Editorial •
It’s Tuesday morning, and the parking lot outside The News-Journal is full. (We at The News-Journal are working remotely, except for the skeleton crew—and our doors are locked.) Most businesses are open, even those that will have to close tomorrow by order of the governor. Some churches went ahead with their regular services. Clearly we’re being only marginally cautious in Hoke County.
On The New York Times daily podcost this morning, the paper’s veteran health reporter quoted all the experts who say the U.S. is not doing enough and not fast enough. To slow the COVID-19, they say, will require a total shutdown for weeks, and even that may be too late, especially in places that are not hotspots. Never mind, the president’s assertion that we need to let up on what we’re doing.
Clearly, the federal government is letting us down, and the state, while greatly more competent, is still reluctant to take us where we need to go. (Forget crowd limits of 50; go to 10 or even 5)
Local government, anyone?
We need to press our leaders to make the difficult decisions, and now. What we’re facing is beyond the pale. Anything we can reasonably do now we at least help us avoid unreasonable consequences later.