If there was ever a case where the cure was worse than the disease, the response to the COVID-19 pandemic is surely it.
The actual fatality rate for the virus, for persons not suffering from co-morbidities, is less than one percent. The fatality rate for those being denied proven-effective early treatment or being subjected to questionable procedures like untested vaccines is yet to be determined, but could very well be higher.
Even worse is the incalculable cost of the economic and emotional devastation caused by the overreaction to this variant of the common flu: jobs lost, businesses destroyed, loved ones dying alone, loved ones killing themselves in desperation, respiratory illnesses resulting from the dutiful wearing of useless masks, etc.
And now there’s the added worry for the struggling businesses that have managed to survive being hit with lawsuits if they don’t reopen in just the right way, however that may be dictated by public officials who seem to be making things up as they go along.
The “Safe to Work Act” that John Cornyn introduced in the U.S. Senate last summer was a step in the right direction. “The cost of litigation could make the difference between survival or demise,” Cornyn observed at the time, and he was right.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and our state legislature can also facilitate reopening with sensible measures to protect businesses from predatory litigation.
In his “State of the State” address, Abbott called on lawmakers to draft a bill providing civil liability protection for businesses and healthcare facilities operating safely.
“There’s far more to do to help businesses and their employees,” Abbott declared, emphasizing that “they have gone above and beyond to open and operate safely. And yet, those same businesses now face the crosshairs of lawsuits. Texas businesses that have acted in good faith shouldn’t have their livelihoods destroyed by frivolous lawsuits.”
Let’s make sure that they don’t. Let your legislators know that you want them to get a civil liability protection bill to the governor as quickly as possible.