Imagine a scenario where there is a fire down the street where you live, and you were told you had to abandon your home as a preventive measure. And after some time passes, and the fire appears to be under control, you ask when you can return to your home, and you are told that the fire is still smoldering down the street, and there is a chance that the wind may pick up, so you are not yet allowed to return. You notice that there is a little wind, but no gales of wind, and you again ask about returning to your home, and you are told, for your safety and for your own good, you are not allowed to go back home. But my home IS safe, you say loudly. No, says the officials guarding your street, we will tell you when it is safe, not you.

Does this sound somewhat familiar? The frustration of the mandatory shutdown that began in mid-March and is now two months and counting has caused enormous hardships around the world, in the United States, and felt strongly right here in Lycoming County. Some of the pain is emotional, such as this year’s graduates being deprived of the traditional events that are used to celebrate their rite of passage. This can never be recovered — it is gone for good. Even worse, the economic devastation to the local area from the cancellation of the Little League World Series is yet to be seen, but it also will be something that cannot be recouped.

With all these disruptions in normal activities, the Lycoming County Commissioners Press Conference on Friday, May 8th, was designed to be a hopeful message to county residents about their local government. One by one, the various officials from all aspects of county government operations, from the courts to the DA’s office, to Public Safety, to Children and Youth Services, etc., spoke reassuringly that as much as it is possible, the county is doing its business as usual.

However, it has been a theme at the commissioners’ meetings for the past month for Commissioners Scott Metzger and Tony Mussare to express their deep frustration with Governor Wolf for the continual shutdown of small businesses. This is a voice that is increasingly growing louder throughout the state, especially when the Pennsylvania Secretary of Health, Dr. Rachel Levine, informed the PA legislature leaders on May 6th about the first state-based reports which broke down virus statistics by age demographics. According to this report, the average age for coronavirus-related deaths in Pennsylvania is 79, and nearly 68% of those deaths occurred in assisted-living facilities.

To put this in perspective, it is worth noting that age 79 is the average life expectancy in the United States. Also, 65 percent of nursing home residents die every year within a year of admission, and 52 percent within six months. Overall, roughly one-quarter of the approximately 2.8 million annual fatalities in this country occur in a senior care facility, approximately 13,500 a week. And even Neil Ferguson, the British professor expert who was the primary proponent of the world-wide shutdown, has stated that “as many as half or two-thirds” of deaths labeled as COVID-19 may have occurred at the end of the year anyway!

Enough is enough, declared Dauphin County Board Chairman Jeff Haste in a widely circulated open letter. He states, “Since Gov. Wolf closed the state to minimize the 54,238 positive cases, more than 1,793,200 Pennsylvanians have lost their jobs. This decision has ruined the livelihood of millions of hard-working Pennsylvanians in exchange for 0.4% of our population. I have great sympathy for those who have lost loved ones to COVID-19. I also have great concern for the families that now have to struggle with financial concerns, mental health stress, addiction, and more because of the shutdown. Again, our governor has pitted groups of Pennsylvanians against one another. And he has not included county commissioners in this process.”

The conflict in Pennsylvania between the governor and local officials has even got the notice of President Trump, who tweeted on May 11th, “The great people of Pennsylvania want their freedom now, and they are fully aware of what that entails.” Governor Wolf has countered, “We’re all in this together, and if one of us deserts the cause, we’re not only hurting ourselves; we’re hurting everybody else in Pennsylvania. We have an imperative to stay in this fight and stay the course.”

But staying the course has been costly in more ways than commercial. One of the most disturbing messages coming out of the county’s press conference was the significant rise in suicides. Lycoming County is not alone in this regard. Current trends show that over a hundred thousand Americans may die from what sociologists call ‘deaths of despair.’ If the numbers of COVID-19 related deaths parallel these ‘deaths of despair,’ is this a case of the cure being as bad as the disease?

It is already too late to rectify the damage of the shutdown. Still, there is a growing cry that the cost/benefit analysis that we have been operating from is not a functional one if we care at all about our long-range livelihood. It is not a simple issue, to be sure, and if you wish to express your opinion on it to Governor Wolf himself, he can be reached at https://www.governor.pa.gov/contact/.