Pandemic 2020: Quarantine fatigue

It’s clear that everyone is getting quarantine fatigue. Despite the danger, and the continued lack of federal leadership, some states are a starting to reopen. Protesters, many armed with semi-automatic rifles, say they’re fighting for constitutional freedoms that have been denied under a lockdown. But like a lot of things like this, it’s just an excuse to amplify lost causes that most people don’t care about. Because if we open too soon, all this social distancing will have been for nothing, and we’ll see new waves of this devastating virus. This is exactly what happened with the 1918 Flu. 

Trump isn’t helping any of this. He continues to push magical thinking and conspiracy theories that have fanned the flames of the unhinged and uninformed. Last week, at a press conference, he wondered aloud whether people should drink disinfectants like bleach, or use UV light to defeat the virus. It caused a spike in calls to poison control centers. 

This is truly an “Emperor has no clothes” moment—and something I never thought I’d see in my lifetime. It’s clear that Trump and much of his administration don’t know what they’re doing—and don’t really care about the people. But this shouldn’t be surprising: a game show host and failed businessman was never a good choice to run the executive branch of our government.