Infections soar as Mexico moves toward restarting economy

Pandemic planning becomes political weapon as deaths mount

If COVID-19 rebounds, if there is a second wave sometime this year, it will not be because science failed us. It will not even be, arguably, because any government (federal, state or local) failed us, though that will almost certainly be a factor.
				It will be because we failed ourselves and our families, our neighbors, our communities, our nation.
				It will be, first and foremost, because we resorted to tribalism and partisanship in combating an enemy that knows neither.
				It will be because people decided wearing a face mask was not merely inconvenient, nor even merely a sign of weakness. They decided it is a sign of being wrong, of hating the country, of enabling a conspiracy to destroy their version of this nation.
				It will be because politicians and leaders decided opening or closing a nation, state, county, city or business is a purely binary choice: Do it or don&rsquo;t. It&rsquo;s not. There are many ways to ease the pain of a shuttered economy. Temporary government support, partial openings, reinventing online and curbside service, opening while accommodating a new situation in which people should not cluster too close together, more frequent and more effective cleaning of shared spaces. Plexiglas barriers should be a perfectly acceptable sight. And deciding to wear a mask should not be an issue for anyone. Why not wear it if required by a state or a concerned business owner? If you want what they sell, wearing a mask should be less cumbersome (and usually less expensive) than traveling to their shop.
				A kerchief across a face, a turtle neck pulled up over the nose, an inexpensive or homemade mask donned for a short shopping excursion &mdash; these are things we do instinctively against an unexpected camera trained on us, an offal smell intruding our senses, a frosty wind whipping around a corner. Why is it so hard to do it against a virus we know kills, regardless of party or principle?
				How much of a sacrifice is that, really, for now?
				If COVID-19 rebounds, it will be because some people see the virus as a self-contained risk: I&rsquo;ll get it or I won&rsquo;t, I&rsquo;ll die or I&rsquo;ll live, ergo it&rsquo;s my decision alone. It&rsquo;s not. You may get it and never know it, pass it around to people you love who aren&rsquo;t so lucky, or pass it to someone who passes it to someone who passes it to the aging mother you never met who then dies for no reason other than a distant stranger&rsquo;s refusal to take unobtrusive precautions.
				Are we not, as a nation, better than that?
				It will be because enough of us ignore the ancillary impact. Yes, a 95-year old woman senile from stroke may have been doomed anyway, may even be better off relieved of a life without much quality. But she deserved to die at home surrounded by family. She did not deserve to be whisked away in an ambulance and put into isolation to die bewildered and alone, her children in tears because they could not be there.
				No one deserves that, especially if it comes because someone decided wearing a mask, washing hands and keeping distance was for that other party, those other people.
				Fighting this virus need not be conflated with fighting &ldquo;the man,&rdquo; &ldquo;the government,&rdquo; &ldquo;the liberals,&rdquo; the far right,&rdquo; or any other enemy real or perceived.
				Let&rsquo;s work to beat the disease. All those other fights will wait.

Our viewFight against virus shouldn’t be partisan