I concur, though we are all sick of being shut in. It will only feel worse as the weather gets nicer. ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: "David Leonhardt" <nytdirect@nytimes.com> Date: Mon, Apr 20, 2020 at 8:03 AM -0400 Subject: 7 reasons we can’t yet reopen America To: <rryals@comcast.net> 7 reasons we can’t yet reopen America We’re making progress, but not nearly enough.View in browser|nytimes.comContinue reading the main story April 20, 2020 By David Leonhardt Opinion Columnist 1. Every day for the past two weeks, another 25,000 or so Americans have been diagnosed with the coronavirus. It’s great news that number is no longer growing, but it’s barely started to fall. 2. Countries that have succeeded in containing the virus made much more progress in reducing the number of new cases before reopening. “China did not allow Wuhan, Nanjing or other cities to reopen until intensive surveillance found zero new cases for 14 straight days, the virus’s incubation period,” as The Times’s Donald McNeil writes. 3. The vast majority of the American population — perhaps about 90 percent — has not yet been exposed to the virus. So there is tremendous potential for outbreaks worse than any we have experienced so far. 4. The testing program in the United States remains terribly flawed. About a month ago, the Trump administration promised 27 million tests would be available by the end of March. Late April is now approaching, and yet only about 4 million tests have been conducted. The current pace of testing needs to triple before the country can safely reopen, Harvard researchers estimate. 5. We also haven’t fixed our shortages of protective equipment for health care workers. As a recent paper from the conservative-leaning Mercatus Center puts it: “Demand has rapidly outstripped supply as the urgent need for personal protective equipment (PPE) such as surgical masks, respirators, gloves, and gowns, as well as for ventilators, continues to grow apace with the COVID-19 global pandemic.” 6. Most places in the United States don’t yet have a plan for aggressive contact tracing — the process of tracking people who may have been exposed to the virus. “Only a few states are recruiting and training the army of public health workers who will be needed to track, trace and isolate anyone exposed to the coronavirus,” Politico’s Joanne Kenen wrote. This kind of tracing has been vital to reducing the virus’s spread in South Korea and elsewhere. 7. The same goes for quarantining: We don’t yet have anything approaching a full plan. A recent Times Op-Ed, by the public health experts Harvey Fineberg, Jim Yong Kim and Jordan Shlain, explains. The bottom line: If the country reopened now, we would probably end up in lockdown again soon, while also needlessly increasing the death toll from the virus. Continue reading the main storyADVERTISEMENTForward this newsletter to friends … … and they can sign up for themselves here. It’s free and published every weekday, with help from my colleague Ian Prasad Philbrick. DAVID’S MORNING NYT READHow Covid-19 Is Making Millions of Americans Healthier People are finally cooking more. By Hans Taparia THE FULL OPINION REPORTHow a Bakery Survives the Pandemic Apocalypse And what it means for all of us if it doesn’t. By Jennifer SeniorStop Airing Trump’s Briefings! The media is allowing disinformation to appear as news. By Charles M. BlowProtesting for the Right to Catch the Coronavirus The reopen America protests are the logical conclusion of a twisted liberty movement. 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ClahchischiligiGoogle and Facebook Must Pay for Local Journalism The U.S. should emulate the French government’s resolve to fight for the news media industry. By David Chavern letters‘Where Is Our Churchill?’ A reader looks for national leadership in the pandemic. Also: Food insecurity; scientific journals and the virus; helping museums document an important moment. Continue reading the main storyADVERTISEMENT lettersProtecting the Vulnerable When ‘Normal’ Life Resumes Readers worry about those most at risk because of underlying conditions when the stay-at-home protocols end.Feedback If you have thoughts about this newsletter, email me at leonhardt@nytimes.com. If you have questions about your Times account, delivery problems or other non-journalistic issues, you can visit our Help Page or contact The Times. Continue reading the main story Need help? Review our newsletter help page or contact us for assistance. 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