I Didn’t Sign Up For This
A Covid-19 Blog
Chapter Three
For Whom The Bell Tolls
By helping others, you will learn how to help yourselves.
Aung San Suu Kyi.
I just watched an interview with a doctor in Italy. She begged us to take the “Stay Home” advice seriously.
Italy lost over eight hundred people today. In one day. The only place they aren’t losing people are in the smaller towns that shut down completely.
The bigger towns that kept factories open are the ones who are suffering the greatest losses now.
The mindset was “We can’t shut down these businesses without shutting down the entire country.”
And now they are paying the price.
The United States is soaring past Italy’s numbers. I want to share a chart with you I began keeping when my son, who lives in Illinois pointed out this alarming trend about ten days ago.
Keep in mind, we (USA) are eleven days behind Italy. In other words, the virus spread to our country eleven days after Italy began getting cases.
ITALY UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
Feb 23rd 155 cases (DAY 1)……… March 5th 159 cases (DAY 1)
February 24th – 229 cases ……….. March 6th – 233 cases
February 25th – 322 cases ………… March 7th – 338 cases
February 26th – 453 cases…………. March 8th – 436 cases
February 27th – 655 cases………….. March 9th – 603 cases
February 28th – 888 cases………….. March 10th – 808 cases
February 29th – 1,128 cases……….. March 11th – 1,135 cases.
Okay, so after the first seven days of infection, our curve is mirroring Italy’s curve. There are already great murmurs of concern. Our population density is greater. We also have three times as many people. Soon, it became apparent there was cause for concern, if not outright alarm.
ITALY UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
March 1st – 1,694 cases (DAY EIGHT) March 12th – no number recorded (DAY EIGHT)
March 2nd – 2036 cases ………………….. March 13th – 2340 cases
March 3rd – 2502 cases ………………….. March 14th 2, 499 cases
March 4th – 3089 cases ………………….. March 15th 3,737 cases
March 5th – 3,858 cases ………………….. March 16th 4706 cases
March 6th – 4,636 cases ………………….. March 17th 6,499 cases
March 7th – 5,883 cases ………………….. March 18th 9,259 cases
By the end of the second week, the United States curve is looking more like a space shuttle launch than a curve. We’ve surpassed Italy.
Italy is already losing control as their health system becomes overwhelmed. Remember, we’ve been infected as a country for the same number of days, but by day 14, it’s obvious where we’re headed.
ITALY UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
March 8th – 7,375 cases ………….. March 19th 14,322 cases
March 9th – 9,172 cases ………..…. March 20th 19,643 cases
March 10th 10,149 cases …………. March 21st 27,069 cases
March 11th 12,462 cases ……..….. March 22nd 38, 757 cases by 1:53 pm today Central Standard Time.
As of today’s date, March 22nd, Italy is now at 59,138 cases, 29 days after initial reporting of infection. They are already reporting a further 651 deaths today, and it’s not midnight yet.
We are only at Day 17 of initial reporting of infection. If that doesn’t alarm you, I suggest you find another planet to live on. Quickly.
Every time I hear someone spouting off how the media is “sensationalizing” this, or that it’s “no worse than the flu, the death rate is not that bad,” I want to ask them if they have anyone they care about over the age of sixty? Or a friend who is battling cancer, or any number of other underlying health conditions?
Yes, most people infected with the Covid-19 novel corona virus will recover. Maybe even 90%. Why don’t you share those statistics with people who are losing their friends, their mothers and fathers, their children, aunts, uncles, cousins, husbands and wives to this virus?
Explain how you would take it seriously if it was that big a deal, but after all, you’ll survive. That is, unless you don’t. Because this virus wasn’t born yesterday. If it continues to spread, it will have the chance to mutate. The next wave might not be so friendly to the younger generation.
The most important fact here is that if we don’t flatten this skyrocketing curve, we will lose people who didn’t have to die.
The medical community throughout this country is only days away from becoming overwhelmed. In seven days, in ten days, in two weeks, there will be so many people fighting for their lives, we cannot accommodate them all in the hospitals.
This isn’t media hype. These are good people trying to get Americans to wake up and listen. Stay Home. Stay at least ten feet from other people. Wash your hands. Sanitize surfaces. Don’t gather in groups of over FIVE people. Socially isolate.
It’s not forever. Unless you don’t listen. Because for those who die, the survival statistics will not mean much.
Julu's World 