Coronavirus daily update: Tuesday, Oct. 20

Preaching to the choir

It’s Tuesday, and already I’ve written a thousand words or so fretting about the coronavirus numbers here and elsewhere in the world. The US, of course, is spiking as people continue to flout safety protocols in some pockets of existence. But it’s not just here. The countries of the European Union, which were laughing at the US response all summer long, are getting a second wave that threatens to eclipse the first. Most of South America is absolutely jacked with coronavirus right now. And India, second only to the US in diagnosed cases of COVID-19, is on pace to surpass us by the end of the year.

This scenario taps into one of my initial fears of the coronavirus, namely: Are we all going to get it?

Maybe so. Maybe so.

But for crying out loud. We can wear masks and wash our hands, we can avoid gatherings or maybe even stay shut in our homes. A two- or four-week shutdown — a real one — would change the game for the rest of the winter. But until the House and Senate get over themselves and their shitty political parties to pass a meaningful stimulus package for families and small businesses, that cannot happen.

We’re headed back to that place where there are no good answers, where the truth is a moving target and where there are always those who will work against the best interests of the human race.

As a nation, we have learned very little from the first seven months of coronavirus. Here’s hoping we smarten up before this disastrous year ends.

The numbers

• Yeah, we’re ticking upwards again. 1,578 new cases in NC, 240,297 molecular positives.
  • The US today added 42,895 cases, so we are responsible for 3.77 percent of them.
  • We own 2.8 percent of all US cases, 8.5 million as of today.
  • Our case count puts our state at No. 7 on the list, behind Georgia (342,438), Illinois (27,972), New York (27,972), Florida (760,389), Texas (877,077) and California (882,906).
  • 53 new deaths today for 3,992.
  • 7.4 percent positive test rate.
  • 1,203 hospitalized. I can’t remember seeing anything higher since this started.
• Guilford County has 90 new cases today, making 10,394. Two more deaths for 189, and 5,974 recoveries means 4,231 active cases.
• Forsyth County has not updated Facebook yet, but I find 46 new cases, for 8,201, and two new deaths for 114.

A diversion

Man, I tell you I’ve had it. So here’s four hours (plus!) of Betty Boop cartoons from the 1930s.

Program notes

• For tonight’s featured image, we’ve got “The Sacrifice of Isaac,” by Giovanni Domenico Tiepolo, mid-1750s. Taken from the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s public-domain collection.
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