It didn’t take much longer than 100 days for the coronavirus to claim the lives of 100,000 people in the U.S. Now, public health officials fear lifting the lockdowns will lead to a resurgence in cases and fatalities.
– desks set farther apart, meetings with fewer participants – but also from a reduced number of employees at the office, both because of downsizing and telecommuting. The drastic economic downturn has prompted a large number of companies to lay off workers, resulting in more than 36 million unemployment claims nationwide since mid-March.
Kevin Hallock, dean of the Cornell SC Johnson College of Business, says it would be foolhardy to expect a quick economic recovery. “The labor market has suffered a catastrophic shock, and the next 100 days are going to be dark for millions of workers in the United States,’’ Hallock said. “The economy and the labor market came to a screeching halt in the last 60 days, more quickly than any time in recorded history and, unfortunately, there is absolutely no way the recovery will be as rapid. “Even if a cure for COVID-19 were immediately available, and we know it is months or years away, the fear and unease from such a shock is going to lead many businesses to be more careful with investing and many workers much more careful in spending. More companies will fail, and more people will lose their jobs.’’ Amid such a bleak forecast, there may be some positive developments on the work front. Many of those who have retained their jobs have been working from home, and analysts say that’s bound to continue out of both convenience and necessity as employers try to provide more spacious workplaces. Fewer commuters may in turn help ease the burden on mass transit systems – a major piece of the reopening puzzle – and diminish the deleterious impact on the environment of people driving to work. Marissa Shuffler, associate professor of industrial-organizational psychology at Clemson University, said the telecommuting arrangement forced upon employers by the pandemic will lead to more workers being granted that option in the future. She believes companies and employees alike will benefit from that in the form of more effective work practices and a better work-life balance.“We have started to more carefully scrutinize our meetings, with many being transitioned to other mechanisms that actually are better suited for efficiently conveying information and achieving goals,’’ she said. “Once we get back to our more ‘normal’ work settings, it is likely that we will continue these practices.’’The challenge in reopening schools at all levels may be more complex, especially when considering the difficulty of keeping children a safe distance from one another. On college campuses, the traditional housing setup of cramped dorms is bound to face adjustments to prevent contagion, if universities open at all. The Cal State system, the nation's largest for four-year public universities with more than 480,000 students, announced May 12 that virtually all of its fall classes would be conducted remotely.are similar to those for businesses regarding social spacing and cleaning, in addition to requiring the ability to conduct health screenings for students and employees and establishing protocols for when any of them get sick. Alternating days of in-person instruction, temperature checks, staggered meal times, separated desks, some online teaching and the widespread use of masks all figure to be part of the picture at most school levels in the fall semester. Dr. Peter Gulick, an infectious disease specialist at Michigan State University, advocates a gradual reopening for society in general, though he points out more will be known about possible treatments for COVID-19 by the time schools are supposed to be back in session. “We will still not have the therapy for prevention or a vaccine in 100 days, so essentially nothing changes as far as prevention,’’ Gulick said. “I feel strongly that those who are high-risk should practice strict precautions until things get more stable. Remember, we thought kids were not getting infected, and now suddenly there is an inflammatory condition – very much like Kawasaki disease – affecting children that we now know is COVID-19-related.’’ There are other pressing questions about reopening schools that need to be addressed, such as the safety of faculty and staff, who interact daily with students. Hwaji Shin, who teaches sociology at the University of San Francisco, expressed concern about college employees feeling financial pressure to work in risky conditions, especially at a time of budget cuts prompted by the floundering economy. California Gov. Gavin Newsom has proposed a revised budget that would include $19 billion less in guaranteed funding for public schools and community colleges than was projected in the flush days of January. That’s hardly the ideal setting for teaching the next generation how to prosper in the post-COVID world. Our biggest challenge to this end is not the virus itself,’’ Shin said, “but the social inequality created long before the advent of the COVID-19 global pandemic.’’
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