As of May 2, 32 U.S. states and 5 Canadian provinces (https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/reopening-canada-provinces-ontario-quebec-saskatchewan-alberta) have announced plans to reopen businesses on a phased basis. Each state and province has developed back to work guidelines to manage the process. These actions are being taken even though Covid-19 is a very contagious virus with 1.1 million reported cases and 65,000 deaths in the US and 55,000 cases and almost 3400 deaths in Canada. Currently there is no cure and a cure is at least a year or more away.

Government Health Care Guidelines

While there are various sets of guidelines that have been published, those developed by New York State and by the Province of Ontario (https://www.ontario.ca/page/resources-prevent-covid-19-workplace?_ga=2.258615434.1461890914.1588269926-1610310933.1584035138 ) are particularly thoughtful and will be referred to in this blog. The NY state document stipulates that to open their economy, hospital and ICU capacity should not exceed 70%. Moreover, the rate of transmissions should be less than 1.1 (i.e. one person infects less than 1.1 people). Adhering to these guidelines will limit the possibility of hospitals being overwhelmed by a surge of new cases. The CDC (Centre for Disease Control) in the United States suggests that there should be a 14-day decline in Covid-19 hospitalizations immediately preceding the lifting of restrictions. Should the number of infections begin to escalate, restrictions should be put back in place. Note that some states are lifting restrictions while infections are rising.

The NY state plan stipulates that a testing regimen should be activated with a daily objective of 30 tests per 1000 people. There should also be a satisfactory number of testing sites in each location; there should be an immediate turnaround on testing results to limit the spread. New York State suggests that an advertising program be created to educate the public about the need and the process of being tested.

As we watch the Covid-19 pandemic unfold, in real time, on our television and computer screens, we are observing major weaknesses in many of our essential institutions. Despite the warning from China at the beginning of this year, North Americans were unprepared for this pandemic. Before it even began, pandemic readiness work triggered by HIV and SARS epidemics had already been abandoned or scaled back for political rather than health concerns, leaving all of us vulnerable. Then there was a failure of the U.S. president to listen to the warning signals, to take responsibility for this crisis, to activate policies to produce protective equipment, to implement a national stay at home policy, and to ensure there were adequate tests to identify those who have Covid-19 and those who do not.

Our health care systems were overwhelmed by a lack of planning and resources. Our grocery and household goods supply chains were not ready for the huge upswing in online shopping and for the surge in demand for many items.

The result of these failures is that the United States is now the epicenter of the virus. Canada is also being hit hard. The pandemic is forcing millions of Canadians and Americans, other than those designated as providing essential services, to say at home to help reduce the spread of Covid-19. This necessary policy is causing the ongoing shutdown of many businesses and a loss of millions of jobs. As outlined in this article in Foreign Policy (https://foreignpolicy.com/2020/04/09/unemployment-coronavirus-pandemic-normal-economy-is-never-coming-back/), the “normal economy is never coming back.”

We are already seeing significant changes in our everyday lives. Many of us are becoming proficient at meeting with our family, friends and colleagues via a video conference. This trend will likely become more prevalent in our business lives after the crisis. Many people are becoming more skilled at purchasing groceries and supplies online and are taking the opportunity to upgrade their abilities in banking from home, home schooling, personal fitness, hair cutting and in a variety of other areas.

These are amazing times, but this is not the first crisis that many of us have experienced. Having worked in the freight transportation industry for over 35 years, I have seen ice storms, snowstorms, SARS, mainframe crashes, tornados that have ripped the roof off buildings, the raiding of employees and customers and other challenging incidents. I have been the leader and observed other leaders guide their teams through these types of events. During this Coronavirus crisis, we have had the opportunity to observe the leaders of the U.S. government and medical emergency teams lead America through the epidemic. What are some lessons that we can all take from the events to date?

Lesson 1: Create and Maintain a Crisis Management Leader, Team and Plan

The White House had a pandemic team, but the leader left and was not replaced; the team was disbanded. These types of crises don’t happen every day; nevertheless, it is very helpful to have a leader, team and written plan for the major crises that can be anticipated. In certain parts of North America, one can anticipate a hurricane, tornado, ice storm or other type of natural or man-made disaster. The president reportedly ignored early warnings of the severity of the virus and grew angry at a CDC official who in February warned that an outbreak was inevitable.

Watching the Impeachment trial of President Donald J. Trump over the past two weeks has been a depressing experience. The trial essentially ended on January 31 when 51 Republican senators voted to not see any further witnesses or documents. This decision has huge implications for America and is another step on the downward descent that the country has been on over the past three years.

The most obvious impact of this trial is that it is a deadly blow to America’s systems of government and justice. For years, America has taken justifiable pride in its system of checks and balances. Most trials in the U.S. have witnesses, a presentation of documents and cross-examination so that the case of the prosecution and defense can be challenged in a fair and balanced way.

For Impeachment trials of senior government officials, including the president, America has rules with respect to the process of submitting evidence and which evidence can be exempted through executive privilege. For the first time in the history of Senate Impeachment trials, there were no witnesses and no submission of documents relevant to the case. When a key witness, with evidence directly relevant to this case, volunteered to come before the senate, he, along with other testimony and witnesses were blocked. The president claimed blanket executive privilege on all White House witnesses and documents.

By voting 51 to 49 for no witnesses and documents, the senate effectively gave the president a free hand in performing other dubious acts of this nature and in impeding the process of conducting a fair trial. Yesterday a key check and balance was removed, and America’s democracy and system of justice regressed. The reasons for this action are obvious.

For the past twenty-five years, I have lived the life of a road warrior. I have traveled to all parts of North America with one of my most important assets, my laptop computer. I have had my laptop stolen, damaged and most recently, taken, in error, by another passenger, as I was passing through Security at an airport. I have learned a few painful lessons along the way. I would like to share some of them with you.

Laptop computers are small, powerful but delicate information processing devices. They have become essential to people in a broad range of industries, organizations and government agencies. Their importance demands a level of respect and attention to detail. There are a set of tasks that every computer owner should perform if they haven’t been taken before.

Personalize your Computer

To distinguish your computer from the millions of laptop computers in use, affix a large sticker or photo to your device. As you look around the Lost and Found department at your local airport, there are dozens of laptop computers that have gone astray. Many computers look alike except for the name of the manufacturer. Since the number of manufacturers has contracted in recent years, there are many Dell and Apple devices in inventory. Make sure to differentiate your computer from the rest of the pack. This is the best thing you can do to avoid having someone pick up your computer by accident as you pass through Security.