The following is commentary intended for discussion. Add your comments.
Having traveled extensively during the Covid-19 pandemic, I’m struck by how different it is to visit America’s larger cities versus the countryside and rural areas.
The emergency sense on the news that the world is crashing down is understandable in some places where they have had a lot of illnesses and deaths.
However, there are communities that haven’t had a single Covid-19-related death to this day, and many that have processed this virus as “normally” as if it were the flu. Here, I have seen townsfolk living their lives much as they always have.
I’ve done several stories for Full Measure on communities that locked down during the initial shutdown, even though it was months before they would get their first case of Covid. When they finally did get their first case, they decided not to lock down, having determined it was more harmful to the community than staying open. Schools stayed open. Sports were played. Businesses kept operating. Anecdotally, these communities fared none the worse for having remained open. “Social distancing is pretty much a way of life here, anyway,” one resident quipped.
If the pandemic response has taught us anything, it would seem to be that one-size-fits-all responses don’t make sense. Especially when communities are having such a wide range of experiences.
What do you think?
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