“Texas and Mississippi are both dropping their Covid-19 restrictions on businesses and ending their mask mandates, the states’ governors announced Tuesday, the latest in a string of states that have relaxed or dropped restrictions as cases have fallen nationwide despite public health officials strongly urging against it.”
– Alison Durkee, Forbes
The announcements come one day after the director for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Dr Rochelle Walensky, warned that the US could face a “fourth surge” in cases if people stop taking the necessary precautions to limit the spread of coronavirus.
“At this level of cases, with variants spreading, we stand to completely lose the hard-earned ground we have gained,” Walensky said, during a briefing from the White House coronavirus response team. Walensky continued …
“Now is not the time to relax the critical safeguards that we know can stop the spread of Covid-19 in our communities, not when we are so close. We have the ability to stop a potential fourth surge of cases in this country.”
(Alison Durkee. “Texas And Mississippi Drop Covid-19 Restrictions – Even Mask Mandates.” Forbes. March 02,2021)
The pronouncements are occurring as the Biden administration declares there will be enough vaccines for all U.S. adults by the end of May. Texas is the largest state so far to entirely drop its Covid-19 restrictions, but the state and Mississippi follow Florida and other Republican-led states that have taken similar measures.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott issued the most sweeping rollback of coronavirus restrictions of any U.S. state on March 2, lifting a mask mandate and saying most businesses may open at full capacity next week.
Lone Star Concerns
The announcement in Texas, where the virus has killed more than 43,000 people, rattled doctors and big city leaders who said they are now bracing for another deadly resurgence. For example, Dr. Joseph Varon, chief medical officer at Houston’s United Memorial Medical Center, said he called the hospital’s top leaders immediately after Abbott’s announcement and said they will need more staff and ventilators.
“I am just concerned that I am going to have a tsunami of new cases,” Varon said. “I truly hope I am wrong. But unfortunately history seems to repeat itself.”
In Texas, 7.1% of its nearly 30 million residents have been fully vaccinated, according to state data reported to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
(Paul J. Weber. “Texas becomes biggest US state to lift COVID-19 mask mandate.”Associated Press. March 02, 2021.)
“Removing statewide mandates does not end personal responsibility. It’s just that now state mandates are no longer needed, ” insists Texas Governor Greg Abbott. However, the impact of discontinuing government mandates is not know.
Consider that Texas is fully reopening just ahead of the spring break holiday, which health experts worry could lead to more spread. The mandates end just days before spring break, with thousands of people expected to head to Galveston's beaches.
“The fact that things are headed in the right direction doesn't mean we have succeeded in eradicating the risk," said Dr. Lauren Ancel Meyers, a professor of integrative biology and director of the University of Texas COVID-19 Modeling Consortium.
Meyers also said the recent deadly winter freeze in Texas that left millions of people without power – forcing families to shelter closely with others who still had heat – could amplify transmission of the virus in the weeks ahead, although it remains too early to tell. Masks, she said, are one of the most effective strategies to curb the spread.
The Common Good
What price will the nation pay for states removing statewide mask mandates and other COVID-19 restrictions at this time when vaccines are finally being widely distributed?
Most Americans are sick of the shutdowns that have damaged their livelihoods and are eager to socialize again. Businesses have suffered immensely during the pandemic. We all regret the tremendous losses and stresses caused by the virus. At the same time, we understand our obligation to end COVID-19 and not lose ground. Vaccines, masks, and social distancing work to stop the spread of the deadly disease.
First of all, let's be clear – whatever states like Texas and Mississippi do concerning the virus affects us all. The disease knows no boundaries of state lines. Interstate traffic and social mixing during the coronavirus present real problems for those who reside thousands of miles away.
States face a dilemma:
Open up before herd immunity – a sufficient proportion of a population to the disease through vaccination or prior illness – that promises a safe return to normal, or
Keep many shutdowns and health orders in place until U.S. herd immunity reaches between 70% and 95% of people.
Note About Herd Immunity: This means that if enough people in your community either got COVID-19 and recovered or received a vaccine against it, it could protect the people who are unable to get the vaccine (due to medical conditions, for example).
The statistics that affect herd immunity in the U.S. are not easily acquired.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), as of March 1, more than 96.4 million doses of vaccine against the virus have been delivered to healthcare centers across the country. About 76.9 million have been administered.
An estimated 15 percent of people in the country have received at least one dose of vaccine. About 7.7 percent have gotten two doses.
Numbers for recovery in the United States? Several states and territories, including large states like California and Florida, don’t report any kind of recovery data, and it doesn’t make sense to report a national total that excludes so much of the country.
Plus, “recovered” has no standard definition, and states report it in many different ways. Just as important, many people who have had COVID-19 and have lived to tell the tale—and many of whom are categorized as “recovered” – don’t consider themselves to have actually recovered. Why? Because COVID-19 can have many long-term health consequences.
Can people really rely on the “personal responsibility” of people to insure safety from COVID-19 before herd immunity? The simple fact is that if more of us had taken personal responsibility to maintain social distancing and wear face masks, then we would not be in this mess now.
Maybe if cool heads prevail, other states may consider phased reopenings and protective measures that will not put the nation in peril during COVID-19. The “wide open” approach is certainly dangerous. Who wants to risk reversing the progress we have made in combating the illness. Consider good steps to solving a dilemma of safe reopening.
How To Solve a Dilemma
Identify the problem.
Identify possible courses of action.
Although there are any number of options for reporting the number of hours worked.
Identify any constraints relating to the decision.
Ethical dilemmas such as this one frequently involve both internal and external standards that serve as constraints.
Internal standards may be the result of your religious or other beliefs about the manner in which you should behave and make decisions. These standards involve such concepts as truthfulness, fairness, loyalty, and caring for others. Perhaps you believe that one must be absolutely truthful in every situation; alternatively, you might believe that in certain circumstances absolute truthfulness is not necessary.
Some people’s concepts of loyalty and fairness might also prevent them from being completely truthful in all cases.
External standards are those that are imposed upon an individual by society,
peers, organizations, employers, or his or her profession.
Analyze the likely effects of the possible courses of action.
Because ethical dilemmas ordinarily affect individuals who are not involved in the decision-making process, this step involves considering the implications of the various courses of action on both the individual involved and anyone else who is affected by the decision.
Also, it is important to consider both the short-term and the long-term effects.
Select the best course of action.
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