COVID19 Update - Day 32

US Tests: 2,665,392
US Cases: 522,569
US Deaths: 20,339
Worldwide Cases: 1,777,517
Worldwide Deaths: 108,862

The numbers are still terrible --- we're now losing roughly 2,000 people per day in the U.S. --- but behind those numbers is actually some good news.  Specifically, the number of deaths is now rising at a linear rate of roughly 2,000 per day, versus the earlier exponential rate.

2,000 deaths per day is still unacceptable --- it's like a slightly smaller 9/11 attack happening each day --- but it's still an improvement over what we've been seeing.  Only time will tell whether the number of new deaths will actually start to drop.  Personally, I'm not optimistic, due to the idiot governors in Florida, Mississippi, Alabama and Texas who were late to shut down their states.  It's likely the worst is still to come in those states, which means another surge in the death toll.

We'll see.

In the never-ending story of how Trump's ignorance and incompetence is costing American lives, today the New York Times published a chain of emails going back and forth between medical experts and high-ranking officials from numerous federal agencies, expressing in real time their horror at Trump's ineptitude.  Here's just a sample, in response to Trump's March 11 address to the nation in which he announced a travel ban from Europe, but no other concrete steps to address the crisis (like the things we know he should have been pushing, like social distancing and shelter-in-place):

It's worth pointing out that a number of prominent Republicans are now openly expressing the dangers of a continued Trump presidency, including George W. Bush's former speechwriter and manager of his campaign war room, and tea-party former Congressman Joe Walsh.

Defending America from Trump is not political; it's necessary for the survival of the country.

And on the personal side, this weekend was once again my turn to spend the weekend with my kids.  Shelter-in-place kept us at home, of course, and I was pleasantly surprised to find they actually like playing Risk, a game I spent hours and hours (and hours and hours and hours and hours and ---) playing when I was in high school and college.  In fact, they liked it a little bit TOO much; we ended up playing THREE GAMES (two of which I won).  And even with that, we found time to watch 4 episodes of Breaking Bad, and even get outside and play some basketball.

I'm still fortunate that no one close to me is sick (fingers crossed), so I can enjoy all of this family time.