I write this blog entry as the world suffers through the early to middle stages of the Coronavirus pandemic. Thousands of people have lost their lives and it appears that many more will follow soon. As of today, there are over 1.1 million confirmed cases worldwide and over 60,000 deaths. Here in the United States, the severity of the outbreak is largely due to the absence of leadership at the top of our government. But it goes beyond absence. It is also denial, ineptitude, inconsistency, and ignorance. It is an unwillingness to accept responsibility and act.
So the states are trying to take action on their own, and a few are making heroic attempts, even with a lack of resources and support from the Federal government. But several others have not taken any meaningful action at all as they look to the president for guidance. As of this writing, no coherent guidance is forthcoming. Yesterday, the president said that it would probably be a good idea for everyone to wear protective masks when in public. But then he proceeded to destroy any semblance of strong direction by stating that this was purely voluntary and that he himself would probably not comply. So several states wait, and while they do, their hospitals rapidly approach maximum capacity and their death toll rises.
The next couple of months are likely to be worse than anyone wants to believe right now. Things will get better eventually, for those of us who survive and whose families remain untouched. But almost all of us will be touched in some way.
For now, the best things we can do are to physically isolate ourselves to slow down the spread of infection and to look for opportunities to help one another recover.
I’m sorry for the sad tone of this first blog post. I will always try my best to be honest here, and right now this is how I’m doing that. There are many things I’m grateful for and happy about, and I think you’ll see that from me in the future. But for now, this is the state of things.