Dear friends and neighbors,

From the May 21st press briefing:

Reporter: As we reopen, won’t we have more cases?
Governor Ricketts: As I’ve said, it’s a virus, we can’t stop it from coming.
Reporter: But how does that weigh on you, that we will have more deaths?
Ricketts: We have traffic deaths every year, but still allow people to drive.

It is so disappointing to listen to these briefings every day, as deaths and infections continue to climb, and not hear any sensitivity, empathy, or recognition for Nebraskans who are suffering and dying. There is no effective leadership without compassion. This is too bad.

And to speak to the traffic deaths comparison — we can’t compare causes of death that aren’t contagious to an extremely contagious novel virus that we are still trying to understand. It’s an insensitive and inaccurate comparison. Furthermore, Nebraska’s COVID-19 deaths from the past three months have already surpassed our average annual number of traffic fatalities. We should not give up on working to stop preventable deaths.

As I frequently remind us, “Don’t overwhelm the healthcare system” is not the right goal, especially with 90,000 Nebraskans in the Medicaid gap and over 141,000 completely uninsured. If they get sick, how will they pay? The goal has to be to decrease infections and death.

Many people also ask me a question like, “If you don’t want to reopen now, then when? When will you know?” My general position is that public health and pandemic researchers need to be moved into the lead on strategy, not politicians. We need to listen to them. That hasn’t happened at the state level or at the federal level.

And what *have* the health experts said? John Hopkins’s Guidance for Governors suggests reopening when new cases have declined for 2 weeks, we can test and contact-trace everyone, the hospitals aren’t overwhelmed, and there is adequate PPE for everyone. (Reopening Guidance for Governors)

Dr. Birx, the White House Coronavirus Response Coordinator, suggested states begin to reopen after two weeks of declining cases, as long as they develop containment plans should infection rates increase. We aren’t following that plan, either. (Opening America)

Another very respected public health policy expert, Andy Slavitt, has a recent piece with more guidance on opening safely. As he says, Americans don’t need to choose between a good economy and the public’s health. They go together.

Public health officials and pandemic experts I talk to in Nebraska say that reopening *could* work if we would *all* accept a social contract to follow strict practices of masks, social distancing, fever checks, telework. But would Nebraskans follow that strict directive? Have they had the chance? Even getting Ricketts to allow state employees to telework was like pulling teeth.

There’s no way to avoid making reopening an at least partly political decision. But my concern is that Nebraska has chosen to make it a *completely* political decision instead of balancing expert guidance with the need to grow economic activity. It’s not either/or, we can do both!

To back up my concern, here’s an example: Officials at UNMC–you know, the place in Nebraska with all the pandemic experts–have said they are not providing recommendations to the state; they’re “just providing data” for politicians to “interpret.” That’s not great!

Coordination at the government level is very chaotic, communication is disjointed, and the fact that most of us are not working in our offices together doesn’t help. We need a leader who can earn trust, unify us around a public health goal, and convey a clear strategy.

As always, please let me know if I can be of any more assistance. Email is the best way to get in touch with me, at mhunt@leg.ne.gov.

Many thanks,
Meg