Dispatch from Coronaville: Two Things at Once

Our Congressional Representative Joyce Beatty after being pepper sprayed by police during protests today Photo by Kyle Robertson for The Columbus Dispatch.

It's hard to pay attention to two things at once. The media knows this; it's why we have what's called the news cycle.  They report on something, and when it's exhausted they move on to the next thing.  For awhile it seemed the news cycle had gotten stuck. It was all COVID-19, all the time.  Even the murder of Ahmaud Arbery couldn't shake the laser like focus on the virus. But the COVID storyline was getting old--we were running out of things to say about it anyway.  It was past time for something new. And when America is in need of something we've had a long history of putting black bodies on the line to get it done.George Floyd was slain and at last the news cycle churned back to life. It's hard to pay attention to two things at once, especially when both are vitally important.

But just because something is hard doesn't mean it's impossible.  Just because the media plays to this human weakness doesn't mean we have to give in to it. Indeed, the very fact that it is hard is maybe an important sign that we really need to try to pay attention to two things at once. We have to remember that just because the story isn't the headline doesn't mean its not happening. The virus hasn't gone away. Not yet. The struggle of being black in America will still be there long after the next headline has taken over.

Because here's the thing: The virus doesn't care. It doesn't read or watch TV. It has no bias, no implicit or explicit racism. It's just going about its sole piece of business, replicating in as many bodies as it can. The virus doesn't care that we are tired of it; that we are ready to move on. If the virus could speak it would say: "We're done when I say we're done."  So we have to pay attention. Prediction: In the coming weeks we're going to see an uptick in infections among police officers and protesters.

And here's the other thing: America has failed to shake the virus of systemic racism for over 400 years now.  Like COVID, this virus makes it hard for us to breathe.  I've seen snarky comments about "why isn't anybody talking about the dangers of mass gatherings" now that its the thing to be out protesting. To me it's simple. Maybe for those taking to the streets, the risk to their health is worth it.  Maybe it's fatalistic--the virus is killing us, this nation is killing us. Maybe I take a chance on the former in order to stop the latter.  No one's rushing to develop a vaccine to cure systemic racism; there are no antibodies, no herd immunity, no social distancing or mask wearing that will mitigate this.  The only way to fight this is to take individual, personal action. Is it so surprising that people are willing to risk pepper spray and rubber bullets, a baton to the head or a bullet to the chest, are also willing to risk a potentially deadly infection?  We have to pay attention. Prediction: In the coming weeks, George Floyd and the protests that accompanied his murder will be forgotten, and a new story will take his place.  But we cannot forget.  We can't move on. We need to pay attention to more than one thing at a time.

So there will be a new series coming on this blog. I've spent years being reasonable and calm, making sure that people don't feel discomfited. I've earned a lot of social capital, being that easygoing, not angry black guy. Now it's time to start cash out and see who steps up and who turns away.

Here's the COVID numbers. Nationally we are hovering. Slight dips, slight increases that average out to a more less constant stream of new cases and deaths. Pay attention folks. This is not over yet. As of today we have 1,777,633 total cases, representing a 4.3% increase over the past three days. This is 12,000 more cases than I predicted. Deaths are back up too, 103,764, an increase of 3.5%,  almost a thousand more than I expected.  So looking to Tuesday, June 2, I expect to see 1,854,071 total cases and 107,396 total deaths.

The countdown clock resets across the board in our three benchmark states. All three posted an increase in the number of new cases, with Florida in particular posting the largest number of new cases over a three day period since April 18!  Ohio's uptick was thankfully small, an increase of less than a hundred cases--small enough that I just wanted to wish it away and will those numbers down. Nebraska posted a large spike as well with the highest numbers it's had since May 9.

Total Cases:

Florida: 55,416 total cases, 0.25% of the population

Ohio: 35,034 total cases, 0.3% of the population

Nebraska: 13,905 total cases, 0.71% of the population. Nebraska seems to racing towards the milestone of 1% of it's population being known to be infected with this virus.

New deaths are up too. Nebraska in particular stands out with the second highest number of deaths over three days that it's had since I started keeping records

Total Deaths: 

Florida: 2,446 total deaths, a rate of 4.4%

Ohio: 2,149 total deaths, a rate of 6.1%

Nebraska: 177 total deaths, a rate of 1.3%

By the way, I haven't forgotten my post on science. It's still coming.