Sept 25th entry Living in the time of Corona

Friday, September 25, 2020

It is a brilliant Fall day in WNY. Temps are in the high seventies. We drove South on Rte.#219 to Ellicottville today. The red oranges and crimsons are just starting to display their colorful fall display. Many of the people walking around Ellicottville had masks on.

The Corona toll continues to toll increases in the death rate. It now approaches 203,000 souls, with some seven million infections in the U.S. The return of college students to their various campuses added another 80,000 infections to the tally. World-wide, there are over one million deaths so far. A recurrence, of the rise in viral infections, has Israel considering another national lock down in businesses.

New York State still seems to have the virus relatively under control, with a 1% of tests showing positive for Corona Infections. The rest of the states are all flaring up to the 10% level. Regardless of the rate of illnesses, there is still a reluctance by some to wear masks in close quarters or social distance from others. Most of this movement emanates from the Trump campaign, who apparently see wearing masks as a sign of disloyalty to the President.

Yesterday, a woman in Ohio refused to wear a mask at a high school football game, even though Ohio state law requires it. She refused to leave when asked by security guards and was reluctantly tased, cuffed and arrested. Previous to this we had only seen such desperate measures in China. There seems to be an errant notion spreading, that the first and second amendment to the U.S. Constitution gives a person a “get out of jail free card” for obeying local regulations, if you disagree with them. Wrong! All legally constituted legislative bodies have the right and the power to enforce, traffic, health, safety and the entire array of criminal infractions regulations. You defy and ignore the regulations at risk of fine and/or imprisonment.

Most medical experts fear the coming of colder months, when everyone is forced indoors for dining and social interactions. We dined at the “Irishman” in Williamsville two nights ago. The outside areas were packed with over a hundred diners. Ditto for the Brewery next door. What will folks do when the snows come? “Ice dining” might sound cool, but I wouldn’t want to try it. It is too cold in Buffalo for that exercise.

The Pac-12 College Football Conference just decided to allow fans to attend games in their fall football schedule. I shudder to think of 100,000 screaming fans, many without masks, shouting and cheering. The infection total could be horrendous. The NFL games, with no fans or a select 25% of capacity, seem to be going off well. You really don’t notice the missing fans and still enjoy the game. Baseball, Hockey and golf all manage to continue without interruptions, just no fans.

Controversy still swirls around the type of information being released from the Center For Disease Control. It is calling into question not only the validity of their predictions, but the efficacy of any type of cure they might manufacture. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo issued a statement saying that New York State will have to review any vaccines, that the federal government advocates, because we can “no longer trust the federal government.” That is more than a radical pronouncement. It bespeaks of an entire governmental system that is falling apart. There is still one straight shooting hero. Dr. Anthony Fauci, of the CDC, approaches rock star status. His opinions are believed in and trusted by a vast majority of Americans.

Besides the Corona Virus and its cure, the major topic of national conversation is the death of beloved Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg. Whether or not a candidate should be advanced for nomination, so close to a presidential election, is an argument proposed by the Republican Senate in 2016. It is now debated, with some heat, across the land. It sort of reminds me of the Charley Brown comic character Lucy, holding a football and telling Charlie to kick it before she jerks the ball away for the twentieth time and he falls on his face. Regardless of where anyone stands on the issue, people have to look askance at all politicians and whether or not you can ever believe anything they say.

The whole area of vaccine creation for the Corona Virus is being debated by everyone. Those running for office, suggest that a cure is just around the corner. They can also get you a good deal on underwater beachfront property in Florida. Most medical experts see a vaccine by early Spring of 2021. The distribution to an entire population of Americans could take up to a year. We will do well if we can just manage to get through a long winter without a rampant upsurge in viral infections. Mary and I got our “over 65 flu shots” at Walgreens the other day. That nasty viral infection is just about to make its yearly debut. May the Good Lord help us all to weather that plague.

One day at a time.

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