Worcester Business Journal

wbjournal.com | November 23, 2020 | Worcester Business Journal 25 Remember what we learned in the pandemic's first phase V I E W P O I N T E D I T O R I A L C OVID-19 hit Massachusetts hard and fast in the spring, as we became one of the first states in the nation to have a major outbreak of the disease, as political leaders, the healthcare system and business community were still sorting out how to best respond to this largely unknown illness. Even aer the first surge of the virus spread across the country, the initial deadly surge le the Bay State ranking in the top seven states for coronavirus deaths, and the highest unemployment rate in the nation over the summer. It took a while to effective- ly mitigate its impact. Now, the second surge is hitting the nation full force – 1 million new cases were reported inside of just six days in November – and it seems inevitable Massachusetts will experience the same spikes being seen throughout the middle of the country. ank- fully, this time we have experience, and we cannot only take the steps to keep new cases in check and minimize the need for extensive business closings. e initial shutdown of the Massachusetts and national economies in March had a widespread fallout. e federal Paycheck Protection Program came to the rescue to mitigate the pain for 18,000 businesses in Central Massachusetts. Unfortunately, it seems unlikely a second federal economic relief package will be forthcoming until at least February, so businesses who will have to find another way to survive this second wave. For those who can do their work safely, it's a heavy dose of the current medicine: requiring masks and social distancing in the office, minimizing in-person interaction with customers, frequent clean- ing, etc. Customers and employees need to know you are committed to their safety. e economy doesn't have to come to a screeching halt again to effectively slow the virus; businesses just have to learn to operate in a disciplined manner. It starts with being smart and making your money where you can. Innovation and adaptability were key in the early phases of the pandemic, and that flexibility, combined with strict adherence, will be key in the next phase, too. Hospitals around Central Massachusetts have learned valuable lessons of the first phase as well. ey have stocked up on personal protective equip- ment, and evolved treatment regimens resulting in fewer deaths. UMass Memorial Health Care is again getting the DCU Center field hospital up and run- ning for less severe COVID patients, in order to keep intensive care units from being overwhelmed. e best way to keep the coronavirus' impact on the Central Massachusetts economy at a minimum is to keep the spread of the coronavirus at a minimum. In the early phases of the pandemic, this ran contrary to businesses' natural desire to be open and court customers and revenue. Now, nearly nine months af- ter that initial onslaught, we have learned a lot about how to operate while minimizing the risks. Yes, the cavalry is coming in the form of an effective vaccine, but that's not going to help us this winter. It's on all of us to stay disciplined to minimize the damage. The Worcester Business Journal welcomes letters to the editor and commentary submissions. Please send submissions to Brad Kane, editor, at bkane@wbjournal.com. A T H O U SA N D WO R D S B Y D O N L A N D G R E N is pandemic is about people T he announcement on Nov. 13 of the scheduled reopening of the UMass Memorial DCU Center Field Hospital gave me a deja vu moment: Here we go again. e truth is hospital and state leaders anticipated we would once again need the field hospital, but I was hopeful we would have turned the corner by now and be advancing toward the old normal. We are now in the process of recruiting caregivers to help staff the field hospital and to care for patients living with COVID-19 (if you would like to join the efforts at the field hospital visit www.umassmemorialresponds. com and apply). Massachusetts has lost 10,000 people to this virus and as of this writing more than 750 people are hospitalized. is war with COVID-19 is about people. e people who have succumbed to the virus, those who have beaten it back, and those currently struggling with this coronavirus. It is also about the people who feel their lives have not been touched in any way by the virus. Many of these people scoff at mask mandates and at crowd restrictions – some even refuse to believe this pandemic is real. e pandemic is about the people who have faithfully followed the advice and guidance of medical experts and scientists and are doing their best to protect themselves and the people they interact with daily. Over the past eight months, we have shared powerful stories of people and their personal battles with COVID-19. ere was the story about the UMass Memorial nurse practitioner who had not eaten dinner with his wife and kids for weeks because he was serving on a COVID-19 unit and wanted to protect them. I will never forget the story of the woman who was COVID-positive, gave birth and was only able to see her newborn aer spending more than a month in the intensive care unit. We told the story of a patient who spent more than two months in an ICU bed at our hospital. His discharge was roundly celebrated by our caregivers. Whether or not we are successful in preserving life and getting back to the old normal, where schools are open, weekend hockey games are a thing, and the Patriots have thousands of screaming fans urging them on at Gillette Stadium, is also about people and it always has been. It seems we have let our collective guards down and allowed the pandemic to creep into our lives once again. To be sure, the virus has never really le us completely, but we had momentum and the numbers were dwindling all across the state. We are now witnessing an upswing in the opposite direction. People must remember to do the things that helped us weather the first surge: wear a mask, wash your hands, practice social distancing and get a flu shot. How long we remain in the grips of COVID-19 depends on our willingness and patience to follow the rules. To keep businesses open and people working, we all have to make these sacrifices. Tony Berry is the senior director of media and public relations at UMass Memorial Health Care in Worcester. BY TONY BERRY Special to the Worcester Business Journal Tony Berry W W

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