word up, tell me what's the word?

Please notice the date - October 6 - and please also notice one more thing.

Although this resembles the "new cases" graphs I've posted, this data is not for several states in the USA.

It's for several states in India.

This brought home to me that ours is not the only country dealing with a myriad of responses to the SARS-CoV-2 virus over a period of time.

This is why it has been so difficult to convince people worldwide to treat COVID as a serious issue: it may not have yet affected their part of the country or of a state.

 

 

These are the latest curves for our home-grown pandemic.

Yes, I mean home-grown, as we have had the opportunity to quell the surge, but have instead embraced the rush upward.

Once the first cases were found in California and New York, a half-hearted effort to stop the disease was met with resistance nationwide... and the virus marched on, unchecked, spread by bare faces and dirty hands and tainted breath.

It was mindless of religious faith or political persuasion, not heeding ethnic backgrounds or gender differences or even rainbow affiliation, discounting relevance of financial wealth or job title.

After all, it's a virus.

It doesn't play favorites.

It doesn't play.

The whole function of a virus is to make more of itself and to use its host's ribosomes to do so... and to use its host to spread to other hosts.

The virus depends on its host being in close proximity to other potential hosts, whether at the beach or theme parks as it was in the summer, or up in areas rich in fall foliage.

In this graph of rates of infection per 100000 people, there are three trends present.

There are those that are beginning to plateau (LA, FL, GA, CA, TX), those leading into an intense rise (MI, PA, TN) and those sharply increasing and heading for the moon (AL, OK).

Those latter five are at a little higher latitude, so the trees were quite lovely a month ago... and their rates, as well as their weekly sums of new cases, have been rising for the last two weeks.

Yes, there's that magic number: two weeks.

No surprise there.

Sigh.

Again, we need not feel singled out.

Every country, on every continent, has been dealing with this malevolent virus, some for a few months longer than we in the USA.

Europe is currently experiencing a second wave that has been much more deadly than the first and has posted daily infection rates that are triple what was perceived as so terrible during their first encounter with this coronavirus.

COVID-19 is not only a serious problem in the United States.

COVID-19 is not a disease which will be cured by a change in leadership, in this nation or elsewhere.

COVID-19 requires all humans to make a concerted effort to eradicate it, regardless of where they live or what they believe or how they self-identify.

COVID-19 requires each one of us to take responsibility for our actions, to lead our children by example to be mindful of causing no harm to others.

Colder temperatures mean more people inside, in spaces with recirculated air, whether at a grocery store or at work or in school.

It is vital that each one of us makes the effort to have the health of others always in mind, wearing our face coverings, washing our hands, not touching surfaces.

Remember, the goal continues to be no new cases...

As Cameo would say, "Word Up!"

Here's my take on that song.

 

"Yo everybody all around the world
Got a true thing to show you
So tell all the boys and girls

Tell India, Brazil and all of Europe too
COVID madness looms around us
though we know just what to do

Wear your mask everywhere to show you care
Maintain social distance even if others look and stare
Wash your hands, wash your hands, wash your hands but not quick
Got to get you up some lather cause that's the real trick
Word up
everybody say
Wash those hands for twenty seconds and do not touch your face
Word up
it's the code
word
Let's all try to do better - please tell me that I'm heard

That virus doesn't care if you think you're fly
It cares naught about religion and here's the reason why
A virus has no politics, ethnicity, or gender
It's an alien invader, that's what you gotta remember

With no vaccine we ain't gonna lose it
Whichever way we turn it'll already be there
We don't have the time for bureaucratic nonsense
No nonsense, no nonsense, no nonsense for me, people
Come on won't you tell me
what's the word
Word up
everybody say
When you hear the call please say you'll get it underway"
 

'Til next we meet...

please take care of each other.

Not just those you know and love, but also the strangers you haven't met yet.

Thanks.