The coronavirus in Maine

Maine, Vacationland, is a case study in the tradeoffs between keeping COVID-19 under control and keeping the economy running. 

Maine is a beautiful state with a variety of draws for vacationers and tourists - the rugged sea coast with tidal rivers, sandy beaches, a myriad of pristine lakes, wildlife, challenging mountains, and a foody scene in Portland second to none. These attractions generate a lot of income. Tourism is a mainstay of the Maine economy.  And it’s partially shut down to the chagrin of those dependent on the industry. 

Maine is second only to Vermont in having the lowest number of new coronavirus cases per capita in the last week. It is among the three lowest states in total cumulative cases per capita. And that’s the way we want to keep it. 

How does Maine do it? First, it has the geographical advantage being at the “end of the line”, with the Canadian border closed. (But so does Alaska with a much high infection rate.) Second it has a state CDC Director, Dr. Nirav Shah who is the perfect person to deliver coronavirus news. He's calming, smart and a little funny too. He even has a candy bar named after him with his picture on the wrapper. Third, we have a governor who is willing to take a stand that is hardly popular with those in the tourist industry. 

Governor Janet Mills is under enormous pressure from the minority Republican in the legislature to further open the state to out of staters. In a statement, she likened the GOP proposal to an attack on public health measures and an invitation for a resurgence of the virus in the state. “For the life of me, I cannot understand why Republicans care more about Massachusetts money than the life of a Maine person,” she said in a press release.

I’d rather be safe than sorry. And here in Maine I feel as safe as I can be under the circumstances. But the battle with the virus is at tremendous cost to those whose livelihoods suffer and are unable to pay incessant bills. It is painful to hear of small, lovingly built small enterprises closing forever. It takes away from the fine grain of the community. We must find a way to make amends for the involuntary sacrifices made. We can only hope that the national leadership is up to the task. Yes, hope. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Electoral College has got to go

Do you know how close Joe Biden came to losing the election? Terrifyingly close! According to the vastest figures available on line, Biden won Arizona and 11 Electoral votes by 10,457 popular votes, Georgia’s 16 Electoral votes by 11,779 popular votes, and Wisconsin’s 10 Electoral votes by 20,682 popular votes. Biden won these three states by 42,918 votes. Together they account for 37 Electoral votes which, if gone to Trump, would have caused a tie in the Electoral College and thrown the election into the House where Trump wins the majority Republican states.  OK, a tie. But additionally, if Nebraska’s single Biden Electoral vote from the 2nd Congressional District hadn’t gone to Biden by 22,091 votes, Trump wins. Or if Nevada’s 6 Electoral votes hadn’t gone to Biden by 33,596, Trump wins.  Under the Constitutional provisions for the Electoral College and the custom of winner-take-all by states, Biden won the presidency by a mere 65,009 votes. Imagine that. The loss of a ...
Read more

Election legitimacy needs a landslide

Donald Trump has defined the landscape for the general election. It’s rigged no matter who wins. He has questioned voting by mail. He has sent in his lackey, Louis DeJoy, a big Republican donor, to sabotage the US Postal Service which now admits it cannot handle a deluge of voting by mail. He claims the process is fraught with fraud. Fearing loss by popular vote and in the electoral college, Trump has undermined the legitimacy of the election. There are three possible election outcomes. The first is that Trump will squeak a narrow victory as the electoral college distorts the popular vote as it did in 2016. The second is that Biden will win the popular vote and gain a narrow victory in the electoral college. It’s in the states with close votes that the claims of rigging will be raised. In either of these cases - a narrow Biden win or a close Trump win - legitimacy of the victor will be questioned.  There is only one outcome that can set the republic back on course. That is a Democr...
Read more

The coronavirus and age

Here’s some data from the Massachusetts Department of Public Health as of August 3 as reported by the Boston Globe . For the population from 20 to 79 years of age, the cumulative incidence of COVID-19 ranges from about 1,700 to 2,000 per hundred thousand people. This means that one out of every 50 to 60 people in that age range has experienced a coronavirus event. By contrast, for people over 80, it one out of every 18 people.  The death rate from COVID-19 climbs with age regardless. At 70 to 79 one out of every 303 people in the Commonwealth dies from coronavirus; at 80 and older it’s one out of every 54. It is inescapable that the old folks among us are more apt to suffer from the virus and we are more likely to die from it.  I am alarmed at the incompetence of the COVID-19 challenge at the highest level of government. For oldsters, the risks of disease and death are much higher than the general population - and unacceptably and massively greater than the risks from guns or ...
Read more