POLL - Should We Start To Open Our Economy Again?

[Michael]

The big question is why would anyone not want to follow these executive orders put in place to protect themselves and others? It is a simple thing to put on a face covering when in public. I don't get why this is even a debate. We have to deal with this virus and be smart about it. All of us have to do the best we can to limit exposure and spread so the hospitals don't get or stay overwhelmed.

Most Americans, for the last several weeks, have done their part for the greater good of their country. They should be congratulated not ostracized. Much of what is being imposed now is unconstitutional and draconian. The Constitution and Bill of Rights trump state law. States have broad latitude with their own state constitution and laws as long as it does not run afoul of federal law.

[Blackcat31]

In order for anyone to deem it unconstitutional and not follow it, it must be brought to court to fight it and get it overturned. It doesn't give people the right to not follow orders without proving it is unconstitutional. Fines will be imposed if they choose to not follow an order. There were non essential businesses that decided to not follow an order and they had the police come, shut them down and fine them here in NY.

...and the flip side is many don't believe they have to follow the orders if the state/Governor can't prove it is constitutional.

Many states have business refusing to close their doors and are fighting back.

The big question is why would anyone not want to follow these executive orders put in place to protect themselves and others? It is a simple thing to put on a face covering when in public. I don't get why this is even a debate. We have to deal with this virus and be smart about it. All of us have to do the best we can to limit exposure and spread so the hospitals don't get or stay overwhelmed.

For the exact same reason parents choose to not vaccinate their children. Because they don't believe the info being told to them. So if someone does not believe wearing a mask will protect them or others why wear it?

[Red]

...and the flip side is many don't believe they have to follow the orders if the state/Governor can't prove it is constitutional.

Many states have business refusing to close their doors and are fighting back.

Whether or not people BELIEVE they have to or don't have to follow an order, they still have to until it is overturned or they face penalties

For the exact same reason parents choose to not vaccinate their children. Because they don't believe the info being told to them. So if someone does not believe wearing a mask will protect them or others why wear it?

And those parents can't enroll their children into registered daycares or public schools until they get their children vaccinated in NYS.
And just because someone doesn't BELIEVE that masks won't protect doesn't change the FACTS that masks actually do help slow the spread, along with washing hands, social distancing and sanitizing. Other countries that have already taken these measures are having success with slowing this down. The places that have been ignoring or not quicly enforcing the measures are struggling.

[Josiegirl]

Too much sanitizing and cleanliness is a recipe for disaster. We may be creating far bigger problems for the future.

Tell that to the state officials who created all those ultra fastidious cleaning regulations for daycare a couple years back.
I know. Off topic but.......

[Blackcat31]

And those parents can't enroll their children into registered daycares or public schools until they get their children vaccinated in NYS.
And just because someone doesn't BELIEVE that masks won't protect doesn't change the FACTS that masks actually do help slow the spread, along with washing hands, social distancing and sanitizing. Other countries that have already taken these measures are having success with slowing this down. The places that have been ignoring or not quicly enforcing the measures are struggling.

But we aren't talking about just New York.
New York is nothing like where I live.

I also respect the fact that we live in a country where people are allowed to make their own choices so if someone isn't wanting to wear a mask because they choose not to believe it's right, that is their right to do.

I refuse to shove my beliefs down someone else's throat and I am old and experienced enough to know that if I am the one concerned about spread/contact then I am the one that should remain home instead of expecting others to do something first.

[e.j.]

We have weapons, they are called masks, sanitization, our immune systems, testing, drugs that are showing promise, a healthcare system and a national effort to control this virus. If you are currently wearing a mask and going to the store to buy groceries, you are on the frontline combating the contraction of COVID-19. You can use the same protection to go anywhere else as you normally would with some exceptions. Staying in your home to keep yourself alive is extreme and can only last for so long. Would you consider never driving your car if you knew no one would die in car accidents ever again? I think the answer would be-no.

The weapons we are being asked to use right now are like sending our soldiers into war with pistols. I might feel better if the weapons you listed were readily available to everyone. Unfortunately, that's not the case. Masks and hand sanitizers are difficult, if not impossible, to find - at least around here. Ordering online is a crapshoot. As I was trying to order bandanas to make masks for my family, they literally went out of stock before I could hit "order". (I was finally able to get a pack of 12 lilac bandanas. My husband and son will just have to **** it up and wear them anyway. ) Testing is also difficult to come by around here. Several of my family members' coworkers have had symptoms of covid but were told they weren't eligible for testing. My own dd, who gets regular lung infections as a result of Lyme Disease, had symptoms that could have been that or covid - fever, cough, difficulty breathing. She couldn't get tested because she couldn't point to a specific incidence where she might have been exposed to covid - even when she explained that her coworker had been sick with similar symptoms but hadn't been able to get tested. She works for the post office in an area of the state with a high incidence of the virus; she could have been exposed at any time by anyone coming in to mail a package. She did get a note stating she had to stay out of work until the end of May which was a relief to us....but she couldn't get tested.

Immune systems? This virus is a "novel" one. We've never dealt with this specific strain before so, as a population, our immunity hasn't had the chance to build up to fight against it. Some people do seem to have a natural immunity and some seem to fare better than others when they get it but we still don't have a lot of information about why or how. Not everyone has a strong immune system and there are others who, despite being otherwise young and healthy, die from it. Those are the people, we need to work together to protect. Again, which of your family members are you willing to risk losing if we jump the gun and open up the economy before it's wise to do so?

Those drugs that are showing promise are just that...drugs that are showing promise. Until they've been proven to prevent, cure or at least minimize the effects of covid and are put into use on a regular basis, they aren't an effective weapon against this disease. It's like sending soldiers to the front line and saying, "Hang in there and do your best to fight off the enemy. We'll send you those guns as soon as we get them made! Good luck, now!" Hopefully, those drugs do become weapons in our arsenal before too long but until they are, they can't be considered useful weapons.

I know all areas of the country are not experiencing the same level of difficulty others are but our healthcare system, in those areas that are experiencing a high rate of infection, are overwhelmed. Until we have a healthcare system that can provide the necessary PPE and ventilators needed to handle the numbers of patients who need care, I don't consider our healthcare system to be an effective weapon, either.

The national effort that includes increased hand washing and social distancing seems to be the most effective weapon we've had so far in this fight but even with those in place, we're still seeing so many people getting sick and dying because of how serious this virus is. If everyone could be depended upon to do the right things to protect each other, I'd feel much better about the lifting of restrictions. Unfortunately, I still hear of people working and walking around without masks, still not following social distancing advisories, still not staying home when sick, etc. I think about the grocery store and toilet bowl lickers we've seen on the news who have been caught on camera doing their "thing", the protesters in MI, many of whom were huddled together and not wearing masks and the groups of twenty-somethings who continued to gather to play basketball despite repeated requests, then warnings and then ever tightening restrictions until the hoops had to finally be taken away completely, the people on the news complaining, "Ain't nobody got time to wash their hands for 20 seconds!" and it makes me nervous because I know not all of us are on the same page with regard to our responsibility to protect each other.

As far as driving is concerned...I know people are killed every day in car accidents. I don't stop driving because of the current statistics. I probably would decide to stay home, though, if we start to experience an increase in invisible cars out on the road that cause 10x the number of accidents/deaths that we currently experience - at least until the risk of being hit by one decreases to a point where I feel I can reasonably expect to avoid one of them and be able to make it home in one piece if I go out for a drive in my own car.

A destroyed economy means a destroyed America. That picture would produce civil unrest and unraveling the fabric of society. That would create a type of devastation that no war has ever produced in America in history.

Even with our best economy with a great GDP, we were still at our max debt of $23 trillion to GDP before this virus struck. We just added another two trillion and could well reach $6 trillion total by the end of the year. What makes this situation even worse is our GDP is now down 30% this quarter and getting worse. How do we pay down our debt? Answer-at this rate we never will.

If this current evaporation of our economy continues beyond six months, we will become a country controlled by a centralized government—meaning the government will own or control the private sector. Capitalism as we know it will cease to exist.

The federal reserve can not buy our economy. No one is saying that we should go back to doing things as before but we must adapt our economy to the challenges this virus creates.

Bottom line-big cities will economically collapse under quarantine. States and rural communities that are have natural distancing will survive or thrive.

The world was not prepared for this virus. The biggest error early on was with the government task force stating that face masks don’t work. We were left without protect for several weeks while the virus was able to spread. Face masks do work, sanitizing works and we should be going about our business now with these tools/weapons.

Now with testing, it appears that we have a somewhat better understanding of the mortality rate which may be much lower then previously feared. Many more seem to have already had this virus and were Asymptomatic and can now be counted. Finding and notifying those that are immune is an important metric to know. We must protect those that are vulnerable to this disease but that should not include stopping life for everyone else.

I do agree with you that our economy is suffering and we can't stay home forever but I think we need to lift restrictions gradually and intelligently - and be ready to pull back quickly if we experience a resurgence in cases. I feel better now that the president has agreed that it will be up to the governors to decide when to open the states back up. Although I felt our governor didn't react as quickly as I would have liked him to at the beginning of the pandemic, I trust the fact that he has the best interest of the people in this state (and region) at heart and will lift restrictions in an intelligent, thoughtful manner.

[Ariana]

I am NOT complying with face covering requirements in NY (it is mandatory while I work AND in public). I will risk a fine when I shop once a week. I do not have an N95 and ANY OTHER MASK is ineffective. I have seen an INSANE amount of cross contamination by well intentioned people with masks and gloves.

Leave the PPE to the high risk and medical staff, PLEASE.

Sorry, over it.

Any other mask IS effective at lowering the spread if YOU are infected. That is the whole point. If you cough or sneeze your spray can go up to 10ft. That is not happening in a mask. The mask is not to protect you from Covid 19, it’s to protect others from your germs. There are a ton of asymptomatic people spreading it because they don’t feel sick.

I wish we had to wear masks all the time so flu germs didn’t get all over stuff. I am beginning to relate to the Chinese culture of wearing them.

[Red]

But we aren't talking about just New York.
New York is nothing like where I live.

I also respect the fact that we live in a country where people are allowed to make their own choices so if someone isn't wanting to wear a mask because they choose not to believe it's right, that is their right to do.

I refuse to shove my beliefs down someone else's throat and I am old and experienced enough to know that if I am the one concerned about spread/contact then I am the one that should remain home instead of expecting others to do something first.

You are correct, we aren't just talking about NY. NY waited too long to take measures and that's why it got so bad here. Other states are learning from that mistake and taking measures before things get that bad. It is awful to see businesses go under and people going without any income. I am one of those people, but I am still doing my part to protect myself, my family and other people.

Here is a scenario for you to consider: Let's say you go to the grocery store unmasked, and there is a person standing in line behind you (also unmasked and not standing far enough away from you). That person sneezes in your face and you go home and carry on as usual. Then in about 5 days your healthy spouse becomes extremely ill. You bring him to the hospital but they're overloaded with other patients so your spouse doesn't get the treatment necessary and dies. How would you feel at that moment? Could you have done more to stop the spread? This is one of the reasons why the government is imposing these orders. This is why it's important to follow the orders.

I agree that we all must have rights but some people continue to make poor choices even when presented with facts against those poor choices.

Governors began all of this by giving guidelines and people had choices. From those choices, the virus kept quickly spreading and overwhelming the hospitals, so the state government took away the choices by making those guidelines into laws and enforcing them to better protect everyone.

[Blackcat31]

You are correct, we aren't just talking about NY. NY waited too long to take measures and that's why it got so bad here. Other states are learning from that mistake and taking measures before things get that bad. It is awful to see businesses go under and people going without any income. I am one of those people, but I am still doing my part to protect myself, my family and other people.

Here is a scenario for you to consider: Let's say you go to the grocery store unmasked, and there is a person standing in line behind you (also unmasked and not standing far enough away from you). That person sneezes in your face and you go home and carry on as usual. Then in about 5 days your healthy spouse becomes extremely ill. You bring him to the hospital but they're overloaded with other patients so your spouse doesn't get the treatment necessary and dies. How would you feel at that moment? Could you have done more to stop the spread? This is one of the reasons why the government is imposing these orders. This is why it's important to follow the orders.

I agree that we all must have rights but some people continue to make poor choices even when presented with facts against those poor choices.

Governors began all of this by giving guidelines and people had choices. From those choices, the virus kept quickly spreading and overwhelming the hospitals, so the state government took away the choices by making those guidelines into laws and enforcing them to better protect everyone.

That’s my point ... who has the right to decide what’s a poor choice?

Many don’t believe the facts presented by the government are facts. Everyone has a choice and if you (general you) are concerned about people not wearing a mask, stay home.

That’s easier than forcing people that don’t agree to follow rules they don’t agree with.

Trust me when I say I fully understand risks but I get to decide what’s right for me/family.

Many providers chose to close in order to protect their families even though their state didn’t mandate them to. That is the the right I’m wanting to protect. People shouldn't be ordered to do things they don’t necessarily agree with because someone else said it’s right.

There is so much conflicting info being circulated that people need to educate themselves and make choices that are right for them verses blindly following the masses. Every situation is different and the variables are abundant so one blanket rule does not and should not apply to all.

[Blackcat31]

Here is a scenario for you to consider: Let's say you go to the grocery store unmasked, and there is a person standing in line behind you (also unmasked and not standing far enough away from you). That person sneezes in your face and you go home and carry on as usual. Then in about 5 days your healthy spouse becomes extremely ill. You bring him to the hospital but they're overloaded with other patients so your spouse doesn't get the treatment necessary and dies. How would you feel at that moment? Could you have done more to stop the spread? This is one of the reasons why the government is imposing these orders. This is why it's important to follow the orders.

Not that it makes a difference but I do understand what you’re trying to say and for what it’s worth my husband isn’t necessarily “healthy” per say...he’s a type 1 diabetic. He spent 10 days in the ICU in 2018 due to Influenza. Almost killed him.

My daughter is a nurse who currently on day 10 of a 14 day quarantine because a patient coughed in her face while she was working a double shift on the COVID floor of her hospital. She was wearing PPE but the rules of the hospital say she must quarantine.

I am open and busy as a majority of my clients are tier 1 workers. I don’t have a huge retirement account to fall back on, I NEED to work to live. The economy is an important factor that needs to be considered. It not just about protecting health as good health does you no good if there is nothing else.

[Valerie928]

You are correct, we aren't just talking about NY. NY waited too long to take measures and that's why it got so bad here. Other states are learning from that mistake and taking measures before things get that bad. It is awful to see businesses go under and people going without any income. I am one of those people, but I am still doing my part to protect myself, my family and other people.

Here is a scenario for you to consider: Let's say you go to the grocery store unmasked, and there is a person standing in line behind you (also unmasked and not standing far enough away from you). That person sneezes in your face and you go home and carry on as usual. Then in about 5 days your healthy spouse becomes extremely ill. You bring him to the hospital but they're overloaded with other patients so your spouse doesn't get the treatment necessary and dies. How would you feel at that moment? Could you have done more to stop the spread? This is one of the reasons why the government is imposing these orders. This is why it's important to follow the orders.

I agree that we all must have rights but some people continue to make poor choices even when presented with facts against those poor choices.

Governors began all of this by giving guidelines and people had choices. From those choices, the virus kept quickly spreading and overwhelming the hospitals, so the state government took away the choices by making those guidelines into laws and enforcing them to better protect everyone.

Wrong. NY CITY didn't wait too long. NY city is an over populated, poverty stricken sardine packed human petri dish. That is WHY NY is having a problem. It has nothing to do with preparation.

[Red]

Wrong. NY CITY didn't wait too long. NY city is an over populated, poverty stricken sardine packed human petri dish. That is WHY NY is having a problem. It has nothing to do with preparation.

Holy cow! No, not wrong. I'm not referring to just NY City. The surrounding counties did wait too long. NY did wait too long to begin social distancing after the first known positive cases.

Yes, NYC is a densely populated area and that's why it traveled so fast through there.

[Red]

And NYC's rate of hospitalization is decreasing because of the stricter measures the Governor is enforcing. The executive orders in place are beginning to slow the spread! It is working!

[Former Teacher]

Texas is slowing opening up happyface

BUT.....schools are closed for the remainder of the year

[Ariana]

Can we just take a moment to pray for our brothers and sisters isolating in tiny 90sqft apartments in NYC? Holy cow they must have the mental stamina of a monk!!