Part four of my ongoing journal entries about life in the time of the 2020 Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic. Part One (Jan-Mar, 2020) is here. Part Two (April 2020) is here. Part Three (May 2020) is here.
June 1
It’s been a sad and difficult week in America. Just a week ago was Memorial Day though it already seems much longer. That day in Minneapolis, a police officer killed George Floyd by keeping his knee on the African American’s neck for nearly nine minutes, all while bystanders filmed the incident and pleaded to let him up. The video started circulating quickly and reaction grew around the country through the week. Protest marches and rallies sprouted repeatedly in more than 40 cities, growing day by day. In the evenings, the protests gave way to scenes of destruction, looting, provocation and police retaliation. The last couple of nights, Saturday and Sunday, have been the worst.
So, as if things weren’t already bad enough with the pandemic and resulting economic collapse, we have racial violence and rage in the streets. Much of the rage is pent up anger and anxiety lashing out — people are fed up for many, many reasons, and deservedly so. I have many conflicting emotions and thoughts about all that is happening but it’s hard to get a handle on them all. There are so many reasons to be angry; I can see the impulse to protest but there’s also a deadly virus that spreads by contact and chaos. I can’t condone looting, burning or violence; I can understand where some of it is coming from but I can’t see that it leads anywhere good. And then there’s Trump who can’t resist fanning the flames of discord and division. He will wrap himself up in the American flag, call out the military and his MAGA militias and try to distract his way to an election victory. Virus? What virus?
It’s depressing and I’ve felt depressed over the past week. And angry. And sad, helpless, disoriented and a little scared. I try to avoid watching the news on TV which only seems to promote fear and anxiety, but I can’t resist checking headlines online. I tuned into local evening news last night at 11 and couldn’t stop watching the live coverage until past midnight. Allie heard sirens and helicopters as things got somewhat out of hand in Boston last night. We think she will be safe in her apartment but who really knows.
Numbers:
Global cases: 6,150,000 Deaths: 372,000
USA cases: 1,830,000 Deaths: 106,000
Maryland cases: 52,000 Deaths: 2,509
New York cases: 360,000 Deaths: 23,383
Spain cases: 239,400 Deaths: 27,127
We unceremoniously passed 6 million cases worldwide a few days ago. That means there were about 2 million new cases in April and 3 million in May. Overall cases around the world are still trending upward with Brazil, India and Peru leading that trend today. Brazil is second to the US, with just over 500,000 cases. A headline floated by that the US just sent two million doses of hydroxychloroquine to Brazil; I guess we didn’t need it anymore.
Locally, the weather is gorgeous. Barb got out over the weekend to run errands, see friends, and spent a little time at Dan’s pool. We took a drive to Frederick on Sunday to get a nice Italian dinner which we brought home. She would be doing even better but her colleague Lynn is going through a whole litany of medical and computer problems all of which raise Barb’s blood pressure. Which raises mine, especially since I can hear her many phone calls about it.
I find that one small space of refuge is music. I’ve been listening to a podcast, The Band: A History, which offers a detailed look at The Band, album by album. The most recent entry was about Moondog Matinee, their 1973 album of covers. It spurred me to put together a playlist of the album, the originals that inspired it, and other versions of the rock and roll staples by other artists. It’s a distraction, I admit, but a little bit of fun and a pleasant chance to wander down some less traveled lanes of musical history. And I’ve finally figured out how to share a playlist (here’s this one) and also print one out if needed. So that’s my small measure of progress lately.
June 6
After more than a week of protests around the country and the world in honor of George Floyd and Black Lives Matter, today’s seem to be by far the biggest yet. It’s a Saturday and there are an estimated several hundred thousand marching in DC and in hundreds of cities across the country. After an initial bout of looting and arson last weekend, and Trump’s ridiculous clearing of Lafayette Park on Monday for a photo at St. John’s Church, things have been remarkably peaceful. The few incidents of violence this week seem to have been overzealous police reactions. The DC marches today are remarkable in that they are not particularly coordinated but appear to have more than a dozen organizers; if there’s a schedule it’s not widely evident. The marchers themselves are a polyglot of all races and ages. It’s very encouraging and for today, at least, the police presence is much reduced. I hope it remains calm through the evenings tonight and tomorrow.
It certainly feels like a pressure cooker release valve letting off steam. Marching peacefully seems to make the marchers feel better. So there’s good in that. What I don’t quite understand is what kind of specific measures are being called for. What are the goals and expected results? There’s talk of defunding police departments around the country; I suppose there’s some merit in spending less on weaponry and incarceration. But it all reminds me a little too much of the Hong Kong democracy riots of the past year or so. They’re both admirable but what do they realistically hope to gain? Anything specific beyond raising awareness seems unclear. Raising awareness, particularly of racial injustice, may be a worthy enough goal on its own, I suppose, but I would want something more concrete and lasting.
That said, I’m not marching. I feel like I should but I’ve found plenty of excuses not to. Today’s excuse was having to stay home to wait for the Comcast guy. We just upgraded our service which entailed new TV boxes and a new modem. Now we have even more channels to waste time with.
Another reason is the still very active coronavirus. It remains to be seen in a few weeks what kind of spike these protests generate. Racial unrest has kicked the running coronavirus tally off the CNN and MSNBC screens indicating America’s attention span has shifted. The moves around the country to loosen restrictions and get back to work already make it seem like yesterday’s news. But it’s still very much here. The US trend has started to move up in the recent week or so, due in uncertain proportions to loosening restrictions and increased testing. The global trend is only accelerating, especially in Brazil, India, Peru and Iran (again). Cases are increasing in nearly twice as many countries (74) as they are decreasing (42). Within the next week we will pass 7 million cases and 400,000 deaths worldwide and 2 million cases in the US.
Numbers:
Global cases: 6,660,000; Daily average: 116K; Total Deaths: 393,000
USA cases: 1,950,000; Daily average: 22K; Total Deaths: 111,000
Maryland cases: 56,800 Deaths: 2,702
US cases trending up: 21 states/territories; top 5: CA, TX, MI, FL, NC
US cases mostly the same: 14 states/territories; top 5: MA, VA, GA, LA, CO
US cases trending down: 18 states/territories: top 5: NY, NJ, IL, PA, MA
June 9
The funeral for George Floyd today seems to put a cap on the immediate round of protests and marches. Things have remained remarkably peaceful over the past week after a spasm of violence two weekends ago. The fencing around the White House is due to come down tomorrow, Trump has been uncharacteristically quiet (or at least ineffectively noisy…he’s been tweeting and talking but not breaking through) for a few days, and there are some concessions to reform police practices and funding around the country. Systemic racism solved? Not nearly. Some small steps forward? Seemingly so. I hope so. At a pathetically personal level, at least now I recognize that #BLM stands for Black Lives Matter. Until last week I kept thinking it was some inscrutable reference to the Bureau of Land Management. I need a hashtag #iamsowhite.
An article pointed me to a good site consolidating Covid-19 numbers for the US: Covidexitstrategy.org. It shows stats and a US map in a convenient red-yellow-green format that makes it easy to see where things are going well and where they’re not. There’s currently a lot of red, especially through the sun belt. There was also a useful NY Times article, “When 511 Epidemiologists Expect to Fly, Hug and Do 18 Other Everyday Activities Again” categorizing things they would do now, later in the year or not until next year or later. Seems like some reasonable advice; your mileage may vary.
Numbers:
Global cases: 6,930,000; Daily average: 120K; Total Deaths: 401,000
USA cases: 2,010,000; Daily average: 21K; Total Deaths: 113,000
Maryland cases: 58,400 Deaths: 2,776
US cases trending upward: 22 states/territories; top 5: CA, TX, MI, FL, NC
US cases mostly the same: 8 states/territories; top 5: VA, GA, LA, IA, WI
US cases trending downward: 23 states/territories: top 5: NY, NJ, IL, MA, PA
June 14
I guess we’re edging toward something we’re going to have to call normal for a while. Restaurants in Maryland, including Howard County, opened for 50% indoor seating on Friday along with gyms and other stuff. Barb’s work was not crazy; she spent Saturday at Dan’s pool and then had dinner with Leslie outdoors at Dandelion, the first restaurant meal for either of us since March. I could have gone but opted to stay home and let Barb have time to talk with someone else. Meanwhile, I made a very nice (for me) dinner of a pork chop covered with Everything Bagel seasoning (a new thing for me), ancient grain rice and lima beans with a vinegary Carolina BBQ sauce. Very tasty. Today, Sunday, Barb stayed in all day working on a puzzle, watching TV and napping. I wrote some, finished up my Spirent post, mowed the lawn yesterday, weeded today and got in long walks listening to music podcasts. That pretty well sums up our lives nowadays.
To quote Joe Walsh, I can’t complain but sometimes I still do. This level of normal is not so bad, but it’s not good. It’s an attenuated form of living. I’m still very worried about the virus anywhere I go. I have no desire to eat at a restaurant though I’ve gotten comfortable with carryout from most anywhere. I don’t even much want to sit around a table with other people except it would be great to see Allie. I miss going to movie theaters but not sure when I will go once they open (they’re not open yet around here). I really want to travel, go see Laurie, go anywhere, but again not really sure I want to hazard a plane trip or even a drive and a hotel stay. We’re noodling around an idea of going to the Chesapeake Hyatt where we spent a few days last summer, but they’re not open yet and I don’t really want to be the first one in line for July. Ditto for going to see Allie in Boston in August or September once she’s in her new place, though that really seems to be the best window…beat the second wave. There’s not a lot of choice but to get by with things the way they are — well, the choice is to go ahead and risk getting sick and maybe dying; I’m not making that choice so I’ll put up with the way things are. But I’m not happy about it.
In the bigger world, the protests for racial justice have simmered down though that may change since another black man, Rayshard Brooks, was killed by Atlanta police Friday night partly because he was sleeping in his car at a Wendy’s…and more proximately because he grabbed a taser from a cop. We have a local BLM march at our Western Regional Park scheduled for Thursday; we’re considering going.
The stock market had been racing ahead for the past couple of weeks, pretty much accomplishing the “V” recovery Trump wanted. Then on Friday, Wall Street remembered there was a virus, double digit unemployment and months if not years of slow “main street” recovery ahead and dropped 6% again. The news media turned its attention back to the virus as well as they finally noticed that cases were rising all over the sunbelt and the caseload is still accelerating around the world.
Numbers:
Global cases: 7,550,000; Daily average: 130K; Total Deaths: 423,000
USA cases: 2,130,000; Daily average: 21K; Total Deaths: 117,000
Maryland cases: 60,600 Deaths: 2,900
US cases trending upward: 23 states/territories; top 5: CA, TX, FL, GA, LA
US cases mostly the same: 10 states/territories; top 5: TN, WA, IA, MI, KA
US cases trending downward: 20 states/territories: top 5: NY, NJ, IL, MA, PA
There was some exuberance that things are opening back up again, but then quickly followed a recognition that the virus hadn’t gone away, was going to return with a vengeance in some places, and that the economy in the US and the world can’t fully recover when people aren’t willing or able to spend money at the levels they did six months ago. That’s just the way it is. There seem to be very few politicians or leaders in the US (or anywhere) that seem willing to admit it to themselves or their constituents, much less actually make plans to deal with it over the long run. Even places like New Zealand or South Korea that have weathered the initial storm can’t really operate indefinitely with closed borders and sick neighbors.
June 17
I had stopped counting the weeks, but this is now week 14, just past 90 days or 3 months of the pandemic taking (sur)real effect on our lives. Is that all? Seems like…well, much longer anyway. Barb and I are at one of those thresholds of let’s get on with our lives. We seem to hit these psychological plateaus of acceptance every once in a while until another outrage — personal, local, national or international — comes along and sets us back.
Yesterday we had several conversations that nudged us along toward normalcy. As I went out for my walk in the afternoon I chatted with our neighbors Mark and Cathleen who seemed willing to talk after they got their dog, Bailey, to quiet down. We commiserated about having nothing much to report or really say. We compared notes on restaurants for takeout meals and lamented that we’d each quickly settled into an orbit of about 5 places that we keep going back to. We didn’t identify exactly which ones because that reveals a little too much about each of our personalities, but we could agree that we all felt like we ought to be a little more adventurous but can’t quite work up the energy or willpower.
We also compared notes on vacations deferred. They have one planned for the Galapagos (on Viking) in February but Mark gives it a 50/50 chance of actually happening. I repeated that I have a niece there and that they seemed to be doing ok, better than the rest of Ecuador, so fingers crossed. It’s the third time I’ve mentioned that I have a niece there and that she’s in the travel industry, but each time it seems to be news to them. I mentioned that our November trip was postponed until May 2021 without identifying where or why we were going; they didn’t ask. It’s the nature of our neighborly contract not to be too revealing, lest we actually become friends and have to spend more time with each other. Mark and I have gone out to lunch together a few times and had some good talks, but I notice that he never actually asks me to go out, nor have we ever all had a meal together. Mark watches our cats and house when we travel and I have to be careful not to ruin that transactional level of relationship.
I did tell Mark about an incident the night before with our fire alarms. It’s ok to talk about homeowner things. Our smoke detectors all went off in the middle of the night, once at 4:15am and again at 5am. They’ve done that once before. I got up each time and investigated all around the house to confirm there was no actual fire but it threw off the sleep patterns for Barb, Manny and me and made for a grumpy morning. I don’t know why they go off, nor do I know how to stop them; we just have to wait a few minutes for them to stop on their own. The best explanation I can glean from the Internet is that it may be related to some ideal mix of pollen, dust or other particulates in the air, mixed with the right level of temperature and humidity. Mark proffered the same hypothesis so it was good I could report that to Barb. She’ll trust the opinion of a neighbor over any research I come up with. He added that they didn’t hear anything so it was good we didn’t disturb them. Wouldn’t want that. Barb liked his attitude.
Later that evening, we connected with Kristen to wish her a belated Happy Birthday and sing her our traditional out-of-key Happy Birthday song. She was eating dinner (at 5:15 their time), a leftover meal of steak and lobster that she felt too sick with a migraine to enjoy the day before. She evidently has a bundle of undiagnosed medical issues but seems to have a good attitude about things. She was eating early so she could go to a chiropractor later. We chatted about her work, now as a marketing and social media person for a yoga studio where she also gets free classes, along with Lululemon where they just reopened. She said they can only have 11 customers in the store at a time and that the line to get in can be a two-hour wait. Customers tend to be very grumpy by the time they get in. She and Sara and Tyler will be moving into a two-bedroom apartment in September which they’re all looking forward to. It was nice chatting with her, and hearing Joe and Betsy in the background. Kristen asked about us and what we’re doing. I mentioned my Billzpage project and she kindly asked for the link. I think it’s time for me to invite Betsy, Kristen and Sara to see it.
A few minutes later, Allie called and caught up with her. We made tentative plans for her to come down here during the week of July 13 because if we don’t do it then, she doesn’t have another good window. I will check into places we might spend a few days near a pool. The Chesapeake Hyatt still seems at the top of the list. We also made loose plans to come up to Boston in September after she moves into her new place in August. Otherwise, Allie seems well and busy with friends. She’s hoping to hear about a promotion by the end of the month. We think she’s earned it but we’re a little biased.
Each of these discussions moved the dial toward normalcy or what will pass for it as I said in my last post. In a further sign, Barb suggested taking me out for Father’s Day this weekend and I mentioned that the Greek place, Xenia, had just reopened and was taking reservations. We’re both willing to give it a try so I made a reservation for Saturday. It will be our first meal out since March. So maybe this is how life goes on. We’ll give it a try, one tentative step at a time.
The New York Times newsletter greeted me this morning with an article and chart that do not seem to be on the website but I thought were illuminating, so I’ll try reproducing here (not sure about formatting):
Europe vs. the U.S.
| The coronavirus began to ravage Europe weeks before the United States. At the peak, in early April, more than 3,000 people in Italy, Spain and the rest of Western Europe were dying each day — a substantially higher toll than in the U.S. |
| Over the past two months, however, Europe has succeeded at crushing the virus, and the U.S. has not. Just look at this chart (which compares the U.S. to a contiguous 16-country region of Western Europe with a nearly identical population): |
 |
By The New York Times | Source: Johns Hopkins University |
| European countries have used a combination of lockdowns, public health guidance, tests and contact tracing to beat back the virus. Large parts of Europe have begun reopening, including schools, so far without sparking major new outbreaks. |
| The U.S. response has been more scattered and less successful. “Government efforts to inform the public about the pandemic have been a colossal failure, which means that most people are hearing mixed and muffled messages about what to do,” Jonathan Bernstein, a political scientist and Bloomberg Opinion columnist, wrote this week. “It’s not surprising that a lot of folks are believing misinformation as a result, and others are just throwing up their hands.” |
| Donald McNeil, who covers infectious diseases for The Times, points out that the U.S. states hit hardest and earliest by the virus, like New York and New Jersey, have followed a path similar to Europe’s: a terrible peak, followed by an aggressive response and falling caseloads. |
| “But I think a lot of states reopened pretty willy-nilly after pressure from small businesses and citizens who were out of work and frustrated by lockdown and who had not seen the virus hit anyone they knew yet,” Donald told us. “A lot of those states — Texas, Florida, Arizona, North and South Carolina, etc. — are now seeing cases and hospitalizations rise.” |
| On Tuesday, Arizona, Florida and Texas all reported their largest one-day increases in new cases. |
The combined death count in those 16 European countries (about 121,000) remains higher than in the U.S. (about 117,000). But at the current pace, the U.S. toll will be higher by next week.
I wish there was a broader understanding in the US of just how badly we have bungled the response to this virus. Trump and his cronies remain in denial and are forging ahead with a rally in Tulsa on Saturday that promises to be the reboot of his perpetual presidential campaign. This awful reality show continues. Meanwhile, we’re about to top 8 million cases worldwide. There was an announcement out of the UK that a low cost steroid appears to help treatment of those with severe breathing problems, the first real indication of at least a partially effective treatment, so we’ll take that as good news.
Numbers:
Global cases: 7,940,000; Daily average: 130K; Total Deaths: 435,000
USA cases: 2,180,000; Daily average: 22K; Total Deaths: 119,000
Maryland cases: 60,600 Deaths: 2,900 (unchanged, per Google?)
US cases trending upward: 21 states/territories; top 5: CA, TX, FL, GA, LA
US cases mostly the same: 12 states/territories; top 5: TN, WA, IA, MI, MO
US cases trending downward: 20 states/territories: top 5: NY, NJ, IL, MA, PA
June 22
We embark on week 15, or if you prefer, in our fourth month of dealing with the virus. The news of the day is that the virus is accelerating rapidly around the world, particularly in the Americas including the U.S. It’s hard to believe but we’ve added more than 1,000,000 cases worldwide in less than a week.
Numbers:
Global cases: 9,000,000; Daily average: 160K; Total Deaths: 469,000
USA cases: 2,320,000; Daily average: 25K; Total Deaths: 122,000
Maryland cases: 64,300 Deaths: 3,050
US cases trending upward: 23 states/territories; top 5: CA, TX, FL, GA, NC
US cases mostly the same: 12 states/territories; top 5: NY, NJ, MA, CN, IN
US cases trending downward: 18 states/territories: top 5: IL, MI, PA, MD, VA
Maryland is still trending downward which is good for the time being, but cases are rising in more states than they’re falling, especially through the Sunbelt. So much for the theory that summer temperatures would slow the virus. The Covidexitstrategy.org site paints an even starker picture for the U.S., with only 8 states in green territory, 17 in yellow and 26 in red. We are four full weeks past the Memorial Day holiday when things started opening up in earnest. States have only opened further since then, no one has retrenched though there are beginning to be some small rumblings that some communities want to at least slow down a little.
The real story is the rapid spread in nations beyond the first wave of Asian and European nations. Around the world, 72 nations are seeing caseload growth, 61 nations are holding steady and only 27 are on downslopes. Brazil has topped one million cases, Russia has nearly 600,000 and 15 other nations have more than 100,000 cases.
Locally, we had a quiet Father’s Day weekend, marked by our first dinner out together since March. Barb and I went to Xenia and sat outdoors on their new patio that they evidently installed about a week ago. We feasted on calamari, zucchini chips, mussels, avgolemono soup, grilled dorado, roasted potatoes and a crisp albarino wine. Barb fell in love with the loukoumades dessert which I hoped she would. Maybe we can go back there sometime.
While it was nice to eat out for a change and we appreciated having fried food when it was hot and fresh, I won’t be in a hurry to do it often. Not only is there more anxiety involved in sitting near others, I think we’re already spoiled by being able to control our own timetables at home and not have to wait for a waiter to attend to us. We had an excessively long wait for dessert and the check while the kitchen and staff seemed overwhelmed by the number of people that arrived after we did. We were only the second table there when we started at 6:30pm and things came out quick, but by 7:30 the place was getting full. Plus, Barb and I don’t have that much to talk about with each other; we already see each other most of every day.
Allie gave us a nice Father’s Day call and we nailed down plans for her to come to Maryland in a few weeks, July 10-19. It will be great to see her. I went ahead and made reservations at the Chesapeake Hyatt for a couple of nights on July 15-17 for a minibreak. Something to look forward to.
I spoke a few days ago with Laurie who relayed her status in Spain. She’s been able to see Maggie and the boys several times but is now wrestling with decisions on how quickly to expand her circles with others, including other members of Juan’s family who will soon arrive. In general, Spain is opening quickly but there is still a lot of confusion over who can do what, when. Even with loosening restrictions there’s a persistent level of anxiety and confusion over what activities are acceptable. Each person is having to weigh their own decisions with limited guidance.
June 25
We set a record high for new cases in the US yesterday with more than 37,000, the clearest possible signal that things are heading in the wrong direction (though Trump would probably say it’s because we’re doing too much testing). So we’re approaching July when many (including me) hoped we would be settling down to a few quieter summer months but instead the country and much of the world are seeing record growth. At the moment, death rates have not risen but it seems inevitable that will change within a few weeks. We’re looking at global milestones of 10 million cases and a half million deaths by the end of the month.
Numbers:
Global cases: 9,440,000; Daily average: 160K; Total Deaths: 483,000
USA cases: 2,430,000; Daily average: 25K; Total Deaths: 124,000
Maryland cases: 64,600 Deaths: 3,074
US cases trending upward: 29 states/territories; top 5: CA, TX, FL, GA, AZ
US cases mostly the same: 12 states/territories; top 5: NY, NJ, MA, PA, MI
US cases trending downward: 12 states/territories: top 5: IL, MD, VA, IN, MI
I find myself watching less news on TV though I’m still reading plenty in the paper and on the web. Virtually all the news coming out of Trump and his administration is infuriating. The TV news coverage, especially CNN and MSNBC, is just an exercise in agitation. It seems healthier to tune it down, if not out entirely. I’m still watching the late night shows which used to be entertaining but are mostly political rants now. I can’t quite kick that habit. In any case, I’ve avoided writing in detail about daily events like Trump’s completely ill-advised rallies in Tulsa and Phoenix or John Bolton’s book because it all just drives me crazy. For the moment, Biden has opened a wide lead in polls but that seems nearly meaningless at this point. Better to seek a calm point, I think. Ommmmm.
Local cases and hospitalizations in MD, DC and VA are still trending downward which is some small comfort. Virginia is loosening restrictions further on July 1 though at this point I have trouble keeping up with what is still being restricted other than concerts and sporting events. Restaurants are doing restricted indoor seating as well as outdoor. Bars seem to be open. Churches can operate at 50% capacity.
Very locally, one of Columbia’s oldest restaurants, Clyde’s, announced it is closing permanently along with its music offshoot, The Soundry. The first of many restaurant closings, I’m afraid. Clyde’s was the first place we ate in Columbia and used to be the place where it was safe to have a business get together. It was never a huge favorite of ours, but it held down a prime spot at Lake Kittamaqundi, Columbia’s downtown. I never made it to the Soundry, either, which was a joint venture with the folks that book Merriweather Post. I feel bad about that but then again they brought in very few acts that tempted me.
After our one restaurant outing last weekend, I’m in no hurry to do it again. We have invited Barb’s work friend Betsy over for grilling on July 5 and we’re very much looking forward to Allie coming down on July 10. But I’m not sure how much dining out we will do. Carry out seems fine for the time being but I know that’s not very good news for most restaurant operators.
Having Allie visit is a reminder of what a psychological boost it is to have something to look forward to. Both Barb and I are excited. Barb’s telling Manny about it nearly every day. I’m not sure he’s ready.
June 30
Sure enough, over the past couple of days we’ve crossed some grim milestones: 10 million cases and 500,000 deaths worldwide, 2.5 million cases and 125,000 deaths in the US.
Numbers:
Global cases: 10,300,000; Daily average: 160K; Total Deaths: 506,000
USA cases: 2,640,000; Daily average: 38K; Total Deaths: 128,000
Maryland cases: 67,800 Deaths: 3,175
US cases trending upward: 35 states/territories; top 5: CA, TX, FL, IL, PA
US cases mostly the same: 15 states/territories; top 5: NY, NJ, MA, NC, VA
US cases trending downward: 3 states/territories: top 5: MD, RI, DC,
It’s been a dark first half of 2020. What does the second half of the year hold in store? 2021? Nobody can be sure. Some nations, in fact most of Europe and East Asia, have done relatively good jobs of surfing through the first wave of the virus, despite how difficult things were in Italy, Spain, China and other places. They have some reason to hope that the rest of this year and next are at least manageable in terms of the medical impact and can turn attentions to the sizable economic impact of a virus-impaired society for the next 18 months or more until a vaccine is widely effective.
But then there’s the US which has gone from bad to worse. Cases are rising all over the country, most especially in the Sun Belt but now through the Midwest Rust Belt as well. Central and South America are in bad shape, with Brazil now over 1.3 million cases and 58,000 deaths, and Africa and South Asia are seeing dangerous growth in cases.
Trump and his administration are still in disarray and denial; different states are taking different measures. There’s a bit of retrenchment on loosening restrictions on things like bars and large gatherings, but no one is talking about going back to stay-at-home restrictions. While case numbers have risen 80% in the US over the past two weeks, deaths are still trending downward by 23%. They’re currently running less than 400 deaths per day but that seems bound to change in the coming weeks. A former CDC Director estimates they will soon be back over 1,000 deaths per day for months to come which would put the US near 200,000 deaths by October and maybe 250,000 by the end of the year. The infuriating thing is that these deaths didn’t have to be inevitable. Europe and East Asia have shown the virus can be contained but the US is doing a criminally poor job of doing it.
Meanwhile, second- and third-order effects proliferate. The virus puts stress on all aspects of society. Workplaces, schools, politics, local governments, race relations, mental health, other physical health issues, relationships, finances…you name it, there’s some level of stress or effect. Not that everything’s necessarily going to hell. There is often room for innovative solutions and progress, but it’s mighty difficult to deal with all these matters more or less simultaneously. The environment does not promote optimal solutions; lots of trials and errors and doing well enough to scrape by will be the order of the day for quite a while.
The topics of race relations and my own history have been on my mind. The Black Lives Matter protests have died down but attention is still high. In the past week I’ve watched or listened to a number of shows that touched on the topic from different, unexpected directions. I wasn’t really seeking these out, but the topic is ever-present at the moment. Nikole Hannah-Jones, who did the 1619 Project for the NY Times, wrote an important article arguing for reparations; I also listened to her interview on Fresh Air. Mike Birbiglia’s new podcast featured an unexpectedly sober discussion with fellow comedian Jon Laster about being Black is today’s America. The little Western Howard County BLM Rally we attended at our nearby park a couple of weeks ago still resonates with me, especially the range of microaggressions (and some macro) continually experienced by Blacks in the county. I happened to watch three programs this week, a biopic on Leadbelly, a documentary on Count Basie and the 2011 movie The Help. All of them detailed the miserable life of Blacks in Jim Crow America of the 1920s-1960s…not that long ago. In fact, very much the time and environment of my parents.
Which brings me to my own legacy. I’ve avoided writing anything meaningful about how racism affects my family and me. It’s not easy to do now. My Mom and Dad grew up in deeply segregated Valdosta, Georgia in the 1920s and 1930s. They were overtly racist as adults, though maybe a little less so in their dotage. Dad forbade his daughters from having Black friends, certainly not boyfriends. Laurie can tell more tales on that score. I was raised with Black maids, books like Little Black Sambo and other cultural items that wouldn’t pass muster today. I remember an incident in Miami in the late 1960s where Dad had valet parked our car for dinner. He came out and called “Hey, Boy” to get the attention of the valet. It got his attention all right. The man rose to full height and said very threateningly “Who you calling boy?” Dad backed down right away and more politely asked for our car, but the point was made and jarred him…and me.
I’ve had Black colleagues and neighbors but none I can call friends. True, I don’t have many friends of my own making, but the point remains I’ve had opportunities to be friends with Black and, for that matter, Hispanic men and women but have never done much with them. I’m guilty of some of those microaggressions like locking my car doors when I see someone I think might be dangerous on the street. I’m guilty of shifting my behavior based on the color of someone’s skin, which seems the very definition of racism.
The other night Allie clued me into an Instagram group called Dear Glenelg Country that focuses on stories from the BIPOC (first time I’d heard that acronym for black and Indigenous people of color) community of her school. She’d been comparing notes with (one of her Black friends) Jordan and together they put up a post about the MYPIC program, though I don’t see it on the page. MYPIC was a middle school program run by the very bright, prototypically New England liberal white Mr. Weeks that pulled together students from GCS and an inner city Baltimore school at various “neutral” venues meant to be culturally enriching. It was well intentioned but condescending as could be. The cultural institutions tended to be icons of white culture like the Maryland Science Center, Fort McHenry, Phillips Seafood, the Howard County Food Bank, Greenbelt Agricultural Center, etc. There were projects to get the kids to work together, but the whole thing reeked more of a publicity stunt by Mr. Weeks and GCS, and a chance for the kids to go on field trips once a month. I was an enabler by helping chaperone for the year Allie was involved and helped make a video that Mr. Weeks used for years to promote the program. Even while we were in the program it felt self-congratulatory and condescending, never living up to the grand promises Mr. Weeks made for it. The kids on both sides saw right through it. This hypocritical approach to race relations is part of what drives today’s BLM protests.
I’ve had my eyes opened in just the past few weeks to miserable everyday treatment of Blacks by police, the systemic barriers to creating generational wealth and the curse of grinding poverty. We didn’t “solve” racism by electing Obama, though I’m proud of his presidency, perhaps the most positive one of my lifetime. It was a step but only one.
So what am I doing now? Not much, thank you. I guess I’m waiting for a more substantive societal response. I want to see what it really means to “defund the police”. I’m more open to a discussion of reparations but think it ought to immediately extend to Native Americans and probably also to Hispanics. It’s a multigenerational problem that probably calls for a multigenerational response in the trillions, not unlike the response to the pandemic but over a long period of time. Sending a personal contribution to a specific charity seems like a literal drop in the bucket. I guess it would be a start but it also seems like a small sop to assuage one’s conscience. There has to be more, but it’s more than I can address on my own. My approach is to wait a while to see what develops, and be open to conversations with whoever cares to engage. I’m not especially proud of that approach but don’t see an immediately better course of action.
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