Well, here we are in week 8 of the coronavirus shutdown. For those of us in Luzerne County, there is essentially no end in sight. Clearly, we had been a hot spot in the state.   But our numbers have stabilized or decreased despite the vastly increased testing available.

This feels promising compared to the situation where testing was less scarce but our growth in cases was exponential. Something is happening. It’s likely not all because of mitigation.

It is worth noting however that here, in Luzerne County, 82 of 112 deaths have come out of nursing facilities. Sad, but these vulnerable souls are not representative of the working public.

In Pennsylvania, there are now 3 phases of existence. Until recently most of our state, no matter how few cases there were, was in the red phase. We are ordered by fiat to stay home. We can actually be questioned and cited for “nonessential travel”. So-called “essential” businesses are open. We have been permitted to visit our grocery stores, beer distributors, hardware stores, big-box stores, and gas stations. With masks and social distancing, we seem to have been able to control the spread of this virus.

If we are deemed to be worthy, we may someday get to the yellow phase where we can open other retailers, but still cannot gather in a group larger than 25, or visit bars or restaurants. It appears that this viral purgatory will be denied to us until at least June 1.

Does this mean that churches will still not be able to open? What happened to freedom of religion?

Green phase, where things return to basically normal almost seems like a dream.

The problem is, I remember what we were told at the beginning of this. Remember: “two weeks to flatten the curve”? Well, we damn well flattened the curve. So much so in fact, that hospitals who have been curtailing other services, threaten to lay off workers because of low volume. Only modest percentages of hospital beds have been needed for coronavirus patients. There are plenty of ventilators. Yet two months later we remain locked down.

Looking at the number of new cases in Pennsylvania, the curve is noisy but is clearly trending downward.

Even more disturbing to me is the attitude of the state government. It appears for the Wolfe administration, the new default position for our commonwealth is “closed for business”. We only get to open if we are properly respectful and deserving. He seems little inclined to relieve our misery.

This feels unconstitutional. Given the crisis, we gave our state government some leeway and submitted ourselves to rules (not laws) that go against the basic freedoms of society. This was done for one purpose, which was realized. Now as others have pointed out, Gov. Wolfe has moved the goalposts from the field to an undisclosed location. And he does this without explanation.

The administration might want to study data from states that have reopened. Georgia is a case in point. Their numbers prior to late April were not the most favorable, yet since opening their new cases are declining. Hopefully, this is because to an extent, this virus is running its course as the season progresses.

We are now living in a society where state agencies in the state police are being used to suppress our freedoms and our commerce in a way that will damage our economy for months if not years.

Warren County in northwestern Pennsylvania is an example. As of this date, they have had exactly one case of coronavirus with no deaths, yet they were under severe lockdown for 2 months. How lovely for them that they will now be permitted to move to a slightly less damaging state of existence? And much of the rest of the state, many counties with single- and double-digit case numbers are similarly oppressed. This is ridiculous.

I have been uncomfortable thinking about this idea, but I now have to wonder whether this is political. As a swing state, a damaged economy might be helpful in moving Pennsylvania towards a democratic challenger. And yes, politics is that ruthless.

I think at this point Gov. Wolfe has jumped the shark. What started as a reasonable response to a bad situation has morphed into tyranny. An increasing number of counties are declaring that they no longer will submit. This rebellion includes a lot of South-Central Pennsylvania including Dauphin County, where Harrisburg is located.

In answer to this development, the Governor has doubled down. He referred to counties and businesses threatening to open as “cowards” and “deserters”. He threatens to use weapons such as state licensure, access to federal funds, and business insurance as retaliation for this behavior. His words suggest he has no compassion for those who are struggling financially in these times.

To quote him: “in the end, the ultimate goal is to defeat this virus”. Except that we can’t defeat it by hiding. The goal should be to get through this pandemic with the least amount of medical and psychological morbidity, and economic damage.

At this point, we have all the tools for dealing with the pandemic. We wear our masks, wash our hands, and observe social distancing. We’ve been practicing for 2 months.

Governor Wolfe has a perverse concept of cowardice. He believes that a small business owner, who desperately needs to reopen to avoid insolvency is a coward. He considers that people who are in dire straits and are willing to face exposure to feed their families as cowards.

Meanwhile, Wolfe, and his vast state executive, are paid biweekly and doing fine, thank you.

Lockdown was sold to us as a temporary strategy for extraordinary circumstances. It has worked.

But now if we are to avoid economic devastation, it needs to end.