It is just not the right time to reopen

In case you’re wondering whether the internet has replaced the use of the U.S. Postal Service during the pandemic, let me assure you that it has not. Because I fall into the category of an “elderly,” ”Republican," and "war veteran,” my name is on too many mailing lists with messages tailored to my demographics and seeking my donations.

The flood of religious preachments sent me promise God’s protection for those who pray and donate. My evangelist classmate Pat Robertson (yes, I’m that old) tells me: “The coronavirus is God’s way of punishing mankind for abortion and gay rights.” One fundraiser from a purported evangelical coalition, festooned with pictures of President Donald Trump, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, Fox News' Sean Hannity and others, quotes Franklin Graham: “This pandemic is the result of a fallen world — a world that has turned its back on God.” Another letter also included a ballot: If I believed that America should “open up” before it collapsed economically, I was to check either a “yes” or “no” box. And, if I agreed that God should help keep America a Christian nation which supports Israel, I was to send back my “yes” or “no” vote with a check.

In recent mail, I received my free monthly copy of Imprimis sent to me by Hillsdale College — a small conservative college in Michigan. The publication, advertised by conservative radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh, boasts of more than 5 million readers and its views are often echoed by conservative media. In this recent issue (which seeks tax-deductible donations for the college), America is urged to have the courage to “make the sacrifices today” to open up America. Make no mistake about it, the “sacrifices” to which it alludes will be made primarily by the elderly if we open up all of America too soon. This does not seem to bother Dan Patrick, the lieutenant governor of Texas, who suggested that elderly people should be willing to put their lives at risk for the sake of the reopening the economy “rapidly,” stating that many grandparents agreed with him on this. I think I speak for many American war veterans when I say, especially during this “Older Americans Month,” that we have already made more sacrifices for our country than Dan Patrick.

The saddest of all communications was a letter dated May 1 from Long Island State Veterans Home, a 350-bed skilled nursing facility in Stony Brook: “We are saddened to report that since the beginning of the outbreak, we have had 59 residents pass away from the novel Coronavirus (COVID-19)”.  Seventy-one additional residents as well as 136 employees of the Home have tested positive for the virus. Last week in Commack, 10 miles away from that veterans home, and the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Northport, where veterans are suffering from the virus, there was a large gathering of unmasked protesters, ignoring the social-distancing guidelines, and calling for the reopening of the economy. Demonstrations of this sort endanger their neighbors, the elderly, those with weakened immune systems, and those dedicated health care providers on whom so many of us depend. 

I knew some of those old warriors at the Veterans Home, and I weep for them. I agree that we must be diligent in seeing to it that our economy is restored as quickly as possible, but opening restaurants and bars, which will have no customers, or reopening meat-packing plants too soon might prove to be a mistake and a dreadful step backward. As painful as waiting a bit longer might be, and it will be painful, I think that science and history dictates forbearance. I believe Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo’s advice and leadership are sound. The virus is on the decline, a vaccine and cure are closer, and all we need is a bit more time and national leadership, which should be more consistent and far less partisan. Very soon there will come a time when we will move back to normalcy, but that time is not this time.

Sol Wachtler, a former chief judge of New York State who was a sergeant during the Korean War, is distinguished adjunct professor at Touro Law School.