Periods of adversity have been a hallmark of human existence. Wars, natural disasters, and past pandemics have shown that our lifetimes are rarely without challenge. Yet it is in those challenges that we define our humanity. Such is the case with the COVID-19 pandemic. With so many unpredictable variables, these uncharted waters are being navigated literally hour by hour. A true damned if you do and damned if you don’t scenario for our leaders.

How do we respond to this threat? At present, we are trying to mitigate the effects of this contagion on billions of people while at the same time trying to prevent a self-induced global economic collapse. In the United States, we have partially shuttered the greatest economy in the world.