Ethicists try to call folks’ attention to morally significant factors they might otherwise be overlooking. It’s been near-impossible to do this w #COVID19 bc the only factor many want to consider is “Will this action lead to the possibility of one more COVID case in the world?”

There are many morally significant factors at play in our collective response to COVID. Sadly, the situation is beyond politicized so it’s impossible to call attn to those factors without looking like you’re picking a political side.

I saw my husband try and assuage one of our friend’s fear of COVID. She replied, “Why are you defending Trump?” To her — and to many liberals — the only reason to not buy into #COVIDpanic is because you’re an antiscience Trumper.

In fact, given the data we have, it seems more anti-science to live in fear of COVID and to support school closings.

Anyway. There were always many factors to consider with school closings, but sadly most of the loudest voices in those discussions only seemed to be asking hypotheticals about the possible risk of transmission to children.

Our efforts at fighting COVID should’ve been a lot more focused. We knew who vulnerable populations were. We should’ve found ways to keep them safe, while allowing everyone to largely carry on with their lives.

It’s going to be years before we see the lasting impact of not simply COVID, but of our response to the virus. I worry that the draconian, immoderate measures we’ve put in place might not have made things any better, and in some ways, made us worse off and less healthy.