• strict warning: Non-static method view::load() should not be called statically in /home/glencoenews/www/www/sites/all/modules/views/views.module on line 906.
  • strict warning: Declaration of views_handler_argument::init() should be compatible with views_handler::init(&$view, $options) in /home/glencoenews/www/www/sites/all/modules/views/handlers/views_handler_argument.inc on line 0.
  • strict warning: Declaration of views_handler_filter::options_validate() should be compatible with views_handler::options_validate($form, &$form_state) in /home/glencoenews/www/www/sites/all/modules/views/handlers/views_handler_filter.inc on line 0.
  • strict warning: Declaration of views_handler_filter::options_submit() should be compatible with views_handler::options_submit($form, &$form_state) in /home/glencoenews/www/www/sites/all/modules/views/handlers/views_handler_filter.inc on line 0.
  • strict warning: Declaration of views_handler_filter_node_status::operator_form() should be compatible with views_handler_filter::operator_form(&$form, &$form_state) in /home/glencoenews/www/www/sites/all/modules/views/modules/node/views_handler_filter_node_status.inc on line 0.
  • strict warning: Non-static method view::load() should not be called statically in /home/glencoenews/www/www/sites/all/modules/views/views.module on line 906.
  • strict warning: Non-static method view::load() should not be called statically in /home/glencoenews/www/www/sites/all/modules/views/views.module on line 906.
  • strict warning: Non-static method view::load() should not be called statically in /home/glencoenews/www/www/sites/all/modules/views/views.module on line 906.
  • strict warning: Non-static method view::load() should not be called statically in /home/glencoenews/www/www/sites/all/modules/views/views.module on line 906.
  • strict warning: Non-static method view::load() should not be called statically in /home/glencoenews/www/www/sites/all/modules/views/views.module on line 906.
  • strict warning: Non-static method view::load() should not be called statically in /home/glencoenews/www/www/sites/all/modules/views/views.module on line 906.
  • strict warning: Non-static method view::load() should not be called statically in /home/glencoenews/www/www/sites/all/modules/views/views.module on line 906.
  • strict warning: Non-static method view::load() should not be called statically in /home/glencoenews/www/www/sites/all/modules/views/views.module on line 906.

Tough times – Our view: Caution still the best approach

We’ve heard the call the past few days to open the economy from people who have been hurt by shutting it down as the coronavirus continues to threaten the lives of people across the state, country and world. Its impact the shutdown has had on the lives of Minnesotans is both dire and predictable.
And yet politicians on both sides of the political spectrum are playing the blame game. Don’t be surprised, it’s an election year. Some claim the president didn’t do enough during January and February to prepare the country for COVID-19, allowing the virus to gain a foothold in the country. Others claim Democrats did nothing while Republican lawmakers worked tirelessly to pass a $250 billion replenishment of the paycheck protection program (PPP) to keep the flow of relief to Minnesota businesses going using their constituents as political pawns, blocking critical relief for countless small businesses.
Beyond endorsing a cautious approach, we won’t waste your time here trying to convince you what to believe or reject. Our only request is you look critically at what is being stated, by whom and what they hope to gain. The COVID-19 pandemic is being used as a political pawn opposing ideologies to gain and/or retain political power. The more we hear from scientists and medical experts and the less from politicians, the better.
We understand small businesses are the engine of an economy. Trust us, a newspaper is a small business and is not immune to the challenges of the day. But throwing the doors to the economy wide open is reckless. People carrying the virus could unknowingly pass it to others who would also pay a price, possibly with their lives.
It’s downright maddening, to hear people claim the orders of governors like Tim Walz impinge on their independence, especially after President Trump said governors should decide how their states reopen from the pandemic.
These people can’t say for certain the person next to them isn’t carrying the virus and might go home and pass it to a spouse, child or elderly family member and deny them their right to good health. Remember, people carrying the coronavirus can be asymptomatic.
We can’t provide our health care professionals the protective equipment they need to care for patients and protect themselves, Yet people are worried about their personal freedoms? A health care professional at a VA facility caring for aging veterans has been granted one mask – per week – as she cares for people who served and protected our freedoms.
Until there is widespread testing available, opening up the economy is shortsighted. Who is willing to accept the responsibility for effectively trading a short-term economic bump for encouraging the spreading of COVID-19? If we must err, for now, caution is the better approach.
We don’t fully know who is carrying the coronavirus and who isn’t carrying it. The customer a business owner wants to serve just might be bringing COVID-19 into his place of business and nobody knows it.
If you are among those who believe this is just the flu and should be treated accordingly, your logic is so confounding we don’t know what to say. In any given year, the flu doesn’t kill 41,00-plus people, 143 in Minnesota. They don’t use refrigerator trucks and dig mass graves for people because of the flu. Granted, that’s in New York.
This is not just the flu.
People are understandably frustrated. The economy is plunging toward levels not seen since the Great Depression. Your friends and neighbors are hurting. Throwing the economy open, blindly ending the stay-at-home order may be a short-term fix with severe long-term consequences.
Nobody really knows for certain. Caution is still the best approach.
-jm