Three months after the coronavirus pandemic hit America, the United States on Tuesday topped a stunning 1 million cases - and that's a conservative estimate. New York state will pass 300,000 confirmed cases on its own this week - again, possibly orders of magnitude less than reality. Yet in this unprecedented battle, there has been undeniable progress -- and governors across the country, including New York and New Jersey, are outlining their visions to reopen states in the coming months.
The economic toll of this crisis is catastrophic by any measure. The psychological cost is incalculable. It's one thing to reopen a restaurant. It's another thing to convince people it's safe to eat dinner out. Or go out at all.
Uncertainty -- Who is infected? How do I pay my bills? When will this be over? -- has entrenched a new kind of fear in the mindsets of many Americans, one that makes them question the very routines they comfortably abided for years.
Heartache and sheer exhaustion have fueled an almost community depression. Countless loved ones have had to say goodbye to the patriarchs and matriarchs of their families by Facebook Live. Many fear they'll have to do the same. The crisis has crushed jobs; it's crushed souls. It has worsened mental illness for many already struggling, left many to fight their demons alone, isolated at home. Domestic violence is spiking, along with anti-Asian attacks in New York.
Hospital workers battling on the front lines for months say the all-out chaos has subsided a bit but still report feeling overwhelmed by the sickness and death. They still find themselves serving as families' surrogates, the last to hold a loved one's hand. They still are getting sick. They still leave 12-hour shifts in tears. For many, the worst fear is possibly having to go through it all over again.
At least one nurse from Mount Sinai West in Manhattan says if society reopens too quickly, everything she and her colleagues have sacrificed will have been a "waste" of time.
We can't let that happen, Gov. Andrew Cuomo says. The price has been too high already.
"We have gone through hell and back over the past 60 days. What the American people have done, what New Yorkers have done, has been to save lives, literally," Cuomo said Tuesday. "But we have to remain vigilant. As much as we want this to be over, it's not over. And we have to respect what we accomplished here."
To honor the achievements, and the frontline heroes who save lives daily, Thunderbirds and Blue Angels flew in formation over New York City and Newark Tuesday. By all accounts, the powerful salute drew millions of New Yorkers together in a way they haven't been since the pandemic hit.
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