COVID19 Update - Day 222

US Tests: 116,279,348*

US Cases: 8,113,984*

US Deaths: 211,384*

Worldwide Cases: 39,876,674*

Worldwide Deaths: 1,112,535*

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

The walls are closing in.

Tonight's update is personal.  I have been fortunate, thus far, that the retirement community where my parents live appears to be remarkably well-run.  Until about a week ago, there were only 3 reported cases of the #TrumpVirus in the past 7 months --- and one of those was a resident who brought it back to the facility after having surgery in a hospital.

It would appear that my parents' luck has run out.

They are not themselves infected.  However, there are now two additional infections among the residents, and --- most disturbingly --- SIX cases among the staff, including the facility director.  All of these cases were just confirmed in the last week or two.

Fortunately, my parents can quarantine --- they hate it, of course, like everyone else, but there's nothing else to do.  And provided all of the affected individuals are also appropriately quarantined, they will probably be all right.  And although we will probably never know how these 6 workers got infected, it was probably the result of crap like this:

Parker’s Barbecue in Wilson found itself in the news this week after a customer complained about employees not wearing masks, as first reported by WRAL.

Following that report, a Facebook group of Parker’s supporters was started and has grown to 24,000 members. According to the group’s public Facebook page, fans plan to meet at the restaurant this Saturday for lunch, with many vowing not to wear a mask.

The COVID-19 pandemic is now entering its seventh month, with North Carolina reporting more than 200,000 cases and more than 3,500 deaths.

It gets worse.  Because tonight I heard from my son, who's now in his second year of college.  He goes to school in a remote corner of Minnesota, and so the campus probably thought they had nothing to worry about.  I thought they were wrong, and that they would be shutting down in-person instruction within 2 or 3 weeks of the start of classes on August 19.

I'll admit it took longer than I thought it would.  And so far as I can tell, the college still has no plans to shut down in-person instruction --- but they probably should.  Here's an edited version of an email I received from my son tonight:

A freshman on the women's soccer team tested positive for Covid late last week, and now her and a couple of her close friends are now in quarantine. They were moved to the on-campus apartments, which give them access to a bed, shower, sink, microwave, and oven with stove top without having to be in contact with other people. I'm sure they still have to get other people to bring them food and groceries though.

Since the women's team and the men's team do a lot of stuff together (go to parties and pregames together), there's a chance we might get Covid-19. Also, someone who was over at my house on Wednesday tested positive for Covid-19, my house is at a higher risk of getting Covid-19. ALSO, a girl that one of my teammates knows, who lives in the men's soccer house, tested positive for Covid-19, and he wasn't feeling too good for a while there, so WE'RE ALL at high risk of getting Covid-19. Pardon my french here, but it seems that we're kinda fucked.

Trump doesn't deserve all of the blame for this --- only about 80%, maybe.