DUELING COLUMN: It’s Time For America to Reopen

Damielys Duarte/Staff Writer

It has been over a month since America locked down due to the COVID-19 pandemic, with only essential services and activities taking place at the moment. Despite this, there is already talk of reopening the nation—and I am here for it.

With nearly 51,516 deaths in the United States due to the raging virus, it is understandable that many will disagree with my proposition and claim it is a life-threatening decision to reopen non-essential areas. 

However, during the 2019-2020 influenza season, nearly 30 million people have been affected and 29,000 deaths have transpired. Although the death rate is nowhere near that of COVID-19, it is still a significant number for the “average cold.” Of course every life matters, but those using that as an argument to prolong the lockdown now never asked to shut down the country then. 

All sickness has a price and we cannot stop living our lives for fear of death or contagion. While measures must be taken to avoid unnecessary exposure of the virus to individuals most at risk, such as senior citizens and individuals with compromised immune systems, that does not mean healthy individuals cannot go about and live their lives.

On April 14th, there were 6,839 confirmed COVID deaths in New York City. 4,946 were individuals over the age of 65 and 3,561 of those individuals had underlying health issues. That means 72.3% of the confirmed death rate of New York City consisted of elderly individuals who contracted the virus.

And while their deaths mean no less than our own, it does signify that what the nation needs is not a total shutdown but a select quarantine. Those at risk of fatality from the virus need to be quarantined while the rest of society is exposed to the virus and gains antibodies.

In this manner, not only are we saving lives but we are also saving the nation. Though money isn’t everything, we do need to think about the future and the effects such an economic stall can have on America’s economy a few months from now.

For the state of Florida, the pandemic has resulted in the highest levels of unemployment in almost two years after skyrocketing to 4.3% in March. The Florida Department of Economic Opportunity (DEO) has already released 170,407 payments to Floridians in reemployment assistance benefits from March 15 to April 19, totaling $59,928,939. This economic uncertainty is rivaling the fear of COVID and soon enough Florida residents will be breaking quarantine in order to make ends meet.

As President Donald Trump tweeted, “we cannot let the cure be worse than the problem itself.” For many of these families, their fear is not the chance of catching COVID but of not paying their rent when the stay-at-home orders are lifted and there are no jobs to be found. 

America is not the first country considering reopening in the midst of this crisis. Germany has already begun lifting its stay-at-home orders and has allowed for businesses of up to 800 square meters to begin operations, despite being the nation with the fifth highest COVID-19 caseload. 

While time will tell if this is the correct solution for Germany, hopefully America will soon follow suit with appropriate measures aimed at restoring our personal freedoms and moving past this painful moment in history.

As said by our President, “our country wasn’t built to be shut down.”

Featured image by Paul Sableman on Flickr.

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