The United States and the world marked a turning point in the covid-19 crisis this weekend. Things started to open up, and it was scary and wonderful all at the same time.
That’s not to say that the new normal is normal. I’m a soccer fanatic, and so I viewed three Bundesliga games on cable television. It was eerie without fans; I hadn’t realized how much their reactions and cheers were part of the experience until they were gone. Hearing the stadium operators pump out music through the loudspeakers when the home team scored without accompanying fan celebration was more than odd. That and the shots of bench players wearing masks and social distancing from their teammates on the sidelines were reminders of the dangers we have all just lived through.
The shopping experiences were odd as well. Like many Northern Virginians, I traveled south to portions of the commonwealth that were open for business. My masked server and the feet of separations between the outdoor tables were more reminders that life was still different. Taped markers on the city sidewalk as I ordered a latte also told me to stay on guard.
But the hope of a better future was everywhere. The Fredericksburg restaurants were full and doing as brisk a business as they could. Interstate 95 headed south was jammed with Northern Virginia weekend travelers by mid-afternoon, just like it always is. Television ratings for the Bundesliga were also record highs in Germany and the United States.
The news from Iceland was even more encouraging. Its government plans to immediately test all arriving passengers for covid-19. People will also have to download a tracking app so that the government can contact them with the results and trace their whereabouts in the event they test positive. If this works, it could become a model for travel throughout the globe, giving airlines and any business reliant on air travel a massive boost.
Even the world of medicine chimed in. A clinical trial of a potential vaccine manufactured by Moderna showed positive results, giving us hope that the beginning of the end was in sight. Seven other covid-19 vaccines are in clinical trials around the world, with many more in earlier stages of development. Early results from trials involving a University of Oxford-developed vaccine show that product could reduce the worst symptoms and effects of the virus, saving lives even if it doesn’t provide total immunity from contracting the disease. With so many firms working feverishly on a solution, it increasingly looks likely that some pharmaceutical protection might be available relatively soon.
This is a dramatic, positive change from just one month ago, when experts warned that states that opened up their economies would likely see a significant rise in deaths. That hasn’t happened in states such as Georgia and Florida, which started to reopen a few weeks ago to much public criticism. One month ago, we were told that it would likely take years to get a safe and widely available vaccine. Britain now thinks it could have 30 million doses of the Oxford vaccine available for its citizens by September.
There will surely be some stumbles and backsliding on the road to recovery. No plan survives contact with the enemy, it is said, and that will be as true here as in war. But the indefatigable human spirit is reasserting itself. As we learn more about the virus, our fears will subside, and as they do, our confidence in ourselves will grow. The advent of warmer weather in the Northern Hemisphere will also likely inhibit the virus’s spread. Summer won’t be normal, but it won’t be spent indoors, either.
We have lived in fear of death for two months. That fear is now beginning to wane. Life is beginning to be worth living again. It’s none too soon.
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