Corona Log Entry- January 26, 2021

Corona Log Entry- January 26, 2021

          We started out the day in SW Florida with a heavy coastal fog in the early morning. Then, as the mist dissipated, we were treated to the glorious sunshine and 80 degrees of a Beautiful day. Salubrious weather really does take the edge off of serious events, even that of the nasty, Corona pandemic.

          Mary and I still have not cracked the “Corona shot machine” for a vaccination. It is so called because the obnoxious call in procedures, at local Publix Grocery stores to get one, is like playing a bad slot machine. Luck and circumstance buy you Covid-19 protection. The rest of the senior population awaits their turn in a “last lifeboat” frenzy. Poor planning and worse communication only exacerbate the situation.

         There is confusion nationally as to how much of the vaccine is available. The new Secretary of Health and Human Services admitted, on a televised news interview, that she currently has “no idea” how many shots are available in the United States. The outgoing administration was left than helpful, in the information that they left behind, about supplies of vaccines and plans to administer the vaccinations. Joe Biden has pledged that his outfit’s goal is to inoculate 100 million Americans in the first 100 days of his administration. That is a tall order.

         The death toll, from Covid-19 related illnesses, is now over 422,000 souls in America and rising every day. Some 25 million Americans have been infected with the virus. It isn’t much better anywhere else. New strains of the virus have developed in Britain, Brazil and South Africa. Each strain more virulent and contagious than the original. Negative corona virus tests are now required of anyone seeking to fly into the United States. An additional counter-measure, required by the Biden Administration, is that all modes of inter-state transportation in the U.S. require mandatory wearing of masks, on buses, trains and planes.

The stock market sails along, oblivious to the pandemic, though experts predict an eventual downturn from all of the ill effects that our economy has suffered. Unemployment continues to rise and the levels of people with “food insufficiency” grows daily. By Executive order, there has been another freeze issued on evictions for non-payment of rent. It lasts until April.

As a backdrop for all of the real crisis management, the House of Representatives yesterday formally carried a message of impeachment, to the Unites States Senate Chambers, charging former President Donald J. Trump with “High Crimes and Misdemeanors” in the incitement to violence of a crowd of Trump supporters on January 6^th, who over ran and occupied the U.S Capitol building and caused all of the legislators to flee for their lives. The trial will begin in two weeks. Questions about the legality of charging a former President are still unanswered. Most pundits say that the two thirds majority, necessary to convict Trump, is not there and never will be.

Next week, Congress is expected to take up consideration of the “Biden Rescue Package.” It is a 1.9 Trillion-dollar initiative that includes $1,400 per person grants, aid for states and localities and other business inducements to help restart a sagging economy. Most legislators know that some stimulus is necessary, but disagree on the amount and extent of that relief needed.

We go about our lives daily, wearing masks, social distancing and using disinfectant, waiting for our turn in the vaccine lottery. It has only been a month since the vaccine was issued. It will be a long time before we get everyone vaccinated and the country back to normal.

                                         -30-

                                      ( 600 words)

                                 Joseph Xavier Martin