I’ve put off writing about novel coronavirus for some time now. The nurse, the mother, the wife, the teacher in me decided to write a little today. We have survived this global pandemic thus far, but it is far from over. With the USA shutting down we stopped, and flattened the curve. Doing this prevented full scale illness, and in some cases, death, because no way could we have cared for nor had enough ventilators for sick patients, let alone hospital rooms, doctors, and nurses. Unemployment skyrocketed. Now the country is reopening. What are our next steps?

Thanks to the shutdown, we don’t have as many people exposed across the country versus never having shut down and widespread disease. We flattened that curve. Our risk has greatly reduced due to the shutdown. It has NOT gone away. We must continue to do hand washing, wear masks, and use sanitizer and minimize the number of people in groups for safety. Those that don’t are at greater risk. Without shutdown, plane loads of people would have been sick, schools and churches overwhelmed with this virus.

Now the virus curve is lower and will stay pretty much that way, with some spikes, ONLY if we do our part. Most people are virus free thanks to shutdown. We need to try to keep it that way.

Schools will try to reopen. We may have to modify classrooms, and have kids eat at their desks for lunch rather than a cafeteria or gym. Depending on the direction novel coronavirus goes, kids might not be able to play musical instruments or sing. It is too soon to know the impact on these things or the impact on sports. But there will be impacts.

If we all do our part, follow the rules, we will live through this rather than have it ravage our country. We reopen but we don’t slip blinders on. Be aware. Do the right things. Friends and family will thank you for it.

Inevitably, disease spikes will occur, but not how it would have been without shutdown. Some people won’t understand “what it would have been like without shutdown”. That’s okay. We learn as we go along. Let us continue to be diligent so that we all can be as healthy as possible.

If you choose to be part of a crowd of people and you choose to not wear a mask, just know that you aren’t exposing just yourself to potential disease, you are exposing everyone in your home, at work, who you come in contact with, and the curve will rise. Each person is responsible for his or her own actions or in-actions.