Giving Compass' Take:

• America could learn from other countries that are utilizing successful strategies for social distancing and reopening during COVID-19. 

• What are the outcomes for America if it reopens without an effective social distancing strategy? How are donors playing a role in the COVID-19 recovery? 

•  Learn how to prepare nonprofits for reopening. 

The United States is charging ahead with reopening. All 50 states are now moving to reopen their economies, even though only three meet basic criteria to do so safely. Coronavirus cases are rising in some states, yet public officials there are still choosing to open bars, restaurants, and more.

Meanwhile, Canada is trying out a much more modest experiment in easing social distancing. Based on early data, it seems to be working out.

So, lately, some Canadian provinces have begun allowing people to form “double bubbles.” That means two households can now make a pact to hang out with — and even hug — each other, so long as they agree to stay distanced from everyone else. The hope is that doubling the family bubble will reduce isolation and its toll on mental health, while also helping with things like child care. This is meant to be an intermediate step before opening up further.

Canada borrowed the strategy from New Zealand, which used it to great effect before virtually eliminating the coronavirus. A few European countries, such as Germany, have also tried it before progressing to more drastic reopening measures.

Now that more than two weeks have passed since some provinces allowed people to double-bubble, we can expect that any resultant rise in daily new cases would be showing up in the data. But the data show no such rise.

Some American experts, meanwhile, sounded a note of frustration that the US is adopting a more aggressive approach in its rush to return to normal. There are many gradations in between total shutdown and wholesale reopening, and although the US is adopting a phased approach to reopening, it seems to be leapfrogging over some of the more modest gradations — like the double bubble. Rather than telling people they can link up with one other household, some states are telling them they can go to bars, where they’ll come into contact with far more people.

Read the full article about learning from others during a pandemic by Sigal Samuel at Vox.