prepared. I just hope it’s not too late.