Trump, Zoom, Masks, and Anti-Vaxxers: Lessons from a Pandemic
Learning from the Never-Ending Fight with COVID-19
On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization finally declared what anybody paying attention already knew, that COVID-19 was a global pandemic. Almost 19 months later, what have we learned?
Masks Are Miserable. Wearing them for more than a few minutes, especially if it’s hot, borders on Chinese water torture. It actually is torture if you have bad breath. And nobody can’t recognize anybody. I’d walk right past my wife if I were to unexpectedly run into her.
Masks Save Lives. I saw people from China were wearing masks at Jacksonville International Airport in early February of 2020. At that point, no cases had been reported in Florida and fewer than a dozen cases had been reported in all of the U.S., so I thought the mask-wearers were insane. Crazy like a fox would be more like it. Next time a pandemic rears its ugly head, I will start wearing masks immediately, even before the government tells me to. Even if you’re no fan of Dr. Fauci’s, studies show high-quality, well-fitting masks reduce exhaled droplets significantly and also offer some protection to the wearer. I’ll take any protection I can get.
Trump Was the Worst Leader at the Worst Possible Time. Remember how former President Trump told us how the COVID-19 was “under control,” no worse than the flu, and that “One day, it’s like a miracle, it will disappear.” He asked whether bleach might work to kill the virus inside our bodies, he ridiculed life-saving masks, refused to actively push for his followers to get vaccinated (he still only makes tepid endorsements of vaccines), hid the fact that he and his family got their shots (while all former presidents and his own vice president did so publicly), and repeatedly undercut the scientists. Any one of those should be enough to convince rational people that the U.S. couldn’t have done much worse than having Trump in the White House during this crisis. The enormous death toll should convince even the irrational.
Trump Was the Leader We Needed. Does anyone think that the scientific community would have developed vaccines against COVID in record time were it not for Trump’s pressure and funding from his administration? The death toll would be even more enormous. Sure, Operation Warp Speed built on decades existing research but it delivered an unprecedented achievement. And Trump’s push to reopen the economy lessened the pain of the pandemic for millions of Americans.
“Overreacting” to danger is smart. Critics lambasted Miami Mayor Francis Suarez for disappointing hundreds of thousands of fans from all over the world when, on March 4, 2020, he canceled the Ultra Music and Calle Ocho Festivals. On that date, Miami Dade County reported zero cases. But taking action early before crowds of people from harder-hit countries descended on Miami to cram into venues undoubtedly saved lives and slowed the pandemic as it prepared to explode.
Overreacting is stupid. In two tales of the same city, then Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Gimenez banned access to all public parklands and beaches on March 19, 2020. On that day, the county reported only 24 COVID-19 cases. No evidence of outdoor transmission existed (we now know transmission in outdoor public spaces with social distancing is minimal). Still, very low-contact activities like tennis, golf, and even hiking in public parks became prohibited activities. The ban extended to places like the Matheson Hammock Trail and Dog Park, where you’ll rarely see more than two dozen people at once on its hundreds of acres. By so drastically limiting what people could do outside, government forced them inside, where transmission was more likely. It also created a pressure cooker that likely forced government to reopen too soon. Who knows how many lives were lost?
Toilet Paper Can Cause Real Stress. Talk about overreacting, on both sides. People went nuts hoarding toilet paper and a variety of necessities. Others freaked out because they couldn’t buy any. Next time, if there is a next time, calm down folks. Still, you might want to not wait until you’re on your last roll before replenishing your stash of TP or anything else you can’t live without.
Anti-Vaxx Insanity Is, Well, Insane. Vaccines are arguably the most life-saving innovation in human history. It boggles the mind that not getting vaccinated has become entwined, in some people’s minds, with freedom. Folks, you are free to jump off a cliff. You are not free to endanger the lives of others. Ironically, many in Trump’s base are siding with anti-vaxxers, led by people they love to hate: a Kennedy and Hollywood elites. Talk about strange bedfellows and how the extremes on the left and right touch. Another irony? Trumpists ignore that Trump and his family got vaccinated, and that Trump keeps touting his role in the developing the COVID vaccines. However, this is not just a Trump-supporter problem, as some in the media would have you believe. The share of vaccinations for Black people, who overwhelmingly voted for Joe Biden, is significantly lower than their share of the population in almost every state.
Loneliness Kills, Especially the Elderly. We knew that COVID killed an awful lot of people at assisted-living facilities. But many died from the loneliness caused by the isolation that was intended to protect them. A report from the inspector general of the Department of Health and Human Services found deaths at nursing homes soared by 32% in 2020, a jump of 169,291 deaths over the previous year. The Associated Press estimates that 40,000 excess deaths took place in nursing homes across the country that were not from COVID-19, just between March and November, 2020. While some of those deaths were the result of neglect at understaffed facilities, nobody doubts many died from loneliness.
Young People May End Up Hurt Most. While older Americans dealt with the worst physical health impacts from COVID, younger people may be most affected psychologically. And virtual schooling seems to have drastically exacerbated the loneliness epidemic among the young. A new survey from Mental Health America found 54% of kids between the ages of 11 and 17 reported frequent suicidal thoughts or self-harm in the previous two weeks. A Harvard study found that among those aged 18 to 25, 61% reported feeling lonely “frequently,” “almost all the time,” or “all the time.” A Horace Mann study found that 97% of educators surveyed reported more learning loss than in prior years. And 57% of them estimated their students had fallen behind by more than three months in their social-emotional progress. And the Department of Education says enrollment in public schools dropped by 1.5 million students during the pandemic. The consequences for the country are incalculable.
I Hate Zoom. It turns out the distortions in the ubiquitous video calls could do the opposite of what’s intended, making people feel anxious and isolated. Plenty of studies have found that the inability to fully perceive people’s facial expressions or comfortably interrupt each other badly hurt our ability to communicate naturally. Zoom cocktail parties were mostly unsatisfying. Workers who constantly used Zoom, like interpreters at the U.N. and E.U., reported feelings of burnout, fogginess and alienation. Zoom also brought an array of privacy and security concerns.
I Love Zoom. It saved lives, enabled the economy to keep functioning, and kept us connected. Is there any doubt that Zoom and other video conferencing made the nightmare of the past year significantly more bearable? I wouldn’t have “seen” my L.A.-based daughter for almost a year. We also celebrated my in-laws’ 80th birthdays on Zoom. My 90-year-old mom stayed connected to her kids and grandkids. Video conferencing did the same for “office” families. I would never have “met” most of my coworkers in a company founded during the pandemic without it.
Nothing Is Certain. I’m stating the obvious, but even the Cassandras who warned pre-COVID that a pandemic could upend our lives would have had struggled to predict this worldwide nightmare.
Hope for Stability, Prepare for Turbulence. Notwithstanding the 2008 financial crisis and the 9/11 attacks, none but the oldest among us had ever seen upheaval like what we suffered during the pandemic. We can’t live in fear, but people who can should heed the advice of financial experts to have liquid savings needed to cover 6-8 months of expenses.
The Digital Future Became the Present. The pandemic rapidly accelerated use of video conferencing, streaming, telemedicine, remote work, online financial transactions, and other digital activities. They will now be the new normal.
Cities Will Never Be the Same. Just how much our cities will change remains an open question, but there’s no doubt remote and hybrid work are here to stay. A Bloomberg survey found 39% of U.S. adults would consider quitting if employers weren’t flexible. 87% of workers want to continue working remotely at least one day a week, according to a Prudential survey. Many employers, seeing serious savings in smaller offices, seem widely willing to jump on the bandwagon.
We Are Nothing Without Our Families. If you didn’t know that before the pandemic, you probably do now. Go hug your loved ones and be thankful you aren’t among the millions who have lost loved ones to hug.
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Cover photo: ICU nurse Christopher Fernandez, left, and Dr. Stefan Richter, right, work on a patient with COVID-19 in the ICU at Martin Luther King, Jr. Community Hospital (MLKCH) on Feb. 1, 2021 in Los Angeles County, CA. (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)