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| The Coronavirus (CNN) |
I am not embarrassed to admit it. I am scared. The Coronavirus (COVID-19) has shaken me to the core. It is increasingly on my mind. How can it not be?! That is all anyone is talking about. The news media has increased its coverage to such an extent, that it fills almost 100% of each broadcast. And the news is not good. It is hard to think about anything else right now.
This is unprecedented. At least I my lifetime. There has never been a health scare like this before. Where a new virus that is ten times more deadly at a one percent mortality rate than known flu viruses are at one tenth of a percent. It is a virus that seems to be highly contagious before any symptoms appear. With no known cure. The rapid international spread of this illness has made it a pandemic. Which most health professionals say will inevitably increase exponentially. Possibly in very short order.
And while the death rate is mostly among the elderly, those with underlying health issues, or compromised immune systems - they are not the only ones dying from the disease. At 73, I am apparently at greater risk than most people. Although I am healthy, have no apparent health issues, nor a compromised immune system (that I am aware of), that doesn’t mean my age is not a factor. So, yes! I am scared. That said, I am by nature germ-phobic and wash my hands frequently. Or use hand-sanitizer. I never touch food without doing one of those.
I am also trying to observe social distancing. I am keeping a distance of 3 feet away from other people. I have limited the time I spend outside of my house to minyanim, the Daf Yomi Shiur, and shopping for groceries.
I changed my initial positive response to an upcoming wedding to - I will not attend. In short I am doing everything I can to prevent getting the virus. But I am also aware that at best if everyone does this - it will slow down the rate of infection, And will not stop it.
All I - or any of us can do is the best we can and hope it doesn’t affect us or our loved ones personally. And that if it God forbid does – that it be a mild case that will pass quickly without health fully restored. As has been the case for 99% of those that have had it.
That is where things seem to be standing with respect to our health. But there is another problem with huge negative implications: the health of the economy. Not only in this country but worldwide.
The way I see it, the world economy is collapsing unlike anything that has happened since the Great Depression that began with a stock market crash in October of 1929. People lost their entire life savings. There were suicides all over the place as a result of that. People lost their jobs and breadlines formed. The market and the economy seem to be headed in the same direction. Those of us that have investments in the stock market are seeing their value plummet!
This is not about a few fat cats losing a few million of their billions. It is about the vast majority of investors that have much of their life savings invested - watching it evaporate before their very eyes. Daily. It is about the elderly who are in retirement and rely on income from those investments in order to live. Many of us are in jeopardy of losing that income. With no relief in sight.
But it isn’t only the stock market. It is the underlying reasons the stock market is crashing. Industries that depend on travel (e.g. airlines and tourism) or companies that rely on manufacturing in foreign counties hit hard by the virus (like China) aren’t getting the goods they need. Nor are they getting the consumers they need to buy them even if they are.
People are staying home and not shopping. Not even online since their incomes situation has suffered. People are not going to work. In some cases they are asked to work from home if possible. In other cases where that isn’t possible - it means they are not getting paid. Some small businesses may shut down forever. Even if they are able to get low interest loans to stay afloat, It may not be enough. They may not be able to recover if they are in a service industry.
To see this happening in what was – just a few short weeks ago - one of the most stable economies in the world … in American history is shocking! Until this virus hit, we had a full employment economy with high consumer confidence. People were making more money and spending it. That kept the economy humming and stock prices increasing.
But this virus has changed everything. We may very well be facing a depression.
And that has me scared too.
That said, my wife has a very positive attitude about this. She religiously and correctly follows the Gemarah’s dictum of blessing God for the bad just as we do for the good. I am doing that too. But it leaves me no less fearful about the possible worst case scenario in either our physical health or our financial health.
If there is a glimmer of hope, it is that the incidence coronavirus in China has decreased. Perhaps they should be used as a model of how to fight this disease. As I understand it - social distancing is the primary explanation for that decrease.
I believe that most Americans are trying to do that. People arriving on from foreign countries are being tested or quarantined. Pockets of high infections are being quarantined. Schools are closing and classes are being conducted online.
(As I write this I just received a notice the Rabbinical Council of Bergen County that - based on consultations with local health officials - all Shuls will be closing their doors this Friday. Congregants are being asked to Daven at home. On Shabbos! Wow!)
Major events of all kinds are being canceled. Including sporting events. The NCAA basketball championship games will not allow spectators. The NBA has suspended all of their games until further notice. People that have been exposed are self quarantining. And the US has barred all Europeans (with the exception of the UK) from entering the country.
The government is also distributing testing 4 million testing kits all over the country so that those that suspect they might have it - will be able to be tested and quarantined. Insurance companies are suspending all co-pays for this service. People that suffer financially because of the virus will be given relief in a variety of ways (hopefully this will be one time congress can act in unison for the benefit of all rather than politicizing it). And government funding has been provided for expedited research in finding a cure or a vaccine.
No one knows what the future holds. Will the virus dissipate seasonally the way the flu virus does? That would give us time to develop a vaccine for next year. And meanwhile the economy can begin to recover. Hopefully. If not, then we are in for some very hard times.