covid diary: day 14

Today the president said he wants the country to be reopened by Easter, which is something like 19 days from now. I do not think that's in any way feasible, and sending people back out to work that soon will cause more deaths and damage the economy as much or more as a shutdown would. The lieutenant governor of Texas, meanwhile, went on TV to say that he's sure that grandparents across America are willing to risk their lives in service of keeping the economy going for the next generations. An informal survey of the grandparents I know concludes that the lieutenant governor of Texas is 100% full of shit.

Meanwhile, Andrew Cuomo, governor of New York, continues to be a strong voice of actual leadership in his daily press briefings. I watch them just to be reassured that somewhere there is a real leader taking real actions to try to save Americans. I refuse to watch the White House press briefings anymore; they're basically just propaganda and lies at this point. If something true is said, I'll read about it after the fact, but I'm not giving that clown any more attention than necessary when he doesn't even listen to the pandemic experts on his own team.

In news that may not shock you but absolutely disappointed/enraged me, Mike's company is exploiting a loophole (they're not an essential manufacturer, but they do make a few components used by other manufacturers that can be considered essential) so that they don't have to close down. So the managers went around yesterday telling people they still need to report for work every day, and writing down the names of people who are unhappy with the decision so they can talk to HR. The "compromise" option they came up with for people who don't feel safe coming to work, or who simply want to abide by the governor's stay at home order, is that they will have to use up any vacation/personal time they have, then they will be allowed to take unpaid time, but in that case they must pay the company back for any health insurance/benefits during the unpaid time. Ah yes, I can see how that must have taken a huge concession from them. Anyway, Mike is going to try to take vacation for the next week or so to get us through to the end of the governor's stay at home order, and then we'll see where things stand. If I were in the business of making predictions, I would say that by the time the order is officially over (April 7), the state will be much further in crisis, and the governor will extend the order and/or add new restrictions in an effort to stop the spread. Just since yesterday, the number of deaths nearly doubled (from 7 to 12), and the number of confirmed infections in the state went up by more than 100.

Nationwide, the numbers are even more grim: 55,236 cases and 802 deaths (more than 200 deaths since yesterday). This is serious, friends, and I really wish everyone would take it seriously.