Recently saw a photo of people
lining up to get into Marshalls in Clifton Park. The line stretched as far as
the eye could see. This outpouring of people is the result of the pent-up frustration
of being quarantined since the beginning of March.
Businesses understand that we are ready to shop as they reopen as the
pandemic continues — or at least trying to. With more of us are out and about how
will we know if reopening businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic is a good
idea?
An NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll found that 58 percent of respondents said the United
States could be moving too quickly to reopen, while 32 percent said it would
take too long to loosen restrictions.
A Gallup poll found that 58 percent of U.S. adults are
completely or mostly isolating themselves. The number declined from 75 percent
between March 30 and April 5, the week before.
All these stats come on the heels of
a week that saw the national case count cross 2 million. Cases have increased
in 18 states over the past week, with six states reporting more than a 50%
jump. This has led some government and health officials to hit pause on reopening efforts.
More than 115,000 people have died
in the United States as of early Monday morning, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.
"It's going to be a wait and
see," said Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of
Allergy and Infectious Diseases. "My feeling, looking at what's going on
with the infection rate, I think it's more likely measured in months rather
than weeks," he said referring to the timeline for rolling back
restrictions.
As health experts continue to learn
more about the virus, it's clear that a time frame for when the situation will
be deemed under control is still unknown.
Look at Disney trying to schedule it opening for parks in California and
Florida. Both are states that are experiencing increased number of Covid-19
cases.
According to an article on Popculture.com almost 25,000 Disney fans have
signed a petition asking the company to delay its plan to reopen the Disneyland Resort parks on July 17. The Walt Disney Company announced the dates for
opening both resorts.
Almost immediately after Disney's announcement, a Change.org user launched a petition to get Disney to delay
the reopening. "There are more cases now than when the parks closed on
March 13th, 2020. Health officials have stated that the 2nd wave of COVID-19
will be worse," the petition reads. "So, reopening before the 2nd
wave even hits us is irresponsible and greedy." The petitioner wrote that
"now is not the time" to reopen while people continue to get sick and
die due to COVID-19. As of Friday evening, more than 24,700 people have signed
it.