COVID19 Update - Day 55

US Tests: 7,285,178
US Cases: 1,173,257
US Deaths: 62,806
Worldwide Cases: 3,580,247
Worldwide Deaths: 251,365

Today was kind of a good news/bad news day.  Because early on, I saw this article, which has some truly good news!

Even though it will likely be ~18 months before a COVID19 vaccine is developed, there is research showing that wearing masks --- even basic, hand-sewn cloth masks like most people have access to --- will dramatically reduce transmission of the disease.  Consider, for example, the results in high-density countries like Hong Kong and Taiwan:

For example, in Hong Kong, only four confirmed deaths due to COVID-19 have been recorded since the beginning of the pandemic, despite high density, mass transportation, and proximity to Wuhan. Hong Kong’s health authorities credit their citizens’ near-universal mask-wearing as a key factor (surveys show almost 100 percent voluntary compliance). Similarly, Taiwan ramped up mask production early on and distributed masks to the population, mandating their use in public transit and recommending their use in other public places—a recommendation that has been widely complied with. The country continues to function fully, and their schools have been open since the end of February, while their death total remains very low, at only six.

So, if the angry members of the cult of Trump who insist on dressing up in riot gear and carrying their AR-15s to their state capitols would just wear a simple mask, we might be able to more or less fully reopen society --- exactly what they claim to want --- in 2 or 3 weeks.  But unfortunately, our government isn't requiring the use of masks nearly as forcefully as they should, and a small but determined segment of our society is actively fighting against it for reasons which can only be described as pathological selfishness (to be polite).

The models of Taiwan and Hong Kong clearly demonstrate that not only is it possible to defeat the virus, but that all it takes to do it is that we all accept the minor inconvenience of wearing a mask.  Remember this the next time some sanctimonious Trump-humper tells you that there are going to be deaths no matter what.

But now for the bad news.  Since it's almost certain that a critical mass of recalcitrant morons will insist on prioritizing their selfishness above the good of society, Americans will continue dying.  And it turns out that the CDC (and thus the Trump White House) not only know this, but that it will get much, much worse before it gets better:

The projections, based on government modeling pulled together in chart form by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, forecast about 200,000 new cases each day by the end of the month, up from about 25,000 cases a day currently.

The numbers underscore a sobering reality: While the United States has been hunkered down for the past seven weeks, slowing the spread of the virus, significant risks still remain. And reopening the economy will make matters worse.

It's sad but true.  American selfishness is literally killing people (not to mention the economy), and those in power are simply writing it off as acceptable losses, rather than doing the really-not-so-hard work to require everyone to wear a simple, cloth, non-surgical mask in public.

However, I can't control what others do.  I can only control what I do.  And I'm going to buy some more cloth masks.  I would encourage everyone who accidentally stumbled over this post to do the same.  My mask supplier is Sleeping Baby Productions.