In his March 19th online post, Thomas Pueyo coined the response to the coronavirus as hammer and a dance (see “Coronavirus: The Hammer and the Dance”). We are in the middle of the hammer phase and planning for the slow dance phase at HMS Countway.
Pueyo argues that in order to successfully respond to the virus, until treatment or adequate vaccine is implemented, countries need to fight back or ‘hammer’ the virus with physical distancing strategies. These include closing restaurants and bars, canceling social events, closing schools and daycares, etc. In Massachusetts, we are doing this and more (9 p.m. curfew in the city of Boston). If we do nothing, more people will get infected, the healthcare system will be overwhelmed and many more citizens will die. So, we must take the hammer and flatten the curve in order to make it more manageable and get the virus under control. Pueyo also argues there is value in this strategy as it buys us time. We at Countway are entering week 7 of working from home. Time is needed to develop better testing, purchase equipment for our healthcare system, get our factories up and running to produce the needed PPE equipment, etc. In the hammer approach, we act quickly and aggressively. HMS did this.
As we enter week 7 of working from home, we enter the long term effort of keeping this virus contained until there is a vaccine—this is the dance phase. What does this dance look like? During the dance, which is ongoing, unlike the hammer which is only weeks, we try to keep the infection rate low, we carry on proper testing, we continue to apply physical distancing techniques but lift some restrictions. The months in between the dance and the hammer and a vaccine will start slow, speed up, maybe slow down again, or even pause. Very much like a dance. This is the dance, a series of measures or steps between getting Countway back on track while making sure we do not spread the disease.
Since we are still in the hammer stage, the Countway Library Emergency Team is preparing for the dance. We are working closely with HMS’s Emergency Team, facilities groups, construction teams, and security to discuss a slow phased return to work strategy – which the university is calling SMART RESTART. It’s time for all of us to start thinking about the slow dance for Countway.
Elaine