The way things could have been

Day 1: The first case appears in the U.S.

The person who was diagnosed with the first case of COVID-19 was promptly quarantined and every single person they had been in contact with was located and is now in quarantine as well.

As a precautionary measure the government issued a mask mandate that every person capable is to wear a mask over their nose and mouth at any time outside their personal home. Anyone refusing must be able to provide documentation from a doctor or psychiatrist to prove that the physical or mental reasoning behind their refusal isn't a false attempt to use a disability to avoid the mandate. If a person is unable to medically prove the reason for refusal they face fines or some other reasonable form of consequence. As well as constant surveillance by a medical professional to track their contacts in case of asymptomatic transmission.

Many people attempted to get refusal slips signed but in the end physicians and psychiatrists alike turned away nearly every person at the door without giving them a moment to explain their refusal attempt, no one wanted to be responsible for the ignorant person willing to risk going mask free during such a contagion.

Day 30: Only 10 new cases have shown up due to the extremely tight precautions of both the medical fields and the government. All major employers provided everyone supplemental income and gave non-essential workers 60 days of paid leave. Essential and front line workers all saw increases in their pay as well as free healthcare for the entire year of 2020 for any incident COVID-19 related or not.

Every person in the country had a box delivered to their home or directly to their hands for those without housing containing food, water, and toiletries. Major companies like Walmart, Disney and Amazon each donated 2 billion dollars to the government to pay for medical PPE. Amazon and Walmart sent the boxes of provisions via drones in a massively impressive operation.

Day 60: Sadly there have been some loses of life to the pandemic however the vaccines are in final stages of development. Non-essential workers have returned to work in limited progression. Masks are still mandatory and unless you have an absolute need to be out and about people are still being asked to limit travel outside their state. However thankfully we have seen only 20 new cases in 30 days, with each case being tracked diligently to ensure there is no further spread. Children are still not going to return to in person learning until fall of 2021 to ensure their safety and the government has provided programs for children of parents who couldn't stay at home that provide childcare. Every person receives $500/week in unemployment if they are unable to return to work safely with simply a letter from their employer stating that the company is having them stay home for a set amount of time in order to protect their health and that of others.f

Day 90: The first vaccine has begun trials and will likely be distributed within the next month. First to receive the vaccine will be frontline workers and elderly, then children, then all remaining people. If someone wishes to refuse to get the vaccine as with the masks a reasonable accommodation form must be presented in order to be excused however most of the country is on board with this vaccine after seeing other countries be devastated due to improper handling of the viral spread.

Happy New Year!

The year of 2o20 flew by but thanks to the combined efforts of everyone from medical professionals, to government officials to the everyday citizen the cases of COVID-19 are down to a whopping 3 new cases since the vaccine was released. Those who did contract the virus had been vaccinated, so thankfully they did not suffer any major complications. Families are allowed to visit their elder members safely again and travel within the country has fairly returned to normal.

What a dream if that had been the year right? Honestly it's not too late for this current administration run with some of these ideas and same for the corporations. Heck maybe if we do these things even now we could stop seeing these ever increasing numbers of loss to this pandemic.