When is Enough, Enough?

As we all adjust to the "pandemic world" and all that entails, some citizens are more concerned that others, some are more vigilant in social distancing than others, and some are feeling more panicked than others. There is a very wide spectrum of opinions out there around the seriousness of this pandemic, what our responses should be, and how much the future will be impacted.

Regardless, any responses chosen in effort to slow the impact of COVID 19 will be more effective if the nation is united behind it. Our leaders are trying to bring the country behind the measures they've implemented but there is such a wide spectrum of opinions out there right now that the unity required for their ideas to work effectively is just not there yet. To be united, we must have a base belief in common from which that cohesion can grow. In effort to close that wide spectrum, to unite us all a little more behind a similar level of concern, I want to ask a serious and totally objective question:

• "When is enough, enough?"

Each of us has our own threshold, our own tipping point where we start to feel concern. If the current state of affairs is not reaching the level that makes you feel action is necessary, then when will it be? So I am curious, where is your personal cut point?

To look at it most objectively, use data.

Reports come out daily changing the infection rate, mortality rate, and the rate of spreading. Right now, mortality rate is around 3%. (This rate is different every hour and from every different reporting agency, but for the sake of argument, let's assume it's around 3% right now.) If this is not a rate high enough for you to believe this virus is something serious that requires everyone's awareness and contributions, then what rate is? Is it 5%, 10%, 45%? Or are you more focused on infection rates? I've seen some reports of infection rates as high as 85%, of course not all deadly. So what infection rate causes you concern? What data needs to be reported for you to feel that COVID-19 requires more attention than the flu? Communicability rate? Mortality rate? With what data points will we be able to unite as country behind defensive and responsive measures?

When do you, on a personal level, decide that social distancing is important? When someone in your community contracts it? When someone is your age group is diagnosed? When someone you care about dies? Is your personal cut point based on these more emotional factors, or are they based more on the data, as in overall rates for mortality and communicability?

For me, on personal level, I support shelter in place for all Americans for the length of time it takes to alter the curve. The data we've gathered so far during this pandemic and the trajectory this data puts us on for the future alone are enough to convince me, but outcries from leaders in the medical field and personal reports from many health care workers who are in the trenches reinforce my convictions. But because this is a personal decision, and I realize that each person has their own threshold for concern, I also wonder, am I overreacting or allowing my emotions to guide decision making? So, again, I ask, for my own edification, curiosity, and personal reflection:

When, for you, is enough, enough?