Some day, in the not-too-distant future, there will come a time to look back on the coronavirus pandemic and our response to it to try to figure out what we did well that should be repeated, what we did wrong we should try to overcome.

The pandemic has revealed plenty of good things about this state and this country. Private businesses and individuals are willing to step up to help. Our industry is flexible, with some able to change quickly to meet emergent needs, like the automakers who made medical face masks, the liquor-makers who made hand sanitizer.

And, when you ask the public to stay home, to sacrifice for the greater good, most of them will.

But the virus and the business closures and “social distancing” mandates revealed plenty of weaknesses, too.

We lacked the capability — or the willingness — to ramp up testing quickly.

Many of our hospitals are not adequately staffed or supplied for a large-scale medical emergency, and it took too long to get needed supplies or set up temporary hospitals.

There’s no clear definition of what an “essential business” really is, what should be allowed to stay open during a crisis. The term is subjective.

Many of our governments were unprepared to continue the people’s business — from county boards and city councils to courthouses and even the Legislature — when boards can’t meet together in person. Many of our businesses, too, were unprepared to have their employees work from home.

Our schools weren’t ready to provide at-home instruction to all students when those kids couldn’t come to school.

When this is all over, we hope government at all levels — schools, local, state, and federal — and folks in the private sector, too, take time to look back and learn a few lessons that might apply in the next emergency.

(THE ALPENA NEWS)