CLEVELAND, Ohio – Mandatory shuttering of businesses and the resulting loss of jobs have triggered a debate among our leaders over whether all-out efforts to slow the spread of the coronavirus are wise or overreaching.
You needn’t look far to tap into both sides. Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine talks about saving as many lives as possible by having people stay at home. President Donald Trump, meanwhile, talks about the need for people to get back to work by Easter.
But is the debate also playing out among people who had no say in the decisions already made, or decisions that will be made? Cleveland.com reached out to its readers this week and the answer is yes.
Here is a sampling of what they had to say:
Tommy Chung, owner of pubs in North Royalton and Parma Heights
As a retired Marine major as well as a businessman, Chung believes policies aimed at saving as many lives as possible at the expense of the economy are misguided.
While he doesn’t want anybody to die, including his father, who at 77 is particularly vulnerable to the coronavirus, he believes loss of life shouldn’t be avoided at all costs.
“In the Marine Corps there are acceptable losses,” he said, and with the coronavirus, “It’s kind of the same way.
“There will be nothing left if we continue along this course,” he said “What good will it do having a population that survives the virus but without an environment in which to flourish?”
Bernie Moreno, Blockchain entrepreneur and former Cleveland-area car dealer
Moreno created a stir in the world of social media when he tweeted a picture of a near empty plane he had boarded and remarked on the stalled economy.
“This can’t be the way we respond to every virus going forward,” Moreno later told cleveland.com, “because we can’t afford it.”
Moreno said we need an agreed upon metric to help inform future decisions for the greater good. For example, he said, should decisions be driven by the number people infected by the coronavirus or the number of hospitalizations and deaths.
Moreno, who is a member of the MetroHealth board of trustees, would argue for the latter.
But it’s also necessary to quantify how many lives will be lost from stress-induced health problems that result from the “pressure cooker” people are being placed in by the economic shutdown.
“So the question becomes at what point do you start repowering the economy,” he said.
Scott Shane, professor of entrepreneurial studies, Case Western Reserve University
Given what he believes was the nation’s slow response to the pandemic, Shane said he favors sticking with the stay-at-home orders now in effect in Ohio.
“It’s been appropriate in the sense that what we really want to do is get rid of the virus and then when it’s safe for everybody, have them go back to work,” he said.
He said Ohio and the country face two choices; stay home and wait out the virus or go back to work too early, which means “the virus would spread at a very rapid rate and the health-care system would be overwhelmed very quickly.”
The more pressing problem, he said, is providing the necessary equipment, supplies “and all the medical things that should be done at an incredibly rapid pace while we’re slowing everything down.”
In response to Moreno’s concern about stress-related illnesses, Shane said he and his colleagues have studied the incidents of suicide, heart attacks and opioid addiction among the unemployed.
Deaths from the unchecked spread of the coronavirus would be far greater, he said.
“You just don’t get that much adverse health effects from shutting down the economy,” he said, “and you can handle this by helping people.”
Jack Schron, manufacturer and member of the Cuyahoga County Council
Schron falls somewhere in the middle of the debate.
“Can I say he’s gone too far?” Schron said of DeWine. “I don’t think we can make that statement today.”
But at some point, he said, our leaders will need to take steps to prevent the economy from being devastated and creating possibly even worse problems.
He likened the reasoning to that of then-President Harry Truman, who opted to drop two atomic bombs on two Japanese cities during World War II to avoid prolonging the war and losing more American lives.
Sarah Loan, health-care worker from Sandusky
While she still has a job, Loan’s concerns are focused on the economy.
Loan worries about the future of the boat-making company where her husband works. She said he still goes to work even though he is not supposed to be doing so.
While it’s great that banks are showing leniency on loan payments, she said, she and her husband pride themselves on paying their bills on time.
“This is just a hard situation for so many people,” she said.
John Muehlheim, IT project manager
Muehlheim who is still employed at Vertiv Corp. in Columbus, is thinking about those who are out work and possibly will not have jobs to return to as a result of the economic slowdown.
It’s easy for those still working and whose biggest complaint is boredom on a Saturday afternoon to say, “Hey, everybody suck it up,” he said. “I just hope we all think this through every step of the way.”
As for the federal government’s proposed economic stimulus package: “A free market economy cannot operate on government stimulus checks,” he said.
Cleveland.com also has heard from readers through its free Subtext service, which provides three to four updates about the progress of the virus -- confirmed cases of the virus, major cancellations, the latest medical advice, relevant scientific information and more.
Those responses also are divided.
“We as citizens should be able to make those choices under CDC [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention] guidance. The trump administration has been promoting 15 day social distancing practices. No gathering over 10 people. It would alleviate the fear and panic of business going out of business and employees losing their jobs and livelihoods. Because the state has been unable to provide is accurate data on testing as they admitted to yesterday though Cleveland clinic is testing 500+ people a day they have taken draconian measures to eliminate all risk as opposed to strategically managing risk. They continue to blame the administration for those shortcomings but I believe dewine and acton or overwhelmed and not very good strategic thinkers and crisis managers.”
‘ "Only Fools Rush In, Where Angel's Fear To Tread !" America's attention span is so incredibly short, and we've become such 'whinny bitch' narcissists that even a two-week hiatius in our personal schedules has become an unbearable burden, to save millions of our own families, and fellow citizens from sickness and death ? Darwin was right, American's and the USA has become a pathetic shadow of it's perceived former exceptionalism, and we deserve to perish from this Earth. 😳”
“Well an open discussion with creditable estimates of casualties, economic and physical , will help.”
“Crazy as this sounds, spotty loosening of restrictions will further divide us. Republicans will follow the presidents lead, scorn Democrats as they go out with a belief this was all overblown. Dems will largely stay in, scorn the right for irresponsible action. I give Dewine great credit as a leader. He has shown responsible and consistent action. Leadership at the top is sorely lacking.”
“It will definitely be a "new" normal for some time. I think we should it ride out till April 6 and see the numbers again. This is economically devastating to many, many people. I think people would be less stressed if Congress and the Senate would quickly work out a package that would allow folks to ride this out for 2-4 weeks and (just as important) help ensure they're employers will be able to re-hire when we come out of this.”
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