Hermione Luck / Chief Columnist
Covid Update
August 1, 2021
Now that we have the first twenty-one months of Covid under our belts, it’s very possible that normal has not only left the dock, but most likely will never return. There will be some kind of new normal perhaps, there always is. We’re told without a normal there’s only chaos, which apparently is not a whole lot of fun. As Warren Buffet once said, “Low tide reveals who’s not swimming with a bathing suit.”
Covid has brought with it a low tide of reality. And so it becomes that in this ocean of chance in which we live, Covid has changed everything, and among this experience of upheaval, Covid has revealed ourselves not to one another, but to ourselves.
Let’s start over – these are words from the president of the United States in 2020 …
Jan … “It’s one person coming in from China and we have it under control”
Feb … “Counts are going down, not up … fake news.”
Mar … “It’s going to disappear soon it’s like a miracle, it’s going to disappear.”
May … “This is going to go away without a vaccine.”
Sept … “Masks have their problems too.”
Here is a basic report card as of October 1, 2021
- 719,000 deceased in America
- 4,227,760 deceased worldwide
- 197,000,000 reported infections worldwide
- 99.2% of all recent deaths unvaccinated
How has American life changed this far into a new age of pandemic? In the cities, subway usage is down 58% and used car sales up 30%. In the rural areas, the home values in Boise have gone up 31%, in Provo 21%.
- 42% of Americans gained weight.
- 66% slept less.
- 25% drank more.
Actually, maybe that would’ve happened anyway. Of course, in this entire mess of statistics, there is one primary statistic that stands above all others … the first Covid vaccine appeared (327) days after identification of the virus. Amen. Before this truly miraculous effort to identify a vaccine, which begs us to believe in science, the previous record to develop a vaccine for an epidemic disease was four years. And so many viruses continue to have no vaccine at all.
- The Covid vaccine was no ordinary effort. And now that it’s here, it takes everyone to make it a success. Can the world be united to face the task?
- Maybe America isn’t really all racism and guns.
- Maybe I have this wrong. Maybe America still aspires to be something more, to be the eyes and ears, the science and vision of the future, to be proud to present to the world its self-styled elusive ladder of success. Yes, come to America if you must, but buyer beware.
No matter which culture we call our own, we are only safe on this transitory planet if everyone is safe … much like none of us make it to Heaven unless all of us make it to Heaven. I know that’s hard for the 144,000 who believe they are chosen, but salvation begins with the acceptance that no one sits in the front row
Hermione