SUNDAY ISSUE: VIEWS ON VIRUS’S EFFECT ON STATE, NATION, WORLD
SUNDAY ISSUE: VIEWS ON VIRUS’S EFFECT ON STATE, NATION, WORLD

Opinion: Voices on coronavirus pandemic

Customers lined up over the length of a football field at Sam's Club located at 2901 Clairmont Rd in DeKalb County on Friday, April3, 2020. Chamblee police had an officer on site to monitor the crowd which was being let into the store in lower numbers to retain social distancing. JOHN SPINK/JSPINK@AJC.COM

Credit: JOHN SPINK / AJC

Credit: JOHN SPINK / AJC

Customers lined up over the length of a football field at Sam's Club located at 2901 Clairmont Rd in DeKalb County on Friday, April3, 2020. Chamblee police had an officer on site to monitor the crowd which was being let into the store in lower numbers to retain social distancing. JOHN SPINK/JSPINK@AJC.COM
By Andre Jackson
April 5, 2020

Today, as part of our role in facilitating a civil exchange of ideas around key issues on our pages, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution presents insights from local leaders who offer their views on the ongoing effects of the coronavirus pandemic.

Now-retired longtime U.S. Senator Johnny Isakson writes about the recently passed $2 trillion federal package of aid for people and businesses hammered by the economic onslaught of COVID-19.

Explore» Opinion: Details critical in dispersing COVID-19 aid money

Georgia Tech's Joseph R. Bankoff offers a global opinion on the fight to contain the virus and what tactics he believes might best be employed in that fight.

Explore» Opinion: What if we treated COVID-19 like an alien invasion?

And an Alpharetta City Council member recounts that city's heart-wrenching effort to restrict business activity in an effort to help quell the virus' spread.

He also calls on all Americans to set aside political differences and join in the fight.

Explore» Opinion: A time when all should pull together

About the Author

Andre Jackson is editorial editor of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution in April 2009. He oversees the newspaper’s thought leadership expressed via its opinion pages.

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In this photo from 1997, then-U.S. Sen. Max Cleland, D-Ga. (in wheelchair), and fellow senators (left to right) Bob Kerrey, D-Neb.; John McCain, R-Ariz.; Charles Hagel, R-Neb.; John Kerry, D-Mass.; and Chuck Robb, D-Va. walk along the Vietnam Veterans Memorial wall behind the wreath they would lay to commemorate the 15th anniversary of groundbreaking for the memorial. All six senators served in Vietnam, and Cleland lost both legs and an arm in that war. (Rick McKay/Washington Bureau)

Credit: Rick McKay

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In this photo from 1997, then-U.S. Sen. Max Cleland, D-Ga. (in wheelchair), and fellow senators (left to right) Bob Kerrey, D-Neb.; John McCain, R-Ariz.; Charles Hagel, R-Neb.; John Kerry, D-Mass.; and Chuck Robb, D-Va. walk along the Vietnam Veterans Memorial wall behind the wreath they would lay to commemorate the 15th anniversary of groundbreaking for the memorial. All six senators served in Vietnam, and Cleland lost both legs and an arm in that war. (Rick McKay/Washington Bureau)

Credit: Rick McKay

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Passengers wait at a Delta check-in counter at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport on Friday, Nov. 7, 2025. It was the first day the Federal Aviation Administration cut flight capacity at airports during the government shutdown. (Arvin Temkar/AJC)

Credit: arvin.temkar@ajc.com

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