Of everything that is disturbing about the COVID-19 epidemic, it is the lack of firm and courageous community leadership that disturbs me as much as anything.
What does leadership look like in the face of so many unknowns? It looks a lot like New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo confronting greedy hand-sanitizer vendors and quickly establishing a “containment area” around New Rochelle, N.Y. It looks like the administrations of Smith, Amherst, Harvard and other institutions simply saying no to business as usual, and making it not-just-possible, but mandatory, for students and teachers to work remotely.
Leadership does not look like the unions that are failing to demand immediate remote working options, expanded sick time and workplace protective gear for their members. It does not look like the insurance companies that require clinical and social service staff to meet face-to-face with clients and patients in order to qualify for reimbursements. It does not look like area employers who insist that flu remains more dangerous than coronavirus, and that employees should therefore get a flu shot, wash their hands, avoid customers who cough and report to a doctor if they are not well. That is not just lame leadership . . . it is negligence.
Just as disturbing, however, are the leaders of our community colleges and our flagship university who dither and complain about how “fluid” the situation is – when the only fluidity they should be worried about is the flood that is threatening us all.
Wesley Blixt
Greenfield