20200523 - Corona Virus Part 10

Hello and howdy from our little tin can by the sea. Wendy and I are healthy and surviving the self-isolation brought about by the corona virus, SARS-CoV-2. This past week, all of the states in the US have eased at least some restrictions that were previously in place. Florida is trying to get to "business as usual" as fast as they can, opening up pools and raising the cap for restaurants to 50% occupancy. On the other end of the spectrum, my employer has informed me that we will be working from home "until further notice." The last milestone was "until at least May 31," so this, to me, shows the degree of concern they have for my welfare. It is a large undertaking to implement social distancing guidelines in an office environment. They have explained that even when the offices open back up, there will be an additional amount of work from home. 

This past week was our family's birthday week. It starts with my birthday on the 17th, Wendy's on the 19th, and our great-grandson's on the 21st. The 18th and 20th are "tweeny days" which I celebrate. My brother and his wife celebrated their 50th anniversary last weekend, even though it is actually this weekend. I think the original intent was to be able to book the event site. This weekend is Memorial Day weekend, which would have made it difficult to get a venue. Anyway, no site was needed and we did it through Zoom. I was so happy to see everyone - even my daughter and grandkids showed up. They had trivia, tributes, and a photo scrapbook of events through their lives. It was nice. 

Seeing everyone, and even noticing those that weren't present at the anniversary Zoom meeting, made me realize that I have been a terrible uncle. I send these folks birthday and anniversary cards, but that's it. My niece sent us a wall hanging for our birthdays, and it drove the point home to me. I know that I can't compensate for all the past, but I can change the future, and so I shall.

Cases

Deaths

Scope	Cases	Deaths
Worldwide	5,347,552	340,869
USA	1,648,959	97,732
Florida	50,127	2,190
Pinellas county	1,116	73

Get yer numbas here - red hot numbas! I've gone to a different layout for the "numbas" - a table! It's a bit more frustrating in Blogger because I don't have an easy means to create and edit style sheets, so I'm not sure if this will be a permanent fixture. Here's a summary of the states this past week:

The Good: New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. Both the number of cases as well as the number of deaths are in steep decline.

The Bad: Wisconsin and Illinois. Though deaths are down, the number of cases are skyrocketing for these two states.

The Ugly: Texas. Cases are up 21.8% over the week, with the number of deaths increasing by 12.2%. I don't see an end in sight for this. The governor, Greg Abbott, continues to open up the state despite the increases, so he is following the national mantra.

Two nations have separated from the field for now. Brazil and Russia are having an absurd number of cases. The virus is just beginning in Africa.

The diagram above is from worldometers. I started working from home on March 11th because my employer closed the offices. The last meal out with friends was March 14th. Florida's Safer-at-home order was issued on March 28th. On March 11th, there were eight deaths due to COVID-19, and on March 14th there were ten. The day that the Safer-at-home order was issued, there were 624 deaths in the US due to COVID-19. On May 23rd, the US reported 1,036 deaths. You would have to totally ignore this data to convince yourself that a return to normalcy is warranted at this time. Yet, here we are, with people at beaches and churches filling pews. 

The economy is "rebounding" as best that it can. Locally, gas is $1.85/gal at the local 7/11. The DJIA was down most of the week, then slowly recovered to end up flat. It opened at 24462 on Monday morning and closed at 24443 on Friday afternoon. Hertz Rental Car was the latest big company to file for bankruptcy protection. 2.4 million more people filed for unemployment over the past week - many furloughs are becoming layoffs. 

Normally, I let the politically charged speak for themselves, which usually ends with "open mouth - insert foot," but I'm seeing a dynamic this year which I hadn't noticed in the past. The entire national administration is being used as a propaganda machine. I see studies from CDC on "sunlight" killing corona virus, and DHS touting a study of short lifetimes of corona virus on surfaces. The president has evangelized the merits of hydroxychloroquine though every study using it says that it has no effect on COVID-19 and it has serious risks from heart arrhythmia. This has gone too far, as I have learned that the VA has given this to over 1800 patients and is still prescribing it. Isn't it enough that war didn't kill them, so we'll take a shot at using medicine to finish the job? 

It's been too hard living 

But I'm afraid to die, 

I don't know what's up there 

Beyond the clouds, 

 It's been a long, long time coming, but I know 

A change is gonna come, oh, yes it is 

- Graham Parker, "Change is gonna come", Live Alone in America, 1989