If we’re opening before we should, what was the point of the shutdown?

Katrina Martinez/The Cougar

Katrina Martinez/The Cougar

Texas businesses partially reopened on May 1, which, to me, is ridiculous. It is still irresponsible to go outside as the coronavirus pandemic continues

Medical professionals warned against reopening the U.S. as there are currently not enough tests around the country nor appropriate methods to ensure patients are not spreading the coronavirus. 

I know it is tempting to go outside but taking precaution is necessary to maintain public health. Now is the time to continue wearing face masks and limiting the amount of time you are outside. 

UH is expected to open in the fall; although, the final decision to open classes will wait until at least late May. I believe this is an appropriate amount of time to wait, but since we do not know enough about coronavirus it is still possible things will get worse later in the year.    

In all fairness, the state has not fully reopened. Restaurants, retail stores, movie theaters, hair salons, barbershops and tanning salons are able to open at limited capacity. These business still need to follow social distancing rules and their patrons should still wear face masks.

Gyms will reopen May 18, but showers and locker rooms will remain closed. We wouldn’t want people spreading germs everywhere; someone might get sick.  

As of May 8 at least 75,000 people in the United States and 144 in Harris county have died because of COVID-19, according to the CDC. Additionally, 7,000 people in Harris country have the virus. The CDC also reports 22,000 new cases of the coronavirus in the United States, which is a lot.   

What was the point of the shutdown, if not to buy time to create “useful” procedures to make life as safe as possible?

 This does not mean the state should have created a situation based around tech giants invading homes and schools. Instead, the government should have invested this time and money into helping those on unemployment and developing testing methods for coronavirus.     

Opening businesses, even with social distancing and masks, is still dangerous as there is not enough sufficient testing to go around. More people could get sick and die, which, hot take, is not okay. 

Hopefully I’m just paranoid and things will get better in the coming months. I can not stress enough how much I want to be wrong about this.

For more of The Cougar’s coronavirus coverage, click here.

Santiago Gaughan is an education sophomore and can be contacted at opinion@thedailycougar.com


If we’re opening before we should, what was the point of the shutdown?” was originally posted on The Cougar

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