Flattening the Nation

Several categories of business will likely not come back if there is no readily available cure and/or demonstrably effective vaccine that is universally administered and that the public has absolute confidence will work. Dining out in restaurants is likely a thing of the past until Coronavirus is rendered harmless. The same is true for vacationing on a cruise or flying in a commercial airliner. Similarly, hotels, motels, and bed and breakfasts of all varieties are likely to see few guests. Casinos and theme parks are over too until a cure or proven vaccine emerges. Tourist destination towns (including my hometown Nashville) are likely to see few tourists. Spectator sports may go on, but without spectators, and if athletes are infected while competing, the sports will not go on until a cure is found. Movie theaters, concerts, plays, and just about any live performance will remain audience free until the public believes it is safe to be in a crowd. I do not know if our health measures have as yet flattened the curve of the virus, but the virus certainly has flattened the American economy and much of the rest of the world as well.