The man in the Oval Office wants the country to reopen. The lead medical expert in the nation, Dr. Fauci, says the virus and data will drive the timeline to do so. The man in the Oval Office doesn’t care too much for what the lead medical expert says because it doesn’t align with his own fantasy world timeline. Governors, most that is, luckily are trusting the data and medical experts to make decisions (Side note: We don’t know for sure if the data is accurate only because we don’t have enough data points, i.e., not enough people are tested who exhibit COVID-19 early symptoms.). If you live in a state with a Democrat as governor, you are safer than one with a Republican as governor, especially if your governor is a Trumpist sycophant.
I recently read an article by Joseph Grenny and I’m watching his webinar series, which discusses planning for what comes after Coronavirus.
For me at this moment, it means feeling safe to go to work, the store or any other public arena. What does safe look like is the question?
Will it mean everyone gets a temperature check upon arriving at work? If someone has a temperature, are they sent home with pay (and that doesn’t mean using personal sick time)? If they are sent home, how long do they have to stay home and what is the criteria to return? Will we automatically get COVID-19 tested if we have a fever? Who pays for the test? How long will we have to wait for results? Will our insurance pay for any treatment needed?
Will we have to agree not to travel out-of-state? If we can’t do that due to family that lives elsewhere, do we get to keep our jobs? Do we have to work from home after travel? What if our jobs are not such to be able to work from home? What if our job is considered essential?
Will our work areas be reconfigured to allow for social distancing? What if the office doesn’t have the space to do so? Will social distancing guidelines be waived in the workplace? Will people be offered the choice, if possible, to work from home full-time to allow for social distancing? Will work schedules be staggered to where one week we are at the office three days, the next two days, to allow for social distancing when work areas are much less than six feet apart?
How will our work places be sanitized every day? Will there be sanitizer dispensers placed strategically around the office? Will we have personal bottles at our desks? Will we have bleach wipes are our desks? If so, who pays for those? Can a workplace require us to purchase an item it is requiring us to have as a workplace health safety matter?
Will it be mandated we wear masks while in public while working, while shopping, while going to places of entertainment? If so, who pays for those masks? What if someone can’t afford the masks? What about latex gloves? Same questions.
What about schools? Will students’ temperatures be taken every day when arriving at school? If a student has a fever, do they get an automatic COVID-19 test? Does a parent have to consent, be present, for the test? If the student is sent home for a quarantine period, will a parent automatically be placed on sick leave from work (and do they have to use personal sick time), or be allowed to telework if possible? Will all siblings be sent home as well? If the family is low-income, will the school provide meals to the family? What is the criteria to be allowed back to school? What does social distancing look like in a school? Are schools exempt from social distancing guidelines?
What about extracurricular activities? How does a student play football or march in band while practicing social distancing? Are participants’ temperatures automatically taken when arriving at practice? Does a player automatically receive a COVID-19 test if they have a temperature? Same questions apply here as with everything above.
Those are just some of the questions I have that, so far, haven’t been answered by anyone.
What does safe look like to you?
Personal Reflections of a Middle-Aged Man 
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