The Long Coronavirus Winter Is Underway

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The week began with deserted campuses in the New York City area. The week concluded with a dramatic expansion of social distancing measures under which all non-essential workers were instructed to stay home until further notice.


The deserted Lehman College campus

As a result, the longest-running economic expansion came to a crashing end with economic activity rapidly diminishing. Unemployment claims rocketed even faster than the deadly COVID-19 virus was spreading.

At present, it remains uncertain when the worst of the viral storm now raging through the New York City region and much of the world will recede. It remains uncertain what the post-pandemic world’s first days will be like.

At this time, though, fear, negativity, and fatalism should be dismissed. While this is a once-in-a-century pandemic, such pandemics have ravaged humanity before. But people survived. Societies recovered. The standard of living improved. In short, there was a future—a better future.

As Confucius observed, “Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.”

No matter how bleak things might seem, the College, the City, the nation, and all of humanity will rise.

For those looking for information, credible sources include:

New York State Department of Health

U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)

World Health Organization (WHO)