North Woods Journal

 

A PANDEMIC UPDATE (and the world according to me)

 

 

The Covid 19 pandemic continues here in the north woods, however, it is showing signs of lessening as our new patient counts in Michigan have trended downward in the last several weeks. We who live here can claim some credit for the improvement. Not much, you understand, but enough that I feel we should talk about our role in helping stem the awful tide of transmission by a virus that is having it’s way with the United States more than any other nation on earth. As we stumble toward a half million deaths from Covid 19, more than the deaths from any war we have engaged in, we should all double down on our prevention efforts and do those things that are known to help, however small they may be.

 

Fortunately, those of us in Michigan have a smart lady governor who knows just when and how to pull the strings that help to keep us safe. Other governors and our former President seem to be jealous. As you will recall, she has taken political flack when she ‘closed down’ many businesses that were known to be culpable in furthering the spread of illness. The political flack that resulted from her appropriate action provoked an armed invasion of our capitol by pretend soldiers who came to the capitol with war-ready long rifles demanding entrance to the state house, claiming that Michigan’s ‘open carry’ law allowed such aggressive behavior. When the fire they tried to ignite didn’t, the militia men retreated to their enclaves to develop a plan to kidnap the governor and then assassinate her. Fortunately for the rest of us, the criminals who did the planning hadn’t read a sufficient number of spy novels to realize that the first requirement in developing a successful plan for a hit is to keep it secret. Fortunately for us, the planning boys didn’t realize one of those they recruited to help them was an FBI agent. It might be funny if the intent of the plan wasn’t so awful.

 

As the virus continued its onslaught on neighboring states, Michigan continued to help minimize the spread by keeping the virus at bay. Instead of kudos for her work, now we learn that other states are openly mocking her. Indiana has wasted state funding to install billboards along public highways mocking the Michigan governor. I might note that their billboards did not post the comparison of Michigan Covid 19 illnesses versus other states in the Midwest, including Indiana. With our governor’s continued help, the cooperation of our citizenry, and the vaccine that everyone should be getting, we can expect that things will get better soon.

 

Vaccinations across the country are proceeding, albeit, not as quickly as desired. My wife and I have had our first shot and are scheduled for the follow-on shot in early March. We are also following the recommended practices of avoiding others, especially those who are maskless or, almost as bad, those with masks tucked below their noses, or one of the rigid half-masks that fit loosely, allowing spittle to escape in an invisible plume that may be lethal for some of us. Available science data indicates that the wearing of two masks provides better protection for both the wearer and anyone who comes within range of the microscopic droplets that an infected person can disburse unknowingly. I have found that two masks, tightly fitted, are about as comfortable as one mask. I don’t see any reason not to follow the latest recommendations to help prevent the spread, hence I have fallen into the habit of carrying two masks wherever I go.

 

I hope you and your family are staying safe. I also urge you to help others stay safe by following the science-backed recommendations that are now being reliably passed on to us from our medical experts at CDC and other health agencies. We should take comfort in the spectacular results being achieved in some other nations; Wuhan China, the genesis of the illness, is now 100% back to work and virus free. New Zealand has just locked down because of three cases, a departure from their former zero cases, and Israel has seen a 40% reduction in illness as they work toward vaccinating 100% of their population. Surely, we can do as well in combatting this pandemic if we join together in putting our energies into solving this problem.