| From the start of the Covid-19 outbreak, President Donald Trump has been focused on one key issue: The U.S. economy. At first he reassured that it wouldn’t be affected, then he protested that it wasn’t “built” to be shut down, and now he’s exhorting states to get back to business.
Who’s going to pay to restart the economy? Trump’s tried to imply that he will, putting his signature on $1,200 checks that Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin called a “liquidity bridge” to cover 10 weeks of lost and curtailed income. Businesses, landlords, shippers, families, airlines, oil drillers—everyone is already paying a stiff price for the economic standstill.
Protests emerged against quarantine measures designed to fight the pandemic.
Photographer: JEFF KOWALSKY/AFP
As Bloomberg’s Emma Court reports, the U.S. is insufficiently equipped for the testing needed to determine the extent of the epidemic. Countries that responded quickly and aggressively with testing and tracing of contacts—like South Korea—have a much better handle on the virus. The U.S. is doing about a quarter of the daily testing it needs to reopen. And other countries with similar virus burdens, like Italy, the U.K. and Spain, are extending their lockdowns.
So as sunbathers eagerly report back to Jacksonville’s beaches and pressure rises to relax state restrictions, remember who really pays for a hasty reopening: the elderly. Grandmothers and grandfathers will pay with their lives.
Almost 9% of people diagnosed with Covid-19 in their 70s died in the China outbreak, and the rate was almost twice as high for those in their 80s. While it’s tempting to suggest that the elderly just stay out of the way until the pandemic is over, they can’t. They need care. Drugs. Groceries. Their friends and families.
Unless we can do a better job of determining where the virus is and where it isn’t, the elderly won’t be safe until better treatments or a vaccine appear. The longer the virus is allowed to spread, the more of them will have to pay for it.—John Lauerman |