SIMPLE & QUICK: Throwing caution to the wind and tossing science in a trash can, Donald Trump pressures America into re-opening, risking relapse for his re-election reward

The only way to return to a normal economic reality is to be free from the threat of the novel corona virus SARS-2 and its disease, COVID-19. The only way to ensure that is with a tight lid on the threat and an awareness of the virus’s existence. There must be protocols in place to mitigate the virus’s exponential growth. Continued physical distancing is key.

However, for physical distancing to be effective, it must be maintained until full external control of the virus is reached. There must also be a reliable treatment, a cure, or a vaccine. Despite Remdesivir showing promise for mitigating the course of the virus by a couple days, there is yet a reliable treatment. There is no active cure, and although there are several vaccine candidates in various trial stages, there is not a vaccine available for the foreseeable future.

It is now mid-May and most States have entered one of a hodgepodge of re-opening phases. Has your state reached the CDC recommendation of 2-weeks of consistent decline of new cases? No. So now States are re-opening and there is no universal strategy or agreement for their reopening. Some states are opening low-risk, essential-only businesses such as parks, construction sites, and some curb-side retail. Others have eased all restrictions and allow for half-filled restaurants, sectioned-out beauty solons, and are somehow allowing massage parlors and bowling alleys to resume.

As sure as the scientific method is the only method for unbiased observation, Americans will find by mid-June or early July if a resurgence of new cases and an influx of hospitalizations is related to re-openings.

The caveat is that mayors of large population centers and States lead by governors who recognize the only option is sticking to and relying on the data are staying mostly closed. Surely, there will be setbacks in economic recovery as viruses do not respect borders, but the heaviest burden of the early reopening will be put upon our largely rural states.

Come September, America may see re-instated stay-at-home orders. Small businesses and restaurants will not survive— even if Congress releases additional CARES ACT packages that provide financial relief. America may have already abandoned her only option. The virus will be left to reverberate through small-town America mostly unchecked.