OPINION NOTHING ABOUT THE REOPENING OF STATES' ECONOMY IS SAFE BY LARRY J. SCHWEIGER - FOR THE PITTSURGH CURRENT INFO@PITTSBURGH CURRENT.COM
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early everyone would like to get our lives back to "normal," but overwhelmingly most Americans understand that our health and safety must override economic issues until the virus can be contained. Yet most states, including Pennsylvania, are re-opening their economies and easing restrictions on businesses and social activity despite public health expert warnings that this increased activity is likely to cause a second surge of new infections. None of the states re-opening have met the CDC's core benchmark for at least a two-week decline in reported cases. In a new poll conducted by Ipsos in partnership with ABC News, Americans, by a 30-point margin, believe the risk to human life of opening the country outweighs the economic toll of remaining under restrictions. Only about one-third believe that an immediate re-opening is beneficial to minimize the negative impact on the economy amidst the coronavirus pandemic that has killed 80,000 American lives. They want to re-open even if the elderly and vulnerable die.
Protests to Reopen With only a third of the public supporting premature re-opening, "AstroTurf" protests in state capitols, city, and county buildings are creating the illusion that Americans want to ignore the evidence and re-open. Some protests have been complete with masked terrorists dressed in full camouflage toting military-style rifles, displaying
Scense from a reopen Pennsylvania rally two weeks ago (Pittsburgh Current Photo by Jake Mysliwczyk)
swastikas, and rebel flags. Anti-government rebels, gun advocates, white nationalists, and the ill-informed have responded to a well-funded effort by dark money groups to spawn rally at state capitols. They gathered in tight crowds ignoring safe distancing, face masks, and stay-at-home orders. Many protesters claimed to be pro-life while they point out that most deaths are among the old and infirm. They suggest that some are expendable "collateral damage" to opening the economy. Republican lawmakers and angry protests organized by an active AstroTurf campaign funded by corporations have pressured Governor Wolf to abandon his prudent approach that was consistent with CDC guidelines and re-open much of Pennsylvania, including most
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Southwest counties. How can anyone take actions that will force a societal retreat in the middle of a pandemic and possibly kill thousands of lives for the sake of recklessly re-opening the economy? Pennsylvania House Speaker Mike Turzai, who also claims to be pro-life, tweeted a graphic suggesting that the sick, disabled, and elderly people do not matter when it comes to re-opening of our economy. He also cited health data that indicate that 79 is the average age for coronavirus-related deaths in the state and that nearly 68% of those deaths occurred in assisted-living facilities. To be clear, residents of nursing homes and other long-term care facilities have suffered the most with estimates of more than 16,000
deaths Nationwide attributed to COVID-19. Republican lawmakers, following House Speaker Turzai, ignore the best health scientists and depreciate the lives of the weak and elderly, passed legislation to pressure re-opening of Pennsylvania. Early on during the COVID-19 health crisis shutdown, Turzai advanced House Bill 2400 to restart public and private construction activities. This bill would force construction workers back to crowded worksites like the Beaver County cracker plant where workers have complained about the risks involved. Turzai claimed the construction sites would follow CDC guidelines when, in fact, they would not be consistent because of premature opening. The effort to force workers to return to work
