COVID19 Update - Day 53

US Tests: 6,816,347
US Cases: 1,125,719
US Deaths: 60,710
Worldwide Cases: 3,428,114
Worldwide Deaths: 243,829

This update is a bit late, because my 'quarantine' day has just been jam-packed.  Although the pandemic has decimated the economy generally, it has been a boon to certain industries.  For example, certain recreation industries.  I took my bike in to the local bike shop to get a tune-up, because I haven't ridden it in years.  But as it turns out, they were scheduling appointments out to May 25, because they have so much business!

So after taking my bike home and taking a short ride, my son called me up to ask if he and his friend could come over and shoot baskets.  And while I'm not excited about my son bringing a non-family member to the house, I feel like I need to cut him some slack.  I think my kids have handled the past 6 weeks of quarantine very well, so one day of hanging out with one friend isn't that big a deal.

As it turns out, my son invited me to his mom's house for dinner (I insisted that he ask her first).  And then after dinner at my ex's house, I hosted a 3-hour Zoom call which just concluded.

Phew!

I do worry that people are starting to relax their diligence about the lockdown, however, and not just people who are throwing a temper tantrum about it.  Anecdotally, in addition to hanging out with my son's friend, I also rode my bike past a house with lots of cars parked outside --- it seems likely that a large gathering was taking place in violation of social distancing.

And this is in addition to reports of other large gatherings around the country.

In national news, the drastic and criminal mismanagement of medical supplies continues unabated and underreported:

The coronavirus pandemic had unleashed a bonanza for untested contractors riding a wave of unprecedented demand and scarcity of everything from hand sanitizer to ICU beds. So far, the administration of President Donald Trump has handed out at least $5.1 billion in no-bid contracts to address the pandemic, federal purchasing data shows. The VA, far more than any other agency, appeared to be awarding large contracts to little-known vendors in search of the personal protective equipment that’s pitted local, state and federal agencies against one another.

Given that Trump and the Republicans have basically given up on combating the virus, Dr. Michael Osterholm forsees the virus continuing to wreak havoc on our society and economy until we reach herd immunity at around 60%-70% of the population --- which will take about 2 years:

During an interview on CNN, Osterholm explained a report he and his colleagues at the university had released early in the day, which found that the virus will likely keep spreading for 18 to 24 months until it reaches the high threshold of COVID-19 cases needed to create a herd immunity.

“This is going to continue to do that until 60% or 70% of the population has been infected,” the doctor told CNN anchor Jim Sciutto.

Osterholm warned that the pandemic is a “rolling situation” throughout the world and that New York, which currently has the highest number of cases in the U.S. by far, won’t be the only area to suffer an explosion of infections.

“Expect many more New Yorks to occur,” he said. “It’s very likely they will.”

So --- continue to hunker down, and get real comfy.  And vote for all the Democrats on the ballot in November.  That should result in a functional government just 8 months from now, which might be able to clean up Trump's mess in a reasonable time frame.