The debate over the response to the coronavirus is full of misinformation and misperceptions. Some people apparently think the state should stay closed until we have the virus under control. Others think that we need to re-open and let the virus run through society. Neither scenario makes much sense in terms of our economy or health. 

As John Hood correctly points out in a column this week, the goal of the stay-at-home order is to “flatten the curve.” In other words, slow, not stop, the spread of the virus. Infections and deaths won’t stop, but they will be spread out over a greater period time. By slowing the spread, hospitals will have time to build capacity and governments will have time to make plans.  

Unmitigated, we would likely be in the midst of a situation similar to the ones that hit New York and Italy. A dramatic spike in cases would overwhelm hospitals that would be peaking about now. Instead, we shut down the state, instituted social distancing and pushed a lower peak out until mid-summer or so. Our health care facilities have been able to handle the number of cases and we’ve built auxiliary facilities to create more beds for patients.

Now that we’ve slowed the spread and built some capacity, we need to figure out how to live with the virus and open society again. We can’t stay shut down for months. Social distancing will be with us for a long time. We should all be wearing masks when we’re in public. Vulnerable people and places will need to take extra-precautions, limiting contact with others and probably restricting movement. 

Reopening without any precautions will put us back in the same precarious situation we were in before. We need a plan and protocols. And we need them quickly. People need to work and they need social interaction and they will do it on their own if they aren’t given guidance. South Carolina and Georgia appear ready of open up with little in the way of precautions. We can gather good information about the impact and use them as examples of what works and what doesn’t. 

Governor Roy Cooper should probably offer a time line in the coming days for opening up some of our state. He should start with state parks right now. It’s spring in North Carolina and people are going outdoors. Limiting where they can go just forces more people into smaller spaces. As a friend of mine said last weekend, “The most dangerous place in country right now is the Durham Greenway.” Give people more venues and more space. That will be safer.

We should flexible in how we proceed, but we need to move forward. We have successfully slowed the spread of the disease. Now, we need to learn how to live with it. We need a plan and we need expectations. When we get it right, we can move forward. When we get it wrong, we should change course. We’re in this situation for a long time. Let’s get used to it.