Humanity Responds to COVID-19

            Create a panic and watch people respond. Wars bring out the best and the worst in us. This one, the coronavirus pandemic, is no different in that respect. Only the actors and the scenes are.

            COVID-19 may have been born in a Wuhan lab or perhaps a food market. We may never know, or even want to know, especially if it was the result of an experiment in germ warfare gone wrong. What we do know is that any chance it had of being contained was destroyed by a massive cover-up by a Chinese government concerned more about its mage than the lives of its own people. The story of Communist China’s mendacity is now an open book, and the world will not soon forgive the merchants of evil in Beijing for the death and destruction they have wrought.

            The pandemic is peeling away the pretensions of players on the world stage. The weakness of the European Union cannot be denied any longer. When poor Italy whose government-controlled health system proved incapable of caring for the victims of the virus, its appeal to the European brotherhood for even the most basic supplies fell on deaf ears. The EU response was the sound of borders slamming shut, effectively destroying Italy’s faith in the shared benefits of continental solidarity.

            Here at home, President Trump is getting a 55% approval rating on his handling of the crisis, even as his critics in the media continue to find fault with his leadership. Trump, of course, gives them plenty of ammunition in his overbearing press briefings, which would best be handled by Mike Pence and his team of scientific advisors.

            On the political front, clueless Joe Biden has continued to accuse the president of hysterical xenophobia in taking quick action to prevent travelers from China from entering our country. But Democratic leaders in Congress are cooperating with the administration in crafting legislative solutions. Even a persistent Trump hater like Representative Ilhan Omar has praised Trump for his response to the pandemic. Give Trump credit for bringing industry leaders together on testing, finding drugs to treat the disease, and accelerating the development of vaccines.

            Outside the Beltway, panic drives shoppers to clean out store shelves of toilet paper, hand sanitizers, and other essentials; seizing the opportunity, hoarders take advantage of shortages to make a quick buck; and millennials, especially the kids on spring break, don’t seem to understand the need for “social distancing.” But those are the exceptions; the general public seems to understand that we’re all in this together and that we must all endure sometimes major inconveniences to help stop the spread of the virus.

            On a personal note, while I was quarantined awaiting the results of testing for the virus, my wife and I received offers from many friends to do little things for us, like running errands or food shopping. We even had one deliver a meal to us. We may be dismayed for good reason at the selfishness of some shoppers and the cupidity of hoarders, but it’s the generosity and care of neighbors and friends in times of need that reveal the true character of Americans and give us hope that we will get through this. Together.