The View from the Pandemic, Day 287

Forty-one weeks; can fifty-two be far off? I continue to wonder at times not just what day of the week it is but what month of the year. The Christmas tree reminds me that it is December until it is has been retired to the garage. I write so few checks that at least I won't have the "what year do I put in the date?" conundrum. 

Here's a statistic to think about. One in every 1,000 Americans has died of covid-19. The Census Bureau says that in this last week of December 20202 the population is some 330,750,000. There have been some 311,116 deaths. The math works. One in every 1,000 Americans has died of covid-19. In the early days of the pandemic, people seemed to have no problem with schools being moved to remote learning, assorted businesses being shuttered, and people staying home. How much worse are things now? Considerably. So why can't we accept the same strategies we accepted early on? Why am I even asking? I should know better.

A non-time conundrum: an 82-year-old covid-19 patient was sharing a hospital room with a 37-year-old patient. When the 82-year-old began to pray, the 37-year-old bludgeoned him to death with an oxygen tank. So, will the 82-year-old's death be counted as from covid-19? Here's another stumper. In April, an 86-year-old woman became disoriented and grabbed another patient's IV stand for support. The other patient pushed her back for violating social distance protocols and the elderly patient died. One more death that could fit into one of two boxes. 

The Virginia new case numbers have rebounded from the Christmas Day low. Situation normal except for the percent positivity of 12.2. The last time the percent positivity was 12.2, it was May 26 and reopening was still more of a concept than a practice. 

So, not a very long post today. I could stretch it out by relating the story of the exploding coffee carafe, but I'll save that for a day on which I don't start writing until 7:00 pm.