{"id":35779,"date":"2020-04-21T20:47:49","date_gmt":"2020-04-22T03:47:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pocketwisdominsights.com\/pwicolab\/?p=35779"},"modified":"2020-06-25T12:46:38","modified_gmt":"2020-06-25T19:46:38","slug":"ovrcmng-fr-rtrnng-to-wrk","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pocketwisdominsights.com\/pwicolab\/emod-blog\/third-party\/ovrcmng-fr-rtrnng-to-wrk\/","title":{"rendered":"Overcoming Fear and Returning to Work"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Opening Insights: Reopen the Country<\/h2>\n

We cannot let the cure be worse than the problem itself.
<\/em>DONALD TRUMP<\/p>\n

The United States faces an event of historical proportions with the outbreak of the coronavirus<\/em> which causes the COVID-19 disease<\/a>. As a result of the coronavirus and COVID-19 challenge facing nations across the world a real state of fear has taken hold. <\/p>\n

The following article was published by The Washington Post, \"a major American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C.\" It was written by Ashley Parker, White House reporter for MSNBC and The Washington Post.<\/p>\n

Informational Insights: Can We Ever Go Back?<\/h2>\n
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Danny Meyer \u2014 restaurateur and founder of Shake Shack \u2014 said that he is already envisioning the changes he will make when he finally gets the green light to reopen his restaurant empire. Kitchen employees will have to wear masks and not only have their temperature taken but also look their manager in the eye and verbally confirm they are feeling healthy.<\/p>\n

He is imagining other tweaks, too, to help reassure guests \u2014 from maitre d\u2019s with laser thermometers to a coat check overhaul to a more European-style payment system that doesn\u2019t require handing a credit card to the server.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe two things I\u2019m thinking about more than anything are, \u2018How do we overcome fear?\u2019 and \u2018How do we provide love?\u2019\u2009\u201d said Meyer, who is also the chief executive of Union Square Hospitality Group, whose restaurants include Gramercy Tavern and Maialino in New York. \u201cAnybody who thinks that the human emotion of fear resides with any kind of government decree is just entirely missing the boat.\u201d <\/p>\n

Last week, President Trump released a set of guidelines for beginning to reopen the country amid the novel coronavirus pandemic. But what Trump says won\u2019t much matter if skittish elected leaders, business owners and customers don\u2019t trust that they will be safe returning to their daily lives \u2014 and at the moment, most Americans don\u2019t have that confidence.<\/p>\n

In a poll released Thursday by the Pew Research Center, three-quarters of U.S. adults said the worst is yet to come with the coronavirus and two-thirds were worried that restrictions would be lifted too soon. And findings released Friday by the University of Michigan\u2019s influential monthly consumer survey found that 61 percent were most concerned by the threat to their health from the virus, over isolation and financial impact.<\/p>\n

The dilemma is exacerbated by a president with credibility problems, as well as a nationwide testing shortage and the improbability of a vaccine anytime soon.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been saying over and over to businesses: \u2018What are you doing to make people comfortable to show up?\u2019 Because ultimately all the governors and Trump can say, \u2018Yeah, you can go,\u2019 but I think people will still be very cautious,\u201d said Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.).<\/p>\n

Referring to the more than 1 million jobs in his state tied to tourism, Scott added: \u201cHow are we going to make all these people feel comfortable coming back?\u201d<\/p>\n

Indeed, more than any edict from a leader \u2014 from the president to the nation\u2019s governors to local mayors \u2014 people must feel confident returning to their pre-coronavirus existence before the economy can truly recover, according to many politicians, business leaders and consumer experts.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe full restoration of consumer confidence will be more difficult and will take longer to complete than following any other recession since the Great Depression,\u201d Richard Curtin, director of Michigan\u2019s Institute for Social Research, wrote in Friday\u2019s report <\/a>on the hurdles to economic recovery. \u201cResidual fears of exposure to some virus may still limit people\u2019s willingness to be in crowds at sport stadiums, theaters, airplanes, cruises, large shopping malls, or even shake hands at the workplace or social events.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cass Sunstein, a professor at Harvard Law School and a former adviser to President Barack Obama, said people\u2019s behavior will hinge in part on how trustworthy they view the leader offering the guidance.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf the governor seems to be credible on the health topic,\u201d Sunstein said, people are far more likely to be reassured \u201cthan if the governor seems to be responding to political pressure or seems to be scared of something.\u201d<\/p>\n

But, he added, community signals will also be crucial. \u201cWhat do people see people like them doing?\u201d Sunstein asked. \u201cIf people see everyone else staying home, they tend to think that\u2019s the right thing to do, and they see everyone going out, they tend to think, \u2018Well, I should go out, too.\u2019\u2009\u201d<\/p>\n

During a conference call with Trump on Wednesday, business executives stressed the need for widespread testing<\/a>, saying it would help reassure people they were safe to return to work. The administration has repeatedly fumbled in its attempts to make testing more available \u2014 with just 1 percent of Americans monitored so far \u2014 and Trump last week said the task was now up to the states.<\/p>\n

On an earnings call the same day as Trump\u2019s call, Goldman Sachs chief executive David Solomon said, \u201cUnless people feel safe and secure and confident around the virus, the economic impact will continue in some way, shape or form.\u201d And Business Roundtable President Joshua Bolten told CNBC<\/a> on Thursday that safety measures and consumer trust are inextricably bound.<\/p>\n

\u201cBecause if people don\u2019t have confidence that it\u2019s safe to go out and go to your job or go to a store, they\u2019re just not going to go regardless of what the government says,\u201d Bolton said.<\/p>\n

Dayton, Ohio, Mayor Nan Whaley, a Democrat, said she expects coming out of coronavirus social distancing measures to be \u201ca completely different ballgame \u2014 if there\u2019s a ballgame at all.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you don\u2019t have the PPE and the confidence in testing, I don\u2019t see how people will start to move around,\u201d Whaley said, referring to personal protective equipment. \u201cIt\u2019s all dependent on how competent the leadership part of it is, how much PPE and how much testing there is, and that is the X factor.\u201d<\/p>\n

Trump, who for weeks played down the threat of the coronavirus, has repeatedly cast himself as a \u201ccheerleader\u201d for the country. \u201cWell, this is really easy to be negative about,\u201d he said during a news conference at the end of March. \u201cBut I want to give people hope, too.\u201d<\/p>\n

On Thursday, Trump seemed reluctant to the accept the shifting reality of the coronavirus pandemic. He rejected the notion that the \u201cnew normal\u201d now may include, for instance, restaurants or sporting arenas deliberately kept to limited capacity.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s not going to be normal,\u201d Trump said. \u201cOur normal is if you have 100,000 people in an Alabama football game \u2014 or 110,000, to be exact \u2014 we want 110,000 people there. We want every seat occupied. Normal is not going to be where you have a game with 50,000 people.\u201d<\/p>\n

The United States has come back from catastrophe before. Ari Fleischer, President George W. Bush\u2019s press secretary at the time of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, remembers one of Bush\u2019s economic advisers turning to Bush several days after the attacks and saying: \u201cThe good news is the planes are back in the sky. The bad news is no one is on them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fleischer said Bush made a point of making grand gestures to reassure the nation it was safe to continue their everyday lives. In October 2001, for instance, Bush spoke at the reopening of Reagan Washington National Airport, the last airport to open after the attacks.<\/p>\n

The next month, Bush threw out the first pitch of Game 3 of the World Series at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx \u2014 a perfect strike. \u201cThe crowed went nuts cheering \u2018USA! USA!\u2019 and that to me was the defining moment when America roared, \u2018We\u2019re back,\u2019\u2009\u201d Fleischer said. \u201cIt just felt cathartic, and it helped people resume their lives.\u201d<\/p>\n

Publicly symbolic acts of reassurance are more difficult amid a global contagion that requires social distancing. But on Saturday, Vice President Pence traveled to Colorado to attend the Air Force Academy\u2019s graduation, and White House aides have begun preliminary discussions about where Trump might visit in the coming weeks, all while abiding by public health best practices.<\/p>\n

Trump also made a point of organizing faith-based and sports advisory councils for the pandemic because he understands those communities form an essential part of the fabric of society, a White House official said.<\/p>\n

\u201cDespite Democrats\u2019 and the media\u2019s coordinated efforts to criticize this president for providing hope and direction throughout this pandemic, it was President Trump who has delivered a message of comfort, unity and strength while taking bold actions to save lives and set this great country on a data-driven, safe path to begin to reopen soon,\u201d White House spokesman Judd Deere said.<\/p>\n

But Trump \u2014 an unpopular president known for his mistruths and misstatements \u2014 faces a daunting task convincing at least some of the public that he can be trusted in his public health pronouncements.<\/p>\n

\u201cBased on his credibility and past history, I would not believe him,\u201d said Mark Holmes, 58, who lives in Orlando and considers himself politically independent. \u201cI would believe scientific experts.\u201d<\/p>\n

Holmes likened his personal comfort level to New Year\u2019s Eve considerations: He knows he will behave safely but isn\u2019t sure everyone else won\u2019t drink and drive \u2014 or, in this case, take proper health precautions.<\/p>\n

Absent widespread testing or, better yet, a coronavirus vaccine, Holmes said he would feel more confident knowing that at least the other people around him have been tested. \u201cThis sounds really weird, but you\u2019d have to have some kind of name badge or card that says, \u2018I\u2019ve been tested, and I\u2019m not positive,\u2019\u2009\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Businesses, for their part, are trying to assuage this sense of anxiety. Equinox, the high-end fitness chain, has convened its own task force focused on working with medical experts to come up with a public health plan that it says goes beyond the mandatory requirements for health organizations.<\/p>\n

\u201cBefore we closed our clubs we introduced enhanced cleaning and disinfecting procedures, and for reopening, we are taking even further steps to extensively research and implement safety precautions that limit contact and take our top-rated cleaning protocols to the highest level,\u201d Harvey Spevak, Equinox Group\u2019s executive chairman, said in a statement.<\/p>\n

Gary Clift, owner of Clift Buick GMC in Adrian, Mich., is also working to overhaul his business model. \u201cI don\u2019t think you\u2019re just going to wake up on May 1 and just go back to your old style,\u201d he said. \u201cThe corona thing is going to be out there for a long time, and people are not just going to go back to how they do business.\u201d<\/p>\n

Clift said he initially had to lay off all of his sales staff but is now starting to rehire as he changes his dealership\u2019s approach. \u201cThe way we do service now is I call people up and say, \u2018Do you need an oil change? Okay, great, I\u2019ll come pick up your car, do the oil change and bring it back to you.\u2019\u2009\u201d<\/p>\n

Amid the changing pandemic mentality, Fleischer is cautiously optimistic that the nation may slowly revert to its previous rhythms.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere was a cancellation psychology around the country in March \u2014 if you\u2019re not canceling, there\u2019s something wrong with you,\u201d he said. \u201cI suspect in May or June there will be an opening psychology \u2014 so if you\u2019re not opening, what\u2019s wrong with you?\u201d<\/p>\n

ashley.parker@washpost.com<\/p>\n

Jeff Stein contributed to this report.<\/em><\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.msn.com\/en-us\/news\/us\/how-do-we-overcome-fear-americans-need-confidence-before-life-can-return-to-normal\/ar-BB12SrwK?ocid=spartanntp<\/a><\/cite><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

This article originally appeared on April 19, 2020 on THE WASHINGTON POST: <\/em>\u2018How do we overcome fear?\u2019: Americans need confidence before life can return to normal.<\/a><\/p>\n

This Article was republished on April 19, 2020 by MSN:<\/em> \u2018How do we overcome fear?\u2019: Americans need confidence before life can return to normal.<\/a><\/p>\n

Possibilities for Consideration: Control the Virus, Lose Our Freedom<\/h2>\n

There's no question that the COVID-19 disease is a dangerous problem, and we should all pitch in to do what we can to end its out-of-control spread, but what happens to us in the aftermath if freedom is destroyed in the process?<\/p>\n

Add Your Insight<\/h2>\n

Take a moment and examine\u2026<\/p>\n