Disasters in Slow Motion

  There comes a point in a slow moving disaster when things suddenly pick up speed, when the hurricane touches down. I’m afraid we may have hit that point without even knowing it in the past week.    A state health official in Ohio estimates as many as 100,000 people in the state may be infected. If correct, this would be a staggering addition to the numbers - although good in that it would greatly reduce the current mortality number. Now, Ohio has only five confirmed cases with 52 people under investigation and 333 under health supervision so, how could that estimate possibly be that high?   Well, it seems that, while we have been talking about fake numbers coming out of China, the real fake numbers are coming out of the US - due to lack of testing. A s of two days ago, only 11,079 samples had been tested - yeah I’ll let that sink in. The US currently knows of 1,873 cases, out of a mere 11,079 tests conducted. People showing symptoms cannot even get ...

  So, it has been a week since part 1, and a few things of interest have happened. Known, worldwide cases of Covid-19 have crossed the 100,000 mark to hit 102,048 (up from 86,604). Known, worldwide deaths continue to rise (3,494) putting the fatality rate at about 3.5%. Over half of known cases (57,609) have recovered. So, these are mostly good things. Despite Covid-19 popping up all over the US like some viral Jack-in-the-box, it hasn’t had a massive increase in the speed at which it is spreading. But, I noticed something else, something that I find VERY troubling.   The US has had 320 cases, and 15 deaths, giving the US a mortality rate of 4.6%. This is in line with the mortality rate in Italy of 4.3%. So, I think that we are seeing some suspect numbers coming from some places overseas - such as China and Iran, that are making things look not as bad as they really are. That means that we don’t have the whole picture...and that picture could be really ugly (or not)...

  So, a single hospital in California has 124 healthcare workers in quarantine, Washington state has had its first death already, and the Coronavirus/COVID-19 is spreading. Enough is happening that everyone should have at least sat up and taken notice by now. Jen reminded me today why this is hitting our mindset the way it is. As Floridians, we are used to watching disasters unfold in slow motion - every single hurricane season. We see it coming, we have time to stock up on things, put up our shutters, and brace for impact. This is no different.   I'll admit, this one has me worried (and not just because it hits men in their 50s and older the hardest). But it isn't that I think that we are looking at something like the Spanish Flu, and I'm not fearing I'll end up as a servant of Randall Flagg, but the potential for real economic upheaval exists for the majority of Americans if things continue to spread and quarantines begin to increase.   I think that, m...

 With Facebook turning off the notes feature in a couple of days, I'm migrating over here to keep these posts going. I will continue to link to verifiable sources so as not to be just "some guy on the internet".