OPINION: Hope in the Era of COVID-19

OPINION:

Hope In The Era of COVID-19

By Anna Hessel

Disaster In Progress

The COVID-19 virus is the worst pandemic the majority of humanity has ever seen. Public panic is on a level with the Yellow Fever epidemic which broke out in Philadelphia, PA, in 1793.  Over that spring and summer more than 4,000 people died. Paranoia of the “black vomit of death” had people covering their mouths and noses with vinegar-soaked cloths.  The death toll included the first husband of then-future First Lady Dolley Madison and their baby boy.  Some are saying this pandemic is similar to a resurgence of tuberculosis or polio.  We are a nation living in fear, not faith, because of the gravity of the COVID-19 crisis.  Feeling helpless, anxious and abandoned, we yearn for a return to normalcy.

Those Most At Risk

Even well-known celebrities and the wealthy are coming down with coronavirus. The most vulnerable in our society are being the hardest hit. The elderly, disabled, immunocompromised, and lower-income people are more likely to contract the virus than the wealthy. Blacks and Latinos are suffering the most deaths. The most vulnerable are less likely to recover, due to lack of health care benefits. They are suffering in other ways during the COVID-19 pandemic, as well.

The Most Fragile

These fragile people are the ones most in need of government help. Crowded Human Service offices are being shut down.  Food pantries typically have small waiting areas and limited shelf stock. Many food banks can now only offer a couple of bags of food in a drive-through environment. Folks without access to a vehicle who rely on public transportation or their own two feet and need food assistance may not receive the needed help. These life-line organizations are running low on provisions and in fact are likely to run out of food. Recent cuts to food stamps are an extra threat to food security. Furthermore, those dependent on apartment laundry rooms or commercial laundromats, face an increased risk of exposure to COVID-19, because of the communal areas.

More Help Is Needed

The White House is recommending workers stay home for two to three weeks, perhaps a month.  Workers that receive an hourly wage; or are salaried, with no sick or vacation time, will not be able to pay the bills. Donald Trump is suggesting a two to four-week moratorium on evictions and foreclosures. Such action even if it materializes, will not give enough time for people to recover, or receive government assistance.

Glaring Inequities

As of yet, there are no contingency plans to forestall vehicle repossession or utility shut-offs for non-payment.  It has been suggested that pawn shops, the typical cash source for many low-income people, be required to give extra time on loan payments. Similar suggestions have been floated for high risk finance companies, like Pay Day Loan and Title Loan, but our current White House occupant and company have not addressed the issue. Donald Trump does not care about the poor or the middle class. The gross inequities in the U.S. health system and our society are becoming glaringly clear during this crisis.

Oval Office Botch

Mismanagement by the Trump-Pence administration has practically shut down our world.  Past administrations have handled severe health crises without causing panic and strictures on daily life as we know it.  SARS, MERS, polio, and the most recent Ebola outbreak, were all handled by previous presidents without turning them into national disasters. Every day, each and every one of us is paying the price for Trump’s incompetence.

A Run Through

In 2017, Obama-Biden administration staffers walked Trump aides through an exercise for a global pandemic situation.  They learned nothing from that exercise. Senator Sherrod Brown (D), Ohio, revealed that two years back Mr. Trump, ”eliminated the entire global health security team at the White House”. The task of this group had been to manage pandemics.  Donald Trump knowingly dismantled the very infrastructure necessary to lower contraction and fatalities. Such action in review is remarkable in its shortsighted incompetence.

Missed Moments

Many folks having weddings or other milestone events will lose deposits on rental venues, cakes and catering, gowns and tuxedos. Seniors are seeing graduation celebrations being postponed or canceled. Those that have studied fervently for two, four, or more years will miss the opportunity to throw their tasselled caps in the air and be recognized for their achievements.

No Easter Egg Hunts

Students attending school a distance from their home could have the travel expense to return for a postponed commencement ceremony.  Baptisms and anniversary parties, and long planned birthday events, are being cancelled. Once-in-a-lifetime trips are being scrapped, as vacation time is being used to stay in, stuck with a porch view instead of an ocean view balcony. Easter egg hunts are being cancelled.  Life moments we can never get back.  Broadway theaters, as well as live houses in other major markets such as Chicago, are postponing or cancelling productions, including world premieres.

Cabin Fever

Whether identified as  “shelter in place”, “self-quarantine”, “social distancing” or “self isolation” it doesn’t take long for active Americans to begin showing signs of cabin fever.  Social isolation is especially difficult for those who live alone, or that live with someone they do not get along with. People hunkered down at home are potentially at risk for over-eating, lethargy, depression, anxiety, restlessness and hopelessness.

Give Me A Prayer

Lent is a time for renewal. This year it has become a season of despair. Greed is rampant with hoarding and price gouging.  Donald Trump’s blasphemist plea “for prayer” to clean up the mess that he created is simply a re-election ploy directed to his right-wing “Christian” supporters.  I pray that the voters will send Trump packing in the November election. He has caused more than enough hardship and heartache over the last four years.

A Refusal To Act

Trump refused to act before the coronavirus got out of hand. He takes no responsibility for his actions. He has made the situation an epic disaster. Our nation is facing a rising death toll, a falling Dow Jones and an imminent recession.  It was just 10 years ago that the Obama-Biden administration pulled our country out of the Great Recession with calm, steady systematic action. Now, here we are again in an economic nosedive with a unparalled health crisis bearing down on us. But this time, instead of calm and steady, we have an undisciplined clown running mindlessly about the center ring, issuing senseless and conflicting orders between horn honks. At such a time, we find ourselves asking, can any good come of this? About the only thing we have, is hope.

An Unfortunate Time

In this unfortunate time, we can surrender to uncertainty and fear, or we can reject despair and anxiety. Circumstances are forcing us to slow down. While we focus on hand washing and diligently sanitize our spaces lets accept and embrace this time to rest and reflect. Take some deep breaths, grab a cup of tea, light a candle. Enjoy a bubble bath, give yourself a mani-pedi, try a facial. Play with a pet, listen to music, watch a Hallmark movie, play a board game, work a puzzle, make a tent in the living room and microwave S’mores.  Share family time, call a friend to just chat, clear out your sock drawer. Bake bread since store shelves are out, share a cup of milk or a roll of toilet paper with a neighbor.

Hope and Love

Although we lack fresh air and sunshine, we must choose faith over fear – we should never again take for granted lattes with friends, a rather boring weekday, a shelf full of groceries, a theater packed with an audience, hugs from those we care about.  We choose to be hopeful – we can still pray, we can still laugh, we can still dance like no one is watching, we can still love because where there is love, there is hope…

Anna Hessel is a member of the National Society of Newspaper Columnists