Things were so much clearer when just about everything was locked down.
Now, with states lifting coronavirus restrictions piecemeal and by often arbitrary timetables, Americans are facing bewildering decisions about what they should and should not do to protect their health, their livelihoods and their neighbors.
Is it safe to join the crowds at the beach or eat at a restaurant? To visit the elderly parents you haven’t seen in nearly two months? To reopen a struggling business?
In many cases, the less-than-satisfying answer from the experts is: It depends.
“There will never be a perfect amount of protection,” said Josh Santarpia, a microbiology expert at the University of Nebraska Medical Center who is studying the coronavirus. “It’s a personal risk assessment. Everybody has to decide, person by person, what risk they’re willing to tolerate.”
In the U.S., the uncertainty ahead was spotlighted in Georgia. As of Wednesday at 7 p.m., the Department of Health had confirmed more than 25,600 cases and 1,095 deaths, but businesses such as barbershops and tattoo parlors have been given the go-ahead to reopen.
Savannah Mayor Van Johnson said people could find the changes perplexing.
“In reality, we’re under a stay-at-home order until April 30,” Johnson said. “Yet you can go get your nails done, you can go get a tattoo, you can go to movie theaters, you can go to bowling alleys. It’s those kinds of things that leave people confused.”
Mixed messages are coming from even the U.S. Congress. The House is scrambling for ways for members to work from home after a revolt over convening during the pandemic, and said they wouldn’t return to the Capitol on Monday. The smaller Senate, however, plans to convene there.
The decisions people make are likely to vary widely depending on where they live, and how close that puts them to known virus clusters. In Georgia, where COVID-19 has killed at least 1,000, many new cases are still being reported.
But even in places with fewer known infections, people are facing uneasy choices.
In Omaha, Nebraska, where businesses can reopen next week, teachers Michelle and Mark Aschenbrenner said they are eager to dine out again. Mark Aschenbrenner has set up an appointment for a long-delayed haircut.
“I think we’re four weeks too early,” he said of the plans to lift restrictions. But “I think I’ll probably still go because we’ve been stuck at home for seven weeks and we’re going stir crazy.”
With warmer weather enticing more people to venture out in the weeks ahead, it will be up to individuals to exercise caution.
“You can’t swear that if somebody happens to cough on the beach chair to your left and then you have a breeze that blows that over across you, that you don’t have the exposure in that way,” said Dr. Marybeth Sexton, infectious-disease specialist at Emory University School of Medicine.
Even following guidelines to maintain 6-foot distances may not be enough. That rule is based on how far a different coronavirus, SARS, spread among airline passengers.
When doctors treated more than a dozen COVID-19 patients at an Omaha hospital, researchers found genetic material from the virus at greater distances — on window ledges, cellphones, in hallways and on toilet seats, Santarpia said.
That doesn’t mean people shouldn’t go out. But they should be very deliberate in doing so, limiting visits with relatives and friends to moments that matter, said Dr. Emily Landon, who leads infection control at the University of Chicago Medical Center.
Mother’s Day — May 10 in the United States — may qualify if Mom lives nearby, she said. But limit the number of people involved and wear masks the entire time. Even if you check to make sure everyone present has been feeling well, accept that there will be risk, she said.
Fulton County To Open Mobile Testing Sites
Fulton health officials say that over the next few days, accessible coronavirus testing sites will start popping up across the county.
One that is already taking patients, and Fulton officials say another mobile test site will be at the Browns Mill Golf Course Club House Thursday and Friday.
The first neighborhood site opened at McGee Tennis Center in Atlanta from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Fulton officials say the testing centers will be within walking or biking distance for most residents.
Healthcare workers will now screen people with symptoms that weren’t previously recognized by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Those include muscle pain, chills without fever, and loss of taste or smell.
Those with questions about testing should call the Fulton board of health hotline at 404-613-8150.
Georgia Ranks Low In protecting Vulnerable Communities
The personal finance site WalletHub just released a report that ranks all 50 states–and Washington DC–on how prepared they are to support vulnerable communities during the coronavirus pandemic.
Georgia comes in 48th when comparing three key dimensions: coronavirus relief and medical services, food and housing assistance, and unemployment support.
The report also measures factors like how much of Georgia’s homeless population is sheltered, and the share of households in poverty receiving social assistance.
It also says Georgia’s behind when it comes to Medicaid coverage for telemedicine.
