This article was produced by the Independent Media Institute.
As the number of COVID-19 cases in Dallas skyrocketed, Lou Luckhardt worried about his colleagues and the public they serve.
Luckhardt, president of United Steelworkers (USW) Local 9487, needs disposable coveralls, coronavirus testing and other aid to protect the hundreds of city and county workers who perform essential public services.
<p>With local treasuries already stretched to the breaking point, he believes it's now up to the federal government to step in and provide resources to help slow the virus' spread.</p><p>But instead of lending the assistance that public servants across the country urgently need, Donald Trump offers a monumental failure of leadership. Burying his head in the sand, Trump's big plan involves wishing the virus away while leaving Americans, including Dallas' dedicated government workers, in ever-mounting peril.</p><script id="3d14008d7e044c36b256c61ff82728bb">
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</script><p>"For me personally, there's a certain fear of what might happen to my family and myself," said Luckhardt, a probation officer who has seen both co-workers and clients stricken by COVID-19.</p><p>"It's on your mind all the time," he explained. "You can't escape it."</p><p>Dallas workers first experienced shortages of personal protective equipment (PPE) when the pandemic struck in late winter—and some items remain in short supply.</p><div class="inarticle_ad_placeholder" data-aa-adunit="/5931858/NatMemo_RM/NatMemo_Middle_Desktop_2" data-aaad="true"></div><p>But in recent weeks, the state's <a href="https://www.star-telegram.com/news/politics-government/article243938747.html" target="_blank">easing of lockdown restrictions</a> and spiraling infection rates also created new challenges that Dallas and other communities will have difficulty addressing on their own because of budget shortfalls caused by the COVID-19 recession.</p><p>For example, Dallas workers want coronavirus tests to make sure they neither spread the virus to co-workers or the public nor bring it home to loved ones.</p><p><iframe __idm_frm__="1318" style="outline: none; margin-bottom: 0px; border-width: 0px; border-style: initial; max-width: none; overflow: hidden; width: 1px; height: 1px; vertical-align: bottom; box-sizing: border-box !important;"></iframe></p><p>And government facilities—especially smaller and older buildings scattered throughout the metropolitan area—require renovations to ensure the social distancing crucial to controlling the virus.</p><p>With local budgets decimated by the crisis—the city of Dallas already <a href="https://www.texastribune.org/2020/05/08/texas-dallas-coronavirus-furlough/" target="_blank">furloughed hundreds of workers</a>—only an infusion of federal money can pay for these and other measures that public servants need to protect themselves and the people they serve.</p><p>Yet Trump not only failed to channel existing stimulus funds to hard-hit areas like Dallas but also refused to use his clout to push an acceptable local government aid package through Congress.</p><p>It angers Luckhardt to know some stimulus funds, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/us-policy/2020/06/25/irs-stimulus-checks-dead-people-gao/" target="_blank">like the nearly $1.4 billion the Trump administration mistakenly mailed to about 1.1 million dead people</a>, were squandered while his workers need so much help.</p><p>But it wasn't just a shortage of money that left communities across the country vulnerable to the pandemic.</p><p>Trump's reckless conduct allowed Dallas—along with <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2020/06/30/coronavirus-live-updates-us/" target="_blank">large swaths of the South and West</a>—to become the COVID-19 hotspots they are right now.</p><p>Face <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/prevent-getting-sick/cloth-face-cover-guidance.html" target="_blank">masks</a> and <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/prevent-getting-sick/social-distancing.html" target="_blank">social distancing</a> play critical roles in controlling the spread of COVID-19. But many people across the country, including some in Texas, refused to follow those guidelines. Now, they're paying the price with soaring infection rates.</p><p>"This is a part of the country where it's warm, it's hot, and it's uncomfortable to wear a mask," Luckhardt explained. "And people don't like mandates."</p><p>Trump could have made a difference.</p><div class="inarticle_ad_placeholder" data-aa-adunit="/5931858/NatMemo_RM/NatMemo_Middle_Desktop_3" data-aaad="true"></div><p>Instead of insisting that people take the commonsense safety precautions recommended by his administration's own health experts, however, Trump emboldened mask opponents by <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/republican-leaders-now-say-everyone-should-wear-a-mask--even-as-trump-refuses-and-mocks-those-who-do/2020/06/30/995a32d0-bae9-11ea-80b9-40ece9a701dc_story.html" target="_blank">refusing to wear one himself</a>.</p><p>He even <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/05/26/politics/joe-biden-cnn-interview-trump-face-masks/index.html" target="_blank">ridiculed people</a> for putting them on.</p><p>"I think that significantly helped politicize things to the point where you were macho if you didn't wear one," said Luckhardt, who still sees people in the greater Dallas area walking around without them.</p><p>As if flouting mask guidelines weren't foolhardy enough, Trump's <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2020/06/12/cdc-warns-large-gatherings-315521" target="_blank">mass gatherings</a>—like his campaign rallies in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and Phoenix in June—signal that it's all right for Americans to assemble for parties and other events even though the virus spreads swiftly through large groups.</p><p>It was exactly that kind of community spread, <a href="https://www.star-telegram.com/news/politics-government/article243938747.html" target="_blank">especially through gatherings of people in bars</a>, that drove the dramatic COVID-19 surge throughout Texas. On June 30, Dallas County reported a <a href="https://www.nbcdfw.com/news/coronavirus/dallas-county-posts-worst-day-yet-with-601-new-covid-19-cases-20-deaths/2398369/" target="_blank">whopping 600 new cases</a> and 20 deaths in a single day.</p><p>Americans' refusal to follow mask and social distancing guidelines also contributed to <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2020/06/30/covid-cases-states-pausing-reopening-plans-list/3284513001/" target="_blank">fresh outbreaks</a> of COVID-19 in more than 20 other states, with the U.S. <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/07/01/health/us-coronavirus-wednesday/index.html" target="_blank">seeing more cases now than when the pandemic hit</a> months ago.</p><p>"This is the height of the summer, and we're having this kind of problem. It doesn't bode well for us in the fall," Luckhardt said, noting a wave of the flu could leave residents even more susceptible to the virus.</p><p>Trump's <a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/covid-19-test-trump-admin-failed-disaster-995930/" target="_blank">failure to roll out a comprehensive COVID-19 testing program</a> was one of the biggest blunders of his initial pandemic response.</p><p>And he learned nothing from his early mistakes.</p><p>He just decided to <a href="https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/504270-trump-admin-ending-support-for-7-texas-testing-sites-as-cases-spike-in" target="_blank">cut funding</a> to 13 COVID-19 testing sites in five states—<a href="https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:AyzLRE4BDZ0J:https://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/2020/06/26/5-federally-funded-coronavirus-testing-sites-in-texas-granted-extension-following-outcry-from-lawmakers/+&cd=2&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us" target="_blank">two of them in Dallas and five in other parts of Texas</a>—at a time people need them most. After Trump's own Republican allies protested this irresponsible decision, he agreed to extend the funding for some of the sites—but only for a mere two weeks.</p><p>"Now people are panicking to a certain point and want to get tested," Luckhardt said, citing the hours-long wait at one Dallas testing center.</p><p>Officials <a href="https://www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/texas/article/As-feds-ready-to-pull-support-for-testing-sites-15360900.php" target="_blank">vowed to keep some of the centers open</a> without federal support, but that will just mean dipping into already-depleted local treasuries or diverting money from other pandemic-related initiatives like contact tracing.</p><p>Right now, Luckhardt and his colleagues work in a constant state of anxiety, never knowing who among them might have the virus or get it from the public.</p><p>He still hopes the federal government will come through with money and other resources so workers can protect themselves while safely serving others.</p><p>And Luckhardt hopes the nation develops a "unity of purpose" that will prompt a greater number of Americans to wear masks, practice social distancing and take the other steps health officials recommend to combat COVID-19.</p><p>"If we can get more people to follow the directions, maybe that will help to turn this thing around," he said.</p><p><em><a href="https://independentmediainstitute.org/imi-articles/?author=Tom+Conway" target="_blank">Tom Conway</a><strong></strong> is the international president of the <a href="https://www.usw.org/" target="_blank">United Steelworkers Union (USW)</a>.</em></p><p><br/></p><p><em><br/></em></p>
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If you're still opposed to wearing a face mask in public, this column is for Very Special You.
I don't mean that sarcastically. One of us believes we're magically immune to this highly contagious virus, and it sure isn't me. I've never felt that special a day in my life. So, lucky you.
Except you probably aren't that lucky.
<p>I'm making a judgment on your news consumption when I say, perhaps you're unaware of the latest numbers of COVID-19 infections and deaths. We've all been busy.</p><p>I'm here to help. As of 12:14 p.m. EST on Thursday, July 2, these are the numbers in the U.S. as reported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more commonly called the CDC:</p><script id="3d14008d7e044c36b256c61ff82728bb">
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</script><p>— 2,679,230 cases of infection.</p><p>— 128, 024 deaths.</p><p>In the time it took you to read those figures, the numbers have gone up. Also on Thursday, July 2, the U.S. hit an all-time high of newly reported cases of infection, at over 40,000.</p><p>Across the country, public health experts cite the same reasons: Too many people are not staying home, and when they go out, they are refusing to wear face masks. They're also not keeping a safe distance of six feet from others.</p><div class="inarticle_ad_placeholder" data-aa-adunit="/5931858/NatMemo_RM/NatMemo_Middle_Desktop_2" data-aaad="true"></div><p>Let's acknowledge the obvious: We have a president who has refused to encourage his fellow Americans to wear face masks during this deadly pandemic. Just hours ago, CNN's Jim Acosta reported that President Donald Trump had this to say about the spike of cases in several states: "We are putting out that life because it's a bad life that we're talking about."</p><p>Read that out loud.</p><p>Lord help us.</p><p>Speaking of God, maybe you're one of those Christians who believes that you don't have to take any precautions because God will protect you from dying of COVID-19. I hear you. However, as Christians, let us consider this from Philippians 2:3: "But in humility, consider others as more important than yourselves."</p><p>I would never claim to know what Jesus would do, but I have a hard time believing he'd be knocking on the door to infect us with a potentially fatal virus. It's not his style.</p><p>Or, to quote a devout Christian I loved until the day she died, "If people want to die stupid, God'll let them."</p><p>Miss you, Mom.</p><p>Maybe my urging you to protect yourself and others from this virus is unpersuasive because you think it's hard to imagine anyone missing you if you were gone.</p><p>Good news: It's never too late to become loveable.</p><p>As long as you're upright, you get another chance to become the person you wanted to be before life crashed all around you. You could wear a mask, for example, and gain a reputation for telling the barefaced among us that you're wearing it to protect <em>them.</em></p><p>"Spread love and love will find you."</p><p>Mom again.</p><p>Maybe you've read this far, and you're still not convinced you need to wear a mask. Well, I'm here to warn you that things are changing pretty fast, and you're going to have to keep up. Even the governor of Texas just ordered face masks in all counties with 20 or more cases of COVID-19.</p><div class="inarticle_ad_placeholder" data-aa-adunit="/5931858/NatMemo_RM/NatMemo_Middle_Desktop_3" data-aaad="true"></div><p>Texas!</p><p>People are starting to take names, too. It's getting easier to trace the cause of outbreaks because those who are lucky enough to survive share names, and those who die leave behind grieving loved ones willing to talk. If you insist on parading around in public without a mask, your name is increasingly likely to be on people's tongues or the tombstone of a fresh grave.</p><p>Finally, no matter how much you think we don't have in common, I know this: You don't want to cause an innocent person's death, and you don't want to die gasping for air.</p><p>You've made your point, and it wasn't a good one. Wear a mask, and stay home if you can. Keep your distance from the cruelty of those who won't.</p><p>May we both live to disagree for many years to come.<em></em></p><p><em>Connie Schultz is a Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist and professional in residence at Kent State University's school of journalism. She is the author of two non-fiction books. Her new </em><em>novel is </em>The Daughters of Erietown<em>. To find out more about Connie Schultz (schultz.connie@gmail.com) and read her past columns, please visit the Creators Syndicate webpage at www.creators.com.</em></p>
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