It is very difficult to be optimistic...

[kentuck]

....if not impossible.

But, I do believe that we will see great progress against this virus within a couple more months.

I believe they will find a vaccine that will work against this novel coronavirus.

I believe we will be returning to some "normalcy" before the summer is over.

I believe it will change our lives forever, but in some ways, it will be for the better.

I believe we will survive this crisis and be stronger as a people and a community.

[CurtEastPoint]

1. Yep: it will change our lives forever, but in some ways, it will be for the better.

I think in many ways. I can't say why or how but it will have bright outcomes.

[MoonRiver]

2. I have heard that the environment is improving due to lack of human activity.

Of course, that will all end once we can leave our homes again. But at least for now, its a plus.

[Maeve]

3. Caught a line from Rev. Al Sharpton yesterday

"Don't serve the time; make the time serve you"--use the forced confinement to become better, don't let it make you bitter. You can't change the circumstances, but you can change how you respond to them.

I was in a store the other day and bought a rock that says "Hope"--it's now in a prominent place in my living room.

[beachbumbob]

4. Hope is always good but reality is what it is.

[kentuck]

5. None of us can really predict the future.

We hope for the best and plan for the worst.

[lark]

7. You, my dear sir, are an obvious optimist and I applaud that.

I am the opposite at this time and see a dystopian future forming where we are a full on fascist nation with no Medicare, Social Security, public schools, Medicaid, clean water, clean air, labor laws or birth control allowed. Drumpf and Russian Repugs are trying their best to use this as an excuse to steal all the workers money and resources and shift it to the rich, leaving us poor, sick and dying and with no recourse.

[dalton99a]

8. The Best Case:

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/20/opinion/sunday/coronavirus-outcomes.html

The Best Case

“The best case is that the virus mutates and actually dies out,” said Dr. Larry Brilliant, an epidemiologist who as a young doctor was part of the fight to eradicate smallpox. Brilliant was a consultant for the movie “Contagion,” in which a virus evolved to become more deadly, but that’s the exception. “Only in movies do viruses seem to become worse,” he explained.

Two other lethal coronaviruses, SARS and MERS, both petered out, and that is possible here. “My hope is that Covid-19 will not survive,” said Dr. Charles G. Prober, a professor at Stanford Medical School.

Several countries have shown that decisive action can turn the tide on Covid-19, at least for a time. China, astonishingly, on Thursday reported not a single new case of domestic transmission. While China is still vulnerable to a second wave, it has apparently shown that the virus can be squelched.

The West isn’t going to copy the coercive tactics of China, but Singapore, Taiwan, South Korea and Hong Kong have also demonstrated that, at least temporarily, the virus can be controlled.

Singapore and the other successful Asian models responded with the standard epidemiological tool kit: vigilance and rapid response, testing, isolating the sick, tracing contacts, quarantining those exposed, ensuring social distancing and providing reliable information. They did not shut down their entire countries, and Singapore managed to keep its schools open throughout.

“Singapore is a best-case scenario,” said Dr. Tom Frieden, a former director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. He said that there was some possibility that with social distancing and limits on gatherings, the United States could knock down the numbers of infections and begin to adopt Singapore-style strategies to reduce new infections.

“The most important lesson is that the virus can be contained if people are responsible and adhere to certain simple principles,” said Dr. Christopher Willis, a physician in Singapore. “Stay calm. For most people it’s like the common cold.”

Dr. Tom Inglesby, an expert on pandemics at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, said, “The fact that Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan, South Korea and China — and to some extent Japan — have all flattened their curves despite having the initial onslaught of cases should give us some hope that we can sort out what they’re doing well and emulate it.”