Harvard president tests positive for COVID-19: When you’re afraid that all we can do is not enough

The Daily Article

The president of Harvard University and his wife just announced that they have tested positive for COVID-19. Their statement highlights the fact that no one is immune to this disease.

As I write this Daily Article Special Edition, congressional and White House officials say they expect to reach a deal today on a nearly $2 trillion measure aimed at easing the economic damage from the coronavirus epidemic.

Negotiators are laboring in the shadow of what Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell calls “the most serious threat to Americans’ health in over a century and quite likely the greatest risk to America’s jobs and prosperity that we’ve seen since the Great Depression.”

We are facing an unprecedented challenge, at least in my lifetime. We are looking, therefore, for unprecedented responses from medical experts and national leaders.

Our fear is that this bill, massive though it will be, will not be enough.

Will it sustain our economy until we can all go back to work? How long will that be? What will be the permanent consequences of this crisis? What will “normal” look like, assuming we return to it?

If you’re afraid that all our resources are not enough to meet the challenges of our day, I have some good news for you.