Pandemic Diaries 69

SARS-CoV-2 (ncov-2019): GLOBAL (37,648,597 cases, 1,079,621 dead); U.S. (7,977,660 cases, 219,600 dead); New Mexico (32,722 cases, 907 dead); Navajo Nation (10,675 cases, 565 dead).

My wife and I were just talking on Friday morning about how the second wave was upon us, even if people hadn’t realized it yet. Evidently, someone realized it, because, late Friday afternoon, the hospital where I work re-activated its EOC (emergency operations center). ICU admits for CoVid19 have been creeping steadily upwards for a few weeks now. For about eight weeks we had less than a handful of folks in ICU for CoVid. We went from steadily having 3, or 4 CoVid patients, to about a dozen and a half today.

Here in Albuquerque, people seem to have been lulled into complacency by the unusually warm and bright autumn we’re having thus far. My wife and I still shop just once a week, and still do laundry just once every three to four weeks, but just doing our meager errands, we saw people out and about in what looked like mostly normal, pre-pandemic numbers. There were people everywhere. Six feet of distance between people was some crazy bullshit that just wasn’t happening, and lots and lots of people were maskless.

We drove through the plaza area in Old Town, just to look (through closed car windows) at the multitude of people who were there. We could see a couple hundred, easily, without looking too hard: lined up to get into shops; several dozen on the central plaza; dozens more walking downs the streets and sidewalks. Given the positive percentage (around 5%… which is probably too low since not everyone feels symptomatic enough to get tested or seek treatment but they walk around and spread it anyway), and the mortality rate, we discussed how it was probable that we had laid eyes on a generous handful of people who were going to die from the ‘rona. That’s a sobering feeling.

People in the U.S. never really locked down, not like other countries did. Other countries shut the fuck down. They weren’t entertaining bullshit about rights, or masks, or whiny ass boredom.  They let their economies take the hickey to stop the spread of a deadly contagion. But here, we’ve never really shut all the way down, and we’re already bristling about the idea of the second wave; and idiots are literally threatening bloodshed if they have to wear a mask, or if they can’t force their underpaid nail lady to work on them, or if they can’t get their hair done, or force a wait staff person (whom they’re not going to tip anyway) to pour them a drink. Of course, here, people think that the stock market is  an actual indicator for how the country is doing, and not a barometer of how the rich are growing more wealthy. The reality is ain’t none of us three paychecks away from being billionaires (or even millionaires).

We are a bunch of fools. And I fear we are going to suffer for it.

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We are trying to quietly build back up our food stores (which we have kind of mostly eaten our way through), and buy what we’ll actually need of toilet paper, and cleaners, and sanitizer (before people snap to the second wave being upon us and start hoarding stuff again). We’ve discussed getting a freezer (albeit a small one) to be able to take advantage of sales, and to be less vulnerable to the masses’ panic buying.

We are already buying extra masks, extra gloves and shopping for respirators (that aren’t already gougingly priced).

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I have no idea where the world stands on a vaccine. One trial was halted because of an “adverse neurological event” in a trial participant. But I’m given to understand that there are dozens of trials going on. Most everything, at the moment anyway, looks like it’s going to be a series of shots, usually two. The issue has become so politicized and the media is so much about ratings now, as opposed to facts, that it’s hard to separate the wheat from the chaff. Which vaccines are actually promising? Which vaccines are we being told are promising because a politician holds stock in that company? Or because a former exec at the company is now part of the president’s cabinet? It’s a rough time trying to figure out what is coming to market versus what might be actually safe and effective. The fact that these two might not be the same vaccine, and that this is an actual issue, is spooky.

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Speaking of spooky, it’s October. To keep myself sane, I think of October as “Halloween month,” and November as “my birthday month.” The days are shorter (which seems oddly better for my head than long, bright and hot summer days) and cooler (hurray for sweaters and hoodies and for being able to be outside without feeling like I am going to burst into flames). It’s like having a 61-day holiday period. October also usually catches the High Holy Days (or some of them anyway) and Sukkot (which I also love for some bizarre reason — goats, the reason is goats). So, win, win, win.

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I’m also trying to remember to write, by hand, with a fountain pen, on actual paper, in an actual journal. And I write letters to people. And I try to do creative things as they occur to me. As the second wave starts to unfold upon us, I can’t tell you how this is going to end. I hope we get a safe and effective vaccine before next Hanukkah. I hope decency, compassion and love prevail. But… who can say? I rather suspect that we’re on our own.

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