The United States tallied up 20,000 new cases of COVID-19 on Monday. As usual, the numbers at the start of each week ticked downward, reflecting a decrease in reporting over the weekend as county medical offices and testing sites were mostly closed. However, that 20,000 is higher than the previous Monday. Just like this past Sunday was higher than the previous Sunday. And Saturday was higher than the previous Saturday. And Friday …
As Donald Trump prepares to pack as many people as he can convince to attend into a 19,000 person indoor arena in Tulsa for his Juneteenth plus one rally, White House officials are insisting that COVID-19 is either declining or “flat.” And it’s true enough that deaths over the last two weeks have fallen to a rate that averages less than 1,000, a number that matches values all the way back at the start of April. But there’s a difference. When the U.S. first hit 1,000 deaths, 700 of them came in New York and 200 of the rest came in neighboring states. On Monday, the number of deaths in New York was 41. The U.S. is seeing the same number of deaths as it did three months ago … but they’re distributed very differently. Rather than a single big hotspot, the U.S. is smoldering everywhere, and nowhere worse than the South.
On Monday, Texas, Florida, Arizona, North Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee, Alabama, and South Carolina were all in the top ten when it comes to states with new cases. In addition to the number of cases that have popped up in southern California, these are the states that really are keeping nationwide numbers not just flat, but rising, over the last few weeks. Texas and Florida in particular have set records for new cases … then demolished those records the next day. Both states seem to be rolling toward disaster, with hospitals around Houston reporting a record level of hospitalizations and Florida demonstrated an absolutely unmatched level of denial.
While Trump has fingered Jacksonville as the site for an unchecked and unlimited Republican convention, Florida surpassed its previous high number for daily cases on Friday, then broke that record on Saturday. Then, despite the usual decline that comes with weekends, Florida reported a Sunday number that would have been its record just two days earlier. There is absolutely no doubt that Florida is trending upward, both in the area about Miami and in the panhandle counties. And this is happening while Florida is still preventing county officials from accurately reporting causes of deaths. All of this came in the same week that Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis made it clear that he wasn’t going to hold back on reopening, no matter how many cases, or deaths, he saw.
Appearing at a press conference, and meeting with people in Jacksonville, DeSantis notably did not wear a mask. But DeSantis has a new defense for disregarding the virus—the protests following the police murder of George Floyd. “We just were through an era, a two-week period, where you had tens of thousands of people gathering in very close proximity in Hollywood, California, New York all these places,” said DeSantis. “There is not yet evidence that I'm aware of that that has sparked any type of significant outbreaks.”
First, protesters weren’t going out because they wanted to get to the beach or hobnob with political besties; they went out knowing that it was dangerous, because the issue at hand was so important that it had to be addressed by people showing up, even in the face of that danger. Two, most protesters, despite the emotion of the moment, wore masks and in many locations precautions were taken to allow effective action without taking unnecessary risks. Third … Hollywood? That’s where DeSantis names when talking about the protests that happened in at least 144 U.S. cities and in nations around the world? What an asshole.
But it’s not just Trump’s convention that looks like it’s going to be a virus bath. In Tulsa, the public health director has begged Trump to cancel his event, and that’s despite being a Trump fan who feels “honored” to have the first pandemic rally in his hometown. The editors of Tulsa World are even less enthusiastic about the event. “We don’t know why he chose Tulsa,” they wrote in a Monday editorial, “but we can’t see any way that his visit will be good for the city.” They point out that Trump may come and go, but the city and the people will be left to deal with the aftereffects at a time when local cases are already on the increase. Oklahoma has gotten off relatively lightly to this point, with “only” 359 people dead so far. But like 18 other states, their numbers have been trending up in the last two weeks.
Even if Trump doesn’t come, Tulsa could be facing an increase in cases that threatens the capacity of local health care. If he does come, it could be a bomb whose effects will be felt even miles, counties, and states away.