We must wage and win a simultaneous two-front"war"— for the health and economic sustainability of the nation's people .
All sectors of our nation: business, education, religious, medical, media, public and private, government at all levels, the people at large, all of us, must work together decisively to win this "war". Moving fast and aggressively is of unique importance since the geometric spread of the coronavirus is rapid and a nation or any entity pays a gruesome price if it delays the containment measures (isolation; social distancing), allowing the virus to achieve critical levels of penetration.
After a slow start, partly attributable to the President's denying the reality of this unique threat, I am encouraged by what I see the Federal government and our State of Ohio doing at this moment. Different sectors of the government are coming together. Private-public partnerships are forming as they did in WWII, for example to provide more test equipment, necessary medical supplies, expertise on communicationI and more.
I see leaders being data driven and seeking and applying learning from other nations who experienced—or responded to-- this virus at an earlier date than we did. Most importantly, I see leaders with deep professional competence at the Federal and State and Local levels stepping forward together to lead the effort. They are providing transparent, frequent updates on the reality and the impact of the health and economic of the virus
As the experts and history of this virus tell us: we are still at the critical early stage. We know the health crisis will grow over the next several weeks. We don't know how far nor nor how long it will wake for the threat to dissipate to the extent we can relax the social isolation steps which have been and will continue to be implemented. But we do have a good idea scientifically and from what has happened in other countries what actions the public—all of us—need to take to lower the curve of the spread and incidence of this serious infection. We also know the economic dislocation will be immense in lost jobs and income.
On the economic front, we will need to implement what in historical terms might be described aa a modern Marshall Day plan in the need to take comprehensive and decisive action, the best analogy in my mind is the action the Nation had to take to address the devastating consequences of the Depression with its 25%+ unemployment. Fortunately, compared to the Depression, our economy entered this unexpected challenge far stronger than was at the time of the Depression.
Our challenges at this moment in time seem to be to be three:
1) Each of us following the best containment actions;
2) Being ahead of the wave of more people needing hospitalization with adequate hospital beds, medical supplies and medical personnel.
3) Putting in place dramatic and rapid economic support for individuals (cash supplements, assured free heath coverage ) and for the recovery of businesses, large like the airlines, and small and medium size business, where the loss of jobs will be greatest.
As I have written, this war presents striking similarities to what out Nation faced and needed to do in the Great Depression and in WWII. It is often said—and it is true—that it takes a monumental existential threat to drive us to collective, decisive action. We have that existential threat today.
We of course will get through this. The question is how fast and to what degree we will minimize the harm to people.
By coincidence, I just started the new best-seller: "The Splendid and the Vile: a Saga of Churchill, Family and Defiance During the Blitz". I am lifted by Churchill's spirit and wisdom as he addressed the British people—this during the first month after becoming Prime Minster in the dark days of May, 1940. "It would be foolish to disguise the gravity of the moment. It would be still more foolish to lose heart and courage."
And then this shortly after the fall of France: "Let us therefore brace ourselves to our duty and so bear ourselves that if the British Commonwealth and Empire last for a thousand years, men will still say, 'This was their finest hour'".
So may it be for us.
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