Donald Trump may have predicted that on Nov. 4 the coronavirus pandemic would no longer be an issue, but here’s a shocker—Trump was wrong. Marching millions of Americans to the polls to vote did not make the virus go away any more than any of the other “magic” Trump has suggested.
Even as people were lining up on Election Day, often in situations that didn’t require masks or enforce social distancing, 1,200 Americans lost their lives on a day that scored just under previous records for highest day with 95,000 confirmed cases.
Now the nation moves forward with half the states having endorsed the death of over 250,000, and with Trump focused on fighting votes rather than disease. Which is … honestly no change at all. It’s just that Trump’s malign neglect will be a tad more obvious.
It wasn’t just turnout that was up on Tuesday. Wisconsin may have been a tight race at the ballot box, but it blew away all records for new cases. Ohio might have stayed red, and Minnesota might have remained blue, but both states were funeral black as they set new records in the nation for COVID-19.
Tuesday may have been a historic day for politics, but it was just another day in the coronavirus disaster that was created by the political calculations of one man. Another day, except that day was worse than the week before. Which was worse than the week before. Which was … repeat nine times.
If this were just a Midwestern surge, it might be addressable through actions at the state level. It’s not. States like Texas and Florida have returned to levels not seen since August, and Arizona is seeing an increase in cases and in deaths. This surge is so broad-based and so pervasive that it threatens to create a mountain of cases against which everything that has happened so far has been a foothill. Last week, the number of new cases in a single day broke 100,000 for the first time. When Donald Trump made that crack about how there were 15 cases and it was going down to zero, it took another 47 days for the U.S. to pass 100,000 cases. Now we’re doing it on a Tuesday.
Cases are rising so consistently and so widely, that when people look back at these events from a historical perspective, the way we look at the 1918 flu epidemic now, they may think the pandemic started in the fall of 2020. Everything else was a warm-up—just the stuff that happened before it got really bad. It’s a moment in time that demands powerful, direct action from the federal government. Which we will not get until January. So, until then, here are a few reminders:
- Even if everyone around you is tired of wearing masks and socially distancing, keep your mask and keep your distance. It’s a lot easier to survive a bout of peer pressure than it is to be intubated.
- Support your local businesses, but do so in a safe way. Use curbside pickup at your local restaurant. Order from local bookstores and retailers. If you have to, put on your mask, go in for your carry out, and get out of there.
- Take advantage of any good weather days remaining in your area to have some outside chats, at an appropriate distance.
- Wash your hands. The level of coronavirus transmission that actually occurs through contact rather than the air remains unclear. Keep washing your hands so you don’t end up as a medical paper titled “What do you know, it can happen that way.”
- Besides, who doesn’t like clean hands?
- Avoid indoor spaces and gatherings of all types. That includes Thanksgiving. Remember: It doesn’t matter how good grandma’s pie might be if you’ve lost your sense of taste because of #@%@ing coronavirus. Also, you might lose grandma.
- It probably wouldn’t hurt to top off the old “plague cabinet” with some fresh supplies, just to minimize the number of trips you need to make to the store. While you’re at it, order some stuff for your local food pantry. Also, if you stockpiled canned veggies back in the spring, check the date on those things and think about donating anything that you’re not actually planning to eat in the next few months.
Don’t catch this thing. It’s really bad. The catalog of all the ways it’s bad is still growing, and we’re not going to understand for years all the damage that’s really been done. I know you’re tired. We’re all tired. But keep taking it seriously, and we will get through it.
Remember, a vaccine is coming and—barring the intervention of the Supreme Court—it looks very much like President Biden is coming. Get through these next three months, and we’ll likely have both a national mask mandate, some of the first vaccines will be heading for first responders, and a national system of testing and contact management will genuinely be on the way. But if you want to see that, you have to be around to see that. By not catching COVID-19.
Surprise, Donald: It’s Nov. 4, and I’m still talking about COVID-19!