I am married to a wise woman.
She appreciates the concern that the COVID-19 pandemic has shut down the economy. She wants the economy to restart as much as the next person. She also wants it to be done with care about people’s health, indeed their very lives.
It is with that notion that she said recently, “The economy won’t revive itself when we’re all hospitalized … or dead!”
You got that right, sweetheart!
Accordingly, the health experts who are seeking to get Donald Trump’s attention are yelling at the top of their lungs that Trump’s planned rally in Tulsa this weekend is a “perfect storm” for infection from the killer virus. They are beseeching the Trump team to postpone the rally. They are concerned that packing 19,000 people into a confined space, giving them a chance to scream their joy at Trump’s idiotic ramblings (without wearing masks) is going to expose thousands of them to potential illness from COVID-19.
As PBS noted:Â âAs best I can tell, thereâs nowhere in the world thatâs doing large indoor events,â said state Rep. Monroe Nichols, a Democrat who represents Tulsa. âDefinitely not events with 20,000 people in the middle of a global pandemic. Itâs just not a thing.â
Trumpâs rally Saturday is âa worst case scenario. Itâs a perfect storm for the further spread of the virus,â Nichols added.
Tulsa is the place that is doing a “large indoor event.” What’s more, local officials report a serious spike already under way in Oklahoma.
Is this smart? No. It is the depth of stupidity.
Your biggest fear is that there wonât be any significant uptake in cases following the rally. That would certainly hurt all the hypocrisy thatâs been stated regarding this.
There may be a significant increase in cases. Only time will tell. Itâs been just long enough now that there should be significant cases from all the indoor memorials for George Floyd. So far, that hasnât happened. There wasnât social distancing during these memorials. Most were wearing masks, that I saw, but not all.
You can also use the excuse about protests being outside. Youâve been on streets of large downtown cities. Thereâs very little air flow in these tight quarters. Itâs very similar to being inside, especially when there are large crowds. Again, the hypocrisy shows.
Like I said, there may be increases in cases. Will there be significant increases? Again, only time will tell. I think I would have waited to get so animated about a scenario until you know for sure the outcome. Maybe 50 to 75% have already been exposed and have built immunity? I guess weâll see what happens.