I have lost track of how many days this quarantine has gone on. Though Indiana has begun to open due to the elevated number of cases Indianapolis has opened behind the rest of the state. Some may say why don't just open up when the rest of the state did. Though, I may have my own qualms about how the Mayor chooses to open up or even how the Governor does at the end of the day I have no control over what they do. I have to trust the Holy Spirit is guiding them even if they are unaware of it.
Sometimes when we look at the fact that certain businesses are called non-essential our gut may say isn't every job essential, but at the end of the day we don't have control over whether a business is or was deemed as such. While my opinion does lie with the fact that every job is essential and that saying that a worker or job is non-essential creates a hierarchy that could be damaging both societally and economically, I don't have much say in whet the government decides. I could call a local representative but at this time plans have been made so it won't do much.
I will say as someone who fell in love with journalism early on seeing my older sister be editor for my future high school's Newspaper, I believe the media has detrimentally caused fear in the masses. I don't have a problem with them covering COVID-19 or the pandemic. In fact I would be equally as angry at them for not covering it at all as I am about how they have sensationalized this serious event in world history.
I understand that it relies a lot on clicks on their websites. Yet I wish they were exercise caution in reporting. I may not agree with the president's belligerence during press conferences all the time. Though I do recognized that at tines the press has appeared to completely take his comments out of context. Also, way in which it seems that reopening is framed a negative because of the risk and probability of a second wave. I agree everything that is reasonable should be done to protect those who are vulnerable to the disease. Yet I see reactions that don't always appear so.
When I hear that the Governor of Michigan has called protestors racist or that beaches have been shut down due to the virus, I ask are these measures or statements warranted or just displays of power. When I see that college campuses are not opening in the fall, I ask are they thinking of the incoming students or those who are seniors. I understand life would be slightly different if a college decides to welcome students, but I am willing to make these changes as long as I go back in the fall. I think closing colleges just allows there to be more fear in the community. I understand that some want to continue distance learning. But that is not necessarily plausible for everyone, mandating distance learning may cause those of less means to have to delay returning to school altogether as they may not have access to the technology they need.
I think there has been an over emphasis on the vaccine. Structuring our live around a vaccine that will take at least a year to materialize strikes me as fool hardy. There are diseases out there that have no vaccine and are deadly. The flu vaccine is really only effective under certain circumstances protecting only people from a certain number of strains. I agree that the scientific community should put much toward the development of a vaccine. But I don't agree that the general public should remain in their homes or under other restrictions until a vaccine is found, if at all. I don't think that colleges should decide whether to reopen or not based upon existence of a vaccine.
It seems as though few stories make it through the news other than that of Coronavirus updates. The stories that do make it through may be of a death in another form. I find it sad that the death of Ahmaud Arbery or the controversy around Michael Flynn have to be the stories that are the first ones I see that I consider "regular" or "normal". Both seem to divide the nation rather than unite it in a time where I feel unity is ever the more important. On top of that both sides accuse the other as politicizing the virus because of the election coming in November. I guess I have too much faith in people to be fair or to treat the virus as something that should be off limits to politicization. I hope when we look back on this time we see all the errors made in the sensationalism and the politicization of the virus. I may have lost count of the days, but I will look back and be that was the long week of my life.