COVID19 Update - Day 180

US Tests: 82,256,053*

US Cases: 6,247,397*

US Deaths: 181,104*

Worldwide Cases: 27,002,224*

Worldwide Deaths: 882,053*

* - Numbers are a lower bound.  True numbers are being suppressed by the Trump administration

This post isn't exclusively about the coronavirus.  It's also about law enforcement and Black Lives Matter.  As you know if you've been paying attention at all the past 3 months, there have been a significant number of Black Lives Matter protests since George Floyd was killed on Memorial Day.  Many people who do not support Black Lives Matter for whatever reason tend to respond by insisting that "all lives matter", or that "blue lives matter" --- specifically emphasizing their support for law enforcement, and --- in my interpretation, anyway --- indicating a support of law enforcement in spite of the horrendous violations of civil rights (including murder) committed by some officers.

I have no evidence to back this up, but anecdotally at least, it seems that the "blue lives matter" crowd are, by and large, the same folks who refuse to wear masks and think Donald Trump is doing a bang-up job responding to the coronavirus.  And that's ironic, because:

As of Sept. 2, on-the-job coronavirus infections were responsible for a least 100 officer deaths, more than gun violence, car accidents and all other causes combined, according to the Officer Down group. NLEOMF reported a nearly identical number of covid-related law enforcement deaths.

NLEOMF reported a nearly identical number of covid-related law enforcement deaths. It also noted that fatalities due to non-covid causes are actually down year-over-year, undermining President Trump’s claims that “law enforcement has become the target of a dangerous assault by the radical left.”

Both organizations only count covid deaths “if it is determined that the officer died as a result of exposure to the virus while performing official duties,” as the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund put it. “Substantive evidence will be required to show the death was more than likely due to the direct and proximate result of a duty-related incident.”

In addition to the 100 confirmed coronavirus fatalities listed on the Officer Down website, the nonprofit said it is in the process of verifying an additional 150 officer deaths due to covid-19 and presumed to have been contracted in the line of duty, said Chris Cosgriff, executive director of ODMP, in an email.

“By the end of this pandemic, it is very likely that COVID will surpass 9/11 as the single largest incident cause of death for law enforcement officers,” he wrote.

I'm pretty sure if something could have been done during the midst of the 9/11 attacks to reduce the number of eventual deaths --- especially to law enforcement --- no one would have stood in the way of those steps being taken.

Especially if the necessary action were something as simple as wearing a mask over your face.

Yet today, we HAVE the opportunity to minimize the damage done my the coronavirus.  But many of the same people who claim that "blue lives matter" is their top priority refuse to undergo even that minimal inconvenience to protect those blue lives.