Reports and rumors have been surfacing that President Trump is currently mulling over a plan for a national shutdown. Such a shutdown would be unprecedented in U.S. history.
The plan would allow President Trump to mobilize the National Guard to help enforce a two-week quarantine of the public and require everyone to “stay at home..” This would also urge all businesses, other than grocery stores and pharmacies to close for the time being. According to the source named in the Washington Examiner article, this plan would not be announced until early next week.
This comes on the heels of more and more states and cities taking drastic measures on Friday to combat the ongoing spread of the coronavirus, which so far has infected roughly 14,000 Americans.
While the President has praised the majority of the public for their ongoing efforts to be more conscious about their social distancing efforts, this new effort would be an acknowledgment that many people are still not taking the warnings seriously.
Even critics such as former top Obama administration official, Ezekiel Emanuel, stated on Friday during an MSNBC interview – “We are two weeks behind Italy.” “I am a little curious why the task force and the President have not made this a mandate nationwide. Not the lockdown, but a mandate for all the states to close restaurants and do the other things.”
While a national shutdown has not yet been announced, it is clear that this administration is trying to find ways to tackle the ongoing threat of the coronavirus and stop the spread.
Based on portions of the American public downplaying this threat, in my opinion, I feel that if we are going to stop the spread of this virus, we need to enforce stricter measures.
As we have seen, many college students have chosen to ignore the President’s warnings and have flocked to the beaches in order to celebrate their spring break; this shows the blissful ignorance of the seriousness of the situation that many people still have.
This is not just a “bad flu” or even just like the flu – those who still think it is are woefully mistaken. What makes this virus more lethal than the flu is that according to the CDC it is more deadly for the elderly, leaving anyone at 60 or above at a higher risk of death. According to CDC research, 31-59% of adults aged 65-84 require hospitalization with coronavirus, while 31-70% of adults 85 years or older require hospitalization.
It doesn’t just affect the elderly. While the elderly are at an increased risk, new research from the CDC shows that 38% of adults 55 or younger are requiring hospitalization. Coronavirus, which originated in Wuhan, China is also more contagious than the flu.
https://www.nih.gov/news-events/news-releases/new-coronavirus-stable-hours-surfaces
The incubation period for Coronavirus is approximately 5 – 14 days. This means that you can contract the virus. And, for up to 14 days you can have it and not show any symptoms, but still pass it to others unknowingly.
How communicable is this virus? It can last up to three hours airborne. It persists on softer surfaces (cardboard and clothing) for about 24 hours and on hard surfaces for up to three days.
Because of these factors, it can easily overwhelm our health systems.
This is not just your average flu, people.
We have a common enemy – the coronavirus. We need to band together and treat this as a war.