The media wants you to panic. No surprise there; that’s how they sell television time and newspapers. More importantly in this age of liberal media bias, they want you to distrust everything the Trump administration is doing to revive our economy.

It’s no secret and no surprise that the number of corona virus infections is rising. As testing becomes widespread, more cases of infection will naturally be identified. The real question is whether or not the number of infections is leading to more hospitalizations that may overwhelm the healthcare system. That was the initial concern that led to the shutdown.

But the response to this threat has successfully met the challenge of providing additional personal protective equipment (PPE) and sufficient ventilators to meet the demand. There is no reason any longer to believe the pandemic will overwhelm our system. Therefore, reopening our economy is vital to the interests of our nation and the welfare of all its citizens.

A strong case can be made that more infections means more development of “herd immunity”, which protects the most vulnerable from the virus. As more and more healthier Americans become infected and experience mild or no symptoms, they develop antibodies that protect them from future infections. This is the next best thing to vaccines and lowers the risk for others.

How accurate are the media accounts of a “second wave?”

Vice President Mike Spence is chairman of the White House Corona Virus Task Force and his Op-ed in The Wall Street Journal gives important perspective. Here are statistics he provides:

• More than half of states are seeing cases decline or remain stable
• Every state, territory and major metropolitan area, (with 3 exceptions) have positive test rates below 10%.
• Less than 6% of Americans tested each week are positive
• Daily average case rates nationwide have fallen from 30,000 in April, to 25,000 in May to 20,000 in June.
• Daily deaths down to less than 750, dramatically down from 2,500 a few weeks ago
• Daily testing is now 500,000 per day; more than 23 million in total.
• Strategic National Stockpile now has 30,000 ventilators; no one in America has ever been denied a ventilator who needed one.
• PPE has increased by billions since March when there were fears of shortages

Pence explains the situation: “The media has tried to scare the American people every step of the way, and these grim predictions of a second wave are no different. The truth is, whatever the media say, our whole-of-America approach has been a success. We’ve slowed the spread, we’ve cared for the most vulnerable, we’ve saved lives, and we’ve created a solid foundation for whatever challenges we may face in the future. That’s a cause for celebration, not the media’s fear mongering.”

The costs of the shutdown have been profound, as I have written earlier (Corona Virus: The High Cost of the Shutdown.) This is no time to be pushing for a return to the shutdown that decimated our economy. The risks of the virus are still with us, but the healthcare system is well-prepared now to handle the challenge and the American people are more than ready for the reopening.