A Virus Speaks All Languages - Life in a COVID-19 World - Part 4

NOTE: I never planned for this to be so heavily COVID-19 focused. This will be my last one on that topic - for a while. Then again, as my great-grandfather said mentchen trach und Gott lach - "humans plan and God laughs."     

Never could understand, what with all the spells that JK Rowling came up with for Harry Potter and his gang, why someone couldn't just wave their magic wand and abracadabra life's problems away - especially now. I have coveted one of these wands recently after following the COVID-19 numbers from Johns Hopkins. Why did I do that? Morbid curiosity - maybe? In truth, though, it was in order to answer some BIG PICTURE questions that have been bothering me. Here's what I discovered about the four-day period of May 6-10, 2020 - only...

Q: Is it a good idea to close the southern border with Mexico?
A: It might make more sense to close the northern border with Canada. Turns out that Canada has 1/4 the population of Mexico, but four times the number of cases.

Q: How good a job has all of North America done in battling COVID-19?
A: Not good.  Over four days, deaths continent-wide increased 20% to a total of 180,000.

Q: Don't hear much about South America. What's going on?
A: Reports are in from Brazil, Peru, Chile, and Ecuador. They have been averaging 9% increases every day. Columbia just reached 10,000 cases and made it to the Johns Hopkins list.

Q: At least Europe's "flattened the curve," right?
A: Yes, unless you are one of the 5400 new deaths recently added. And welcome Serbia, who also made the list.

Q: Won't heat make the virus disappear?
A: Hmmm... NOT. It has been hitting the 100 degrees mark on a daily basis in the Arabian peninsula but UAE has averaged 6% increases in cases, Saudi Arabia hits 9% and Qatar tops them all at 10%. Remember, that's every day for four days.

Q: What about Caribbean cruise to get away from it all?
A: Cruise? Really? And let's hear it for Dominican Republic who also made the list.

Q: But, Africa's safe, right?
A: Having been beat the heck up by Ebola and HIV/AIDS, South Africa has managed to squeeze onto the list, as well.

Q: Is there a cultural connection?
A: Maybe so. The Romance language countries of Spain, Portugal, France, Italy and Rumania account for 83,000 deaths meaning 31% of the world's deaths. Look for a change in cheek kissing and more "air kissing."

Q: Is there a cultural connection - part 2?
A: Maybe so. The English-speaking countries of US, Canada and the UK account for 117,000 deaths or over 41%.

Q: So, how does the world look by continent?
A: 52.3% Europe
     31.3% North America
      9.0%  Asia
        .6%  South America

Q: All of which means (at the very least)?
A: Possibly troubles for Africa and S. America. Seems hard to believe that India with a population of 1.3 Billion could only have 6600 deaths.

       I'm not planning on doing this again. At least I don't think I am. Just remember that numbers are hard to spin IF they are truthful. We are in deep enough without lying about it. Reality is confusing  now as it is. And yet, one last "compound" question still remains.

Q: What does it mean that the so-called "developed nations" of the world account for over 80% of the deaths? Humbling, isn't it?
A: ........

What the Numbers Really Mean: Life in a COVID World - Part 2

By the numbers and for the record...
3,170,000 - cases worldwide
1,028,065 - cases in the US
   224,708 - deaths worldwide
     59,443 - deaths in the US
            47 - days without other human contact
            42 - nights outside singing God Bless America at 7 pm

That's the reality and this is what's on my mind...

Today marks one million cases of COVID–19 and almost 60,000 deaths in the US, an increase of 900,000 cases and 55,000 deaths in less than a month.  

Most Americans watch the daily fluctuations up and – from time to time, albeit rarely – down as if they are a function of a ghastly viral algorithm. COVID-19 keeps moving on. It does not care that its victims were individual human beings, souls who have lived and shared life, touched others, quietly influenced generations. That memory is left for us, the living, who are destined to comfort those who have been afflicted or mourn for those who have been lost. We, who have survived and feel victimized as we remember the faces of those we love, living or forever gone. 

Not everyone, however, has been personally touched – yet. That makes it easier to let the abstract nature of numbers be the perceived truth of this pandemic. We cannot do that. Let me give life to the statistics…

One million cases represents the infection of every person living in the states of:

Alaska,

Delaware,

Montana,

North Dakota, 

South Dakota, 

Rhode Island, 

Vermont, and 

the District of Columbia.

Sixty thousand deaths equals the extinction of every person living in these state capitals:

Cheyenne, Wyoming

Charleston, West Virginia

Harrisburg, Pennsylvania

Olympia, Washington

Jefferson City, Missouri

Annapolis, Maryland

Juneau, Alaska

Dover, Delaware

Helena, Montana

Carson City, Nevada

Concord, New Hampshire

Bismarck, North Dakota

Pierre, South Dakota

Montpelier, Vermont

Augusta, Maine

Frankfort, Kentucky

Understanding these numbers as people is how we connect to the heartbreak that awaits our nation’s future. Take a deep breath. We all have more strength than we realize. Find it.