Obviously, we’re not “doing a great job” with the coronavirus.

Despite the president turning a daily press briefing into a nationally televised campaign for reelection, he isn’t really telling the whole truth now, is he? Fox News may mimic what he says, but other news outlets continue to report on a virus rampaging across America.

Athletic apparel companies are joining the fight against gross exaggerations about the virus being under control. No, it is not when Trump himself just extended the deadline until at least April 30 for the relaxing of social distancing and other safety measures.

Fanatics, the Pennsylvania company that makes official Major League Baseball jerseys, has asked MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred if it can pivot from contracted jersey production to making masks and surgical gowns for the hospitals in cities with the biggest shortages.

Although this might slow one of the largest revenue streams left during the already postponed baseball season, Manfred overwhelming supported what Fanatics is doing. And other companies are jumping in, like Bauer Hockey and Cascade Lacrosse, which manufacture faceguards for their players and now making plastic shields for health care workers.

These are among the dozens of examples of businesses lending a hand to what is quickly becoming the worst epidemic in history because it affects every walk of life and has basically made the world stand still. Even more than General Motors making ventilators critical to saving lives of coronavirus patients, it is the voluntary help that is most heartwarming.

If self-isolation and distancing are the keys to truly containing the spread of COVID 19, millions of people are buying in and living a lonely and frustrating existence. We are part of the eventual end.

We want our sports back, even if it’s just to watch the games on TV. And the only way that can happen is if the data shows fewer of us contracting the virus. So, kudos to companies like Fanatics and the Bauer-Cascade partnership that are stepping up on their own to help.

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