Nationals and Coronavirus.

My colleagues in NY and New Orleans are getting murdered and other emergency departments across the country (including mine) are ghost towns. I am currently working half-time and we've cut the hours and pay and that has been repeated in at least dozens if not hundreds of ERs across the country. Kurt, why the drop in ER visits? Fewer car accidents? People afraid to go to a hospital because of having to be around others? Or... ? --Anna Lea

We all need to support each other rather than look for a place to put others down. Exactly why I was supporting the decision USMS made to cancel Nationals. We all need to look out for the best interest of everybody.

Kurt, why the drop in ER visits? Fewer car accidents? People afraid to go to a hospital because of having to be around others? Or... ?--Anna Lea As you may or may not know, a lot of ER visits are not emergencies. I don't complain (too much) because it's how I get paid. So much panic right now is scaring off my normal customers of "knee pain for six months but something really has to be done about it today" and "grandma isn't acting right (of course I haven't bothered to visit her for 8 months and therefore am uncertain what normal is for her)." Perhaps it will hit here in the next week and they'll will restaff back to normal.

Things change at such a rapid pace in this pandemic that what we are told is not the best advice in a few days. We all need to support each other rather than look for a place to put others down.

The decision to cancel nationals in response to the COVID-19 pandemic has been made and I believe everyone has had ample time to express opinions about this decision. Therefore this thread is closed. Please continue to follow updates from the Center for Disease Control, National Institutes of Health and your local and national news sources. Stay safe!

I'm going to start a Coronavirus thread in the non-swimming section. I think ways that that pandemic directly affect swimming options should still be discussed here. I also think it's important to freely discuss ramifications of the pandemic - and the measures used to quell it. Just not in the swimming forum.