By Nick Murray
In an effort to slow the spread of Covid-19, almost every state in the US has implemented some form of stay at home orders or restrictions on which businesses are allowed to operate during quarantine. Despite many states slowly reopening, the United States has been hit with a medical and economic disaster. In the weeks following the arrival of Covid-19 in the US, the stock market plunged into a bear market, marking the end of the longest bull market in history. However, less than two weeks after the bear market began, economists claimed we were already entering a new bull market—effectively making this the shortest bear market in history. However, the disastrous stock market events are only half the problem. Due to business shutdowns across the country, many large companies and small businesses alike were forced to furlough a majority of their employees leading to the highest unemployment rate since the Great Depression. With 20.5 million Americans having lost their jobs in the month of April alone, and unemployment rates skyrocketing to 14.7 percent, it seems that the current bull market will not last long.
Many economists and politicians, our president included, have argued for the reopening of the economy. However, the resulting death toll would be catastrophic. Hospitals already struggle to keep up with the flow of patients and shortage of personal protective equipment (PPE). Further strain on the medical system would likely lead to many people being denied medical treatment for non Covid-19 related illnesses. Due to the shortage of PPE, nurses and doctors have been forced to adapt by reusing n95 masks and gowns which would normally be for one time use only. Such shortages of PPE are leading to unacceptable amounts of medical personnel contracting and dying from Covid-19. The tragic deaths of first responders and medical personnel on the front lines would have otherwise been preventable had the Trump administration not drastically reduced funding for numerous programs that would have provided emergency funding for hospitals in pandemics such as the current one. One may argue that keeping the country closed will lead to disaster. However, the alternative would be catastrophic.