Description

In the coming weeks and months, our federal and state/local governments will be grappling with balancing public health (and acceptable risks of deaths) with reopening the country. According to a New York Times article on April 22,

"Until there is a vaccine or a cure for the coronavirus, the macabre truth is that any plan to begin restoring public life invariably means trading away some lives. The question is how far will leaders go to keep it to a minimum."

Here is a link to that Times article:
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/22/us/politics/coronavirus-reopening-governors-trump.html?action=click&module=Top%20Stories&pgtype=Homepage

How do our public officials make these life-and-death decisions? What are the proper roles of the federal government and of state governments? When is the right time for governors to begin opening their respective economies? Is a key consideration having a more widespread testing and tracing capability in place? How should governors prioritize which sectors to open first and what the phase-in plan should be after that? It likely will be months before data is available to confirm whether the right decisions are being made. What are the risks of going too slowly? What are the risks of going too fast? How should public health considerations be weighed against getting people back to work as they struggle to pay for food, shelter and medical care for other health challenges? How should decisions be made about the timing of opening up restaurants, performance venues and sporting events? What health risks should be deemed worth taking?

Join us on Wednesday, May 20 at 12:30 and share your thoughts on this critical topic.