Disasters in Slow Motion (pt. 11) - May 10, 2020

May 02 (23:06 GMT) - Actual Numbers
Worldwide Cases: 3,478,970
Worldwide Deaths: 244,481
Worldwide Mortality Rate: 7.02%
US Cases: 1,158,881
US Deaths: 67,293
US Mortality Rate: 5.8%
US Total Recovered: 160,668

May 10 (14:52 GMT) - Actual Numbers
Worldwide Cases: 4,132,953
Worldwide Deaths: 281,078
Worldwide Mortality Rate: 6.80%
US Cases: 1,349,605
US Deaths: 80,101
US Mortality Rate: 5.93%
US Total Recovered: 238,081

Well, looking at the numbers for starters there is something a bit disturbing going on. While the global mortality rate is coming down, the US mortality rate is going up. To be crystal clear, while it may be tempting to point a finger, the US mortality rate increase has nothing to do with things reopening in the past 10 days. with 7-14 days (average) prior to showing symptoms, we haven’t even seen the effect of reopening yet. We may start seeing a real spike in cases in the coming couple of weeks, but fatalities won’t follow that spiking trend for likely another 2-4 weeks after. Most people don’t become symptomatic and suddenly drop dead (although a friend of mine did lose his father in just that fashion - nothing, nothing, fever, dead in three hours).

I’m not going to hazard a guess about the increase in the US mortality rate but, on April 11th the US Mortality rate was 3.73%. So it has increased 2.2% in the past month. While the global rate has increased and decreased since then, the US mortality rate has only gone up. So, what about the pandemic itself? The news is better there (at least for the moment)

New Cases: 190,724
New Recoveries: 77,413 (40.58%)

So, as a nation we have had what I would call a significant improvement in reducing the rate of new cases versus recoveries. I just don’t know how long that is going to last. Putting aside for a moment the highly visible, but not overwhelming, number of Americans making threats and stupid statements about having to practice basic hygiene while wearing a mask things are still pretty stupid out there. Take Collier county - where we live - as an example.

Collier County took a vote on whether or not to re-open the beaches. The sole county commissioner voting against was warning that, with the beaches in Broward and Miami-Dade counties still closed, people would come racing from there to here. Normally this would be no issue but currently? Those counties are Florida’s Covid-19 hot-spots accounting for nearly half of Florida’s 40,001 cases.

So, what was yesterday’s news? An emergency re-closing of the beaches.

Sure enough, the beaches were PACKED, nobody was distancing, and a large portion of beachgoers were from Miami-Dade and Broward counties. What is the hoped for plan for the beaches? To reopen them again but to “limit hours” on weekends.

This, far more than idiots ranting online about no longer shopping at stores requiring masks, even more so than people wearing swastika face masks, shows the defining truth of America - Americans, as a people, are spoiled, pampered, and not all that bright. This glaring truth, clear to the rest of the world as they watch from a safe distance, is hammered home by every White House briefing, every unessential re-opening before we have a handle on things, and every time an entitled American threatens (or even kills) someone because of the slight inconvenience of being required to wear a mask.

A lot more people are going to die, and Americans as a while will not do a thing. We’ve seen this with other difficult issues (such as school shootings) - if something requires a thoughtful solution that isn’t easy? Americans aren’t interested in trying to find a solution. We as a nation just accept it as “normal” and move on. The moment we decided to accept schoolchildren being gunned down rather than attempting to work out a solution, we started down the self-destructive path upon which we now find ourselves.

80,000+ Americans are dead and there is no end in sight. I think it is time we consider re-captioning the Statue of Liberty to read “Abandon hope all ye who enter here”. Sure, the US isn’t a burning hellscape - but we’re doing our best as a nation to reduce ourselves back to that point so you’ll pardon me for not being filled with hopeful feelings right now.

The Governor of South Dakota is demanding that tribal reservations remove Covid-19 checkpoints within tribal lands.

Iowa’s Governor declares Iowa’s Covid-19 response a success. But...is it really?

Now, the one thing I’m not CURRENTLY upset by, is that idle ventilators are being sent abroad (and not just to Russia) to help other nations in crisis. I cannot take umbrage at helping others - as the richest nation on earth we should be doing do. I just worry that we’ll see a second wave and have our need for ventilators spike but, so far, we’ve been okay so all I can do is hope.

So, look at that, I guess I do still have “hope” of a fashion.