We are now approaching six weeks of America in lock down! Here is what needs to be done to reopen our economy.

First, we must protect the most vulnerable. We need to test workers in our nursing homes, hospitals and healthcare clinics, and those working in the food chain.

I have heard from many people about the financial burden that the Governor’s Directive Health Measures have put on them. One business owner shared with me how he has two businesses in two different communities. His business hasn’t been good and he will have to close both businesses and start over.

I have also heard about the lack of processing in both hogs and cattle. The plants are having a difficult time with their employees not coming to work for fear of the coronavirus. They are functioning at less than 40% capacity. So, the buck stops with the producer! The ranchers, cattle feeders, feedlot operators, and hog producers.  We will soon discover how important these folks are. There will be shortages of meat products because of these policies. What is worse is that many in the groups I just mentioned won’t be around to pick up the slack!

Another person shared with me his story about how 40 years of his work will be lost in one year. There are many of you reading this who can relate to this issue. The Governor’s policies have not only affected agriculture but manufacturing and businesses on Main Street as well. It is an equal opportunity offender!

Williams Jennings Byran once said: “Burn down our cities and leave the farms, and our cities will spring up like magic, but destroy our farms and grass will grow in the streets of every city in the country”! We are about to find out if he was right!!

A lot of people are living in fear. I understand that. We seldom ever hear any good news, such as the ten patients of coronavirus in Kimball County who have all recovered. Not everyone who gets the virus dies!

It is becoming more evident that the real number of deaths associated with the virus is not accurate. For instance, a doctor in Italy concluded that only 12% of Italians who have died in that country this year actually died from the coronavirus. That means that 88% percent died from some other cause.

Stanford University has released a report which says the number of folks who have been exposed to the virus is 85 times greater than the original estimates. So what does that mean statistically? The denominator is growing exponentially which means the percentage of deaths from the coronavirus will be no greater than the seasonal flu.

When you analyze what happened in some of our neighboring states. We realize that the leadership in those states made some very wise decisions on how to manage the virus. South Dakota is a prime example. Some will say they have a lot less population, but half of our counties have a very similar population to those in South Dakota. Yet every county in Nebraska was restricted in the same way. One size doesn’t fit all.

The cure or should I say the flattening of the curve has now extended the period of time that we can be exposed to the virus. What the Directive Health Measures have done is kill our economy and prolonged our financial agony! Isn’t it peculiar that you can sell your scrap metal for cash, but you can’t go to church! It is past time to reopen all of the economy.