What's normal in post-COVID world?
Apr. 10—Coronavirus has dominated our lives for more than a year now, but there is a growing sense that we're starting to return somewhat to normal.
However, the question for many is what does normal look like?
On Thursday, the Herald-Banner will explore that idea when it hosts a live video discussion, via the newspaper's Facebook page, with a panel of Greenville Mayor David Dreiling, Greenville Independent School District Superintendent Demetrus Liggins, real estate agent Kevin Sawatsky, Hunt Regional Medical Center President and CEO Richard Carter and Greenville City Manager Summer Spurlock.
The discussion will begin at 10 a.m. Thursday and will last about an hour.
"What we want to really focus on are about the lessons learned from the coronavirus pandemic, and how our community will respond," said Louis Amestoy, editor of the Herald-Banner, who will host and moderate the discussion. "Every member of this panel has been faced with having to pivot and react to the challenges faced by COVID-19 — as has our community — and we really want to understand what's next?"
The video will be available on both the Herald-Banner's Facebook page and website for on-demand viewing.
The video presentation will kick off a three-day project by the newspaper's reporting staff that will dive into the questions raised during the panel discussion.
From April 20-24, the newspaper's reporting staff will present a series of stories titled "Onward: Life in a post-COVID world."
"The question for all of us is COVID-19 really just going to go away, but will we be living with it for years to come?" Amestoy said.
The first part of the series, which will be written by veteran Herald-Banner reporter Brad Kellar, will debut on April 20 and focus on how public health and public safety will be dealing with the pandemic for years to come.
The second day of the series, which will run on April 22, will be written by reporter Travis Hairgrove and veteran Herald-Banner sports editor David Claybourn and will focus on the impact on schools, churches and sports.
The final installment will run on April 24 and will be written by Amestoy, who will focus on the economic and political toll that the virus has taken on the community.
"This will be the first of three major projects that we're working on here at Herald-Banner in the coming months," Amestoy said. "In late May, we're going to look at what the 2020 Census may reveal for Greenville and Hunt County because we fully expect a significant change in the community's demographics compared to 2010. What does that mean for our schools, civic institutions and businesses?"
