The ultimate shame is that there has been no responsible, coordinated national response to this problem. Handing off responsibility to the states was a cop-out, plain and simple. Having a strict policy in one jurisdiction and a lax policy in another makes no sense, because political boundaries are artificial (someone drew a line on a map in 1803) and transparent. People come and go as they wish for a variety of reasons (leisure, commerce, family emergencies, and so on), they cross those boundaries at will, and some carry the bug with them. All it takes is one infected person to pass the bug along to a few others, for those few to do the same, and we're soon back to square one.

Nobody anticipated the outbreak of Covid-19, and the US was caught off-guard and unprepared, but after four months, we shouldn't be at square one. And yet, that's where Florida, California, Texas, and Arizona are right now. Those states are struggling, people are becoming ill and dying, and makeshift morgues are back in the news. Why? I hope not because ordinary folks lacked the foresight, discipline, and maturity to exercise a bit of patience and to act in a manner that discourages the disease's spread.

Covid-19 shouldn't be viewed as a political problem, but rather as a national, public health emergency. A pox on everyone whose behaviors and pronouncements have made it the former.

Texas UIL
@uiltexas
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17m
Modified UIL Activities Calendar & COVID-19 Guidelines for 2020-2021 School Year