By Mary Beth Schneider
TheStatehouseFile.com
INDIANAPOLIS — In every horror movie there is that moment when someone opens the door.
They know that people have been killed. They feel hunted. They feel desperate.
Maybe they can race for the car. Maybe they can get help.
They open the door.
Maybe nothing is on the other side, and they escape. Better yet, maybe help is coming, a rescue.
But maybe the monster is there.
We are now in that movie. Too many of us will be the extras, the expendable actors who are victims; very few of us will be the heroes, the ones who not only escape but save the world.
We are faced with the horror-movie decision: Do we open the door?
Do we open the door knowing that more people will be killed by the monster, Covid-19 if we do? Do we keep the door shut, knowing the monster has us under siege?
As of Thursday morning, there were more than 835,000 positive cases of Covid-19 in the United States and more than 42,000 deaths. In Indiana, there were more than 13,000 positive cases and 706 deaths. And those are only the ones we know about, as many more cases have gone untested.
But we also learned the nation is in the steepest economic downturn since the Great Depression. About 26.5 million people nationwide, and about 515,000 in Indiana, have filed jobless claims in recent weeks.
Unlike the depression that started in 1929, this downturn is the result of government efforts to save lives. With the virus spreading from person-to-person and no vaccine yet available, businesses were ordered closed with only workers deemed essential still on the job.
On March 23, Gov. Eric Holcomb issued his first stay-at-home order, which was to expire April 7. It’s now been extended to May 1. This week, he said the state is eyeing “phase one†of reopening, and sought input from both medical experts and industries about how to proceed.
The Indiana Chamber of Commerce weighed in with a survey of 1,400 business leaders that showed the deep fear that their companies will be casualties of the pandemic. Asked to rank the impact of coronavirus on their business on a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 the worst, 24% said 10. And 67% ranked it from 7 through 10.
Asked when the state should reopen businesses, however, there is trepidation as 33% opted for “after May 1†but an identical number wanted to wait until more testing has taken place. Currently, Indiana has tested only about 72,000 and is nowhere near reaching the goal of 6,300 people per day.
The economy may reopen but some doors never will. Retailers and restaurants, from iconic brands to mom-and-pop diners, will vanish. Even as I sympathize with the owner of a small business that will go bankrupt if they can’t open soon, I’d like to hear from the workers. Are they willing to risk their health to return to the job? There’s a reason the Indiana Chamber wants Holcomb to declare businesses immune from lawsuits if employees return only to get sick.
Holcomb, in making his decision, can’t look to President Trump for advice. The president has attacked governors who have shut down, even as his own administration called for the social distancing that necessitates it. And he’s backstabbed Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp for reopening too soon. Because whatever decision a governor makes, Trump wants to inoculate himself from any fallout.
Holcomb has repeatedly said he will follow expert advice and pay attention to the numbers. Keeping the door closed has meant fewer fatalities but more unemployed. We know we have to open it someday, but when and how? Holcomb has said reopening will not mean business as usual, that masks will be the fashion accessory of choice, and distancing will continue. But will that be enough protection enough? Would you be comfortable turning the knob knowing at least some will die?
Soon, we will find out if the monster — which won’t have gone away — is at least manageable or if, like in the horror movie, was just waiting for us to make a mistake.
Soon, Holcomb has to decide whether to open the door.
FOOTNOTE: Mary Beth Schneider is an editor at TheStatehouseFile.com, a news website powered by Franklin College journalists.
The City-County Observer post this article without bias, opinion, or editing.
Couldn’t write an article without including a paragraph to smear our wonderful President who has worked tirelessly throughout this event to keep us as safe as possible. Disgusting, but expected, from TheStatehouseFile.com.
The Governor of Indiana does not need “advice” from the President. All the information and data he needs to make decisions concerning Indiana is readily available to him.
Once again, a left winger writes for the City County Observer. Schneider was a Buttigieg backer. A Never Trumper, who once referred to Donald Trump as “Mr. Man Donald Trump.” Can’t we get some balance on this website, Ron. I’d like to read an article here and know, without having to always look up the writer’s obvious left wing bias, that I’m getting a story that is the truth and not liberal spin.
Dan
Thanks for your input
Got an idea please send us articles that you feel don’t have a left-wing bias and we will gladly reprint or post it without bias, opinion, or editing.
Also let me ask you to read the comments posted in our Left Jab, Middle Jab, and Right Jab section. If anyone wants to read some right-wing comments a poster called Joe Biden will provide all you want to read.
Glad to hear your doing better.
Regards
Ron
Doing better and looking for a more balanced opinion section in the City County Observer. The Trump bashers are starting to become tiring. If I wanted to do a right-wing news web-site, I wouldn’t have to post, I’d just get one going in that direction. More balance, please!
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