PERSPECTIVE FROM THE 19^TH HOLE: This is the title I chose for my personal blog, which is meant to give me an outlet for one of my favorite crafts – writing – plus to use an image from my favorite sport, golf. Out of college, my first job was as a reporter for the Daily Astorian in Astoria, Oregon, and I went on from there to practice writing in all of my professional positions, including as press secretary in Washington, D.C. for a Democrat Congressman from Oregon, as an Oregon state government manager in Salem and Portland, as press secretary for Oregon’s last Republican governor (Vic Atiyeh), and as a private sector lobbyist. This blog also allows me to link another favorite pastime – politics and the art of developing public policy – to what I write.

As we stay at home, with a lot of time on our hands, it is easy to spend some of that time thinking about the pandemic.

• How did it start?
• Will I or my family be infected or affected?
• When, if at all, will life return to normal?
• What is the prediction for an effective vaccine?
• Will the economy be able to re-start and how quickly?

Normal questions for all of us.

For me, I have thought about a few issues in the pandemic as, fortunately, between golf games on a course that has remained open, I have had time on my hands. You’ll no doubt be glad to know that I may have more impressions, but, for now, here are a few.

NO RESPECTER OF PERSONS OR BORDERS: This is not a big, new thought, but consider the point for a moment.

The coronavirus honors no borders. Everyone is subject to contracting it. No block of persons or countries is immune.

COMMENT: So, this is truly is a world issue, more widespread than even, say World Wars I or II. And the reality argues for collective effort – world effort — to stall the virus, which no one country can handle on its own.

ABOUT THE PROTESTS: Relatively small protests have broken out in the United States in recent days against the restrictions designed to slow the spreading virus.

As Washington Post editorial writers said: “People have a right to protest, if they conduct themselves without endangering others. But leaders have an obligation to point out that the behavior the protesters are encouraging could reignite the virus and cost lives.

“The pursuit of liberty does not mean a license to endanger the lives of others.”

COMMENT: Another way to put it: If you are going to engage in civil disobedience, the consequences, if there are consequences, should fall on you, not your neighbors.

THE CRITICAL VARIABLE IN RE-OPENING: The Wall Street Journal carried this story earlier this week:

“Governments across Europe and in the U.S. say they have driven down a key variable to levels that suggest that the lockdowns that plunged their economies into the deep freeze are succeeding in containing the spread of the deadly new coronavirus.

“The variable measures the average number of other people each carrier of the new coronavirus infects. This infection ratio will be avidly watched as policy makers calibrate the task of rolling back measures that have kept hundreds of millions of people at home.

“If the reproduction ratio is below one, the epidemic peters out. The closer to one, the slower the decline, and the greater risk of a resurgence. If the ratio sticks above one, the epidemic will gather momentum. The good news is across Europe and in parts of the U.S. the ratio has fallen below one.”

COMMENT: Fascinating point. As tough as it will be to measure, it strikes me that this “critical variable” provides a credible basis for decisions about re-opening. Of course, more testing is also critical.

HEALTH AND THE ECONOMY: If we didn’t already know it, the coronavirus pandemic has shown that health vitality and economic vitality are inextricably linked.

Maintaining health is one obvious priority. But maintaining economic vitality is another, for, with a downturn, there can be an adverse effect on health, not just on the economy.

Look only so far as the current economic problems that are forcihng some hospitals, especially in rural areas, to the brink of collapse and some clinics to lay off hundreds of employees.

COMMENT: All I can say is that I would not want to be in a position where I had to make decisions about what to do next. Another way of saying this is that I am willing to give political leaders – those who are trying to be honest and forthright as they make decisions (which, I add, removes Donald Trump from the equation) – some room to operate.

No matter the decision, the results will be opposed by someone or by some group. For one thing, there is no right answer…just a series of options.

PROSPECTS FOR A VIRUS VACCINE: Oregon Public Broadcasting (OPB) showed up this week with a solid piece of journalism, better than I have seen anywhere else. These were the first paragraphs in a story on prospects for a vaccine.

“When any new and dangerous infectious disease comes on the scene, there’s an immediate and concerted push to develop a vaccine. For COVID-19, federal health officials have said we will have a vaccine in 12-18 months. \

“Just last week, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Dr. Anthony Fauci told CBS, there have been “no glitches” in the process and that it’s “possible to shave a couple months off that.”

“But this timeline is optimistic – perhaps exceedingly so. The reasons have to do with the complexities of vaccine testing, development and production.

COMMENT: The key to surviving the virus is to come up with a vaccine and, with Fauci, I hope the clinical trial regime can be shorter than normal.

Go on line at opb.org to get solid information on this issue.