Five reasons for optimism amid pandemic

It's easy to find bad news on the coronavirus pandemic. You have to look for the optimism. So here are a few things to make you feel just a little bit better about the future with coronavirus.

Posted 7:42 p.m. Jul 22, 2020 — Updated 9:19 p.m. Jul 22, 2020

Travis Fain

, WRAL statehouse reporter

The idea for this, and some of the topics, absolutely came from this column, written by a Harvard University professor and published last week by The Washington Post. And if some of these entries seem like a stretch, well, hope's worth stretching for.

RALEIGH, N.C. — It’s easy to find bad news on the coronavirus pandemic. You have to look for the optimism.

So here are a few things to make you feel just a little bit better about the future with coronavirus.

No. 1: Science on the march

We’re getting better at treating this virus, especially when you consider we’ve known it existed for only about seven months.

Remdesivir, Dexamethasone – these drugs look like legitimate life-savers.

Researchers are injecting blood plasma into patients. They’re creating antibodies in labs. Quick, fast and cheap virus tests you can do on a paper strip in your own home are coming.

Researchers in North Carolina are studying whether a simple nasal rinse, with a little baby shampoo added, can keep the virus from moving en masse from your sinuses to your lungs, where the real damage gets done.

Scientists are studying whether the immune boost from fermented vegetables – like in sauerkraut and Kimchi – helps fight the virus.

There’s a lot of positive news from vaccine trials. It won’t be next month, it may not be this year, but we might be about to see the fastest vaccine created in human history.

No. 2: The economy

It’s not great. It’s propped up by federal stimulus and unemployment checks, but we’re a long ways away from the 20 percent unemployment fears economists had earlier this year.

Last month, North Carolina’s rate was 7.6 percent. Listen to North Carolina State University economist Mike Walden:

"We do appear to be moving ahead economically," Walden said this week. "We had a very good June jobs report for North Carolina.

"What I am telling people is, the virus will control our economic future," he said. "Because the virus is so unpredictable, by extension the economy is very unpredictable. However, without another massive shutdown of the economy – either by law or due to individual behavior – I think we are past the worst."

Keep an eye on Congress, which is considering another round of stimulus, including money to keep local governments from laying people off. They may also deal on unemployment. The extra $600 in federal unemployment benefits runs out at the end of this week.

As COVID-19 cases continue to surge in NC, residents and doctors urge others to wear face masks

No. 3: Masks

Masks are looking like a real weapon against transmission.

Sure, you see stories about people refusing to wear them, but those are the minority. We don’t need everyone to do it for this to work. Mathematicians and scientists at multiple universities say we need about 80 percent, and polls indicate we're moving closer to that, despite our divisions.

Even the president’s getting in on it, after his own fashion.

No. 4: Assisted living visits

After months on lockdown, North Carolinians in assisted living facilities can have visitors again, at least outdoors, and gather for meals.

There are still strict rules. Nursing homes, where residents need higher levels of care, still don't allow in-person visits.

But the change "is something to be grateful for," according to Lauren Zingraff, executive director for Friends of Residents in Long Term Care

"It's healing to be able to see someone that you love," she said.

Zingraff encourages people to reach out to a wider circle, not just family and close friends. Phone calls, emails and cards can go a long way.

"If you know of anyone that's in long-term care, or even if you know of a family member who has someone in long-term care, this is the time to reach out and see if there's anything you can do to support them," she said.

No. 5: This too shall pass

Modern life bombards you. It can feel like, if things don’t get better tomorrow, they never will.

They will.

There have been more deaths from COVID-19 in North Carolina than the past 10 years worth of flu deaths combined, and that number will go up.

But the percentage of people who get COVID-19 and have serious complications from it remains relatively small.

Bottom line: This pandemic is a marathon, and we're getting better at running it.

“The fact that schools are even considering various ways to reopen and that hospitals aren’t converting unused dormitories into massive new ICU capacity is a testament to some success in the early stages of the epidemic," said Aaron McKethan, senior policy fellow at the Margolis Center for Health Policy at Duke University,

"While we have a long way to go and the winds could easily shift in a much worse direction, we are by some measures in better shape than many other states at this stage," McKethan said.

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