Jumping the gun
The governor’s stay-at-home order lasts until at least May 8, at which time — if we have met certain benchmarks in testing and tracing — we will enter Phase 1 of the recovery. If not, the order stays in place.
Everybody knows this, right? I mean, word has gotten out, has it not, that the dangers presented by the novel coronavirus have not yet passed? And that we’re just beginning to understand the virus, facets of its transmission, effective treatments and, in some US cities, what to do with the bodies?
I’m not so sure.
Last week on my weekly run to the grocery store, I put about 90 percent of the customers as wearing masks. On today’s trip, it was less than half. It’s not exactly scientific, but I’m hearing similar stories from friends around town.
Fact: We need 14 consecutive days of decreased case-counts, hospitalizations and other measurable coronavirus activity before we can even get to Phase I — which, I stress, we have not yet reached.
So maybe we should look at the numbers.
The numbers
- The state of North Carolina added 586 new cases of COVID-19 today — that’s the disease caused by the coronavirus. These are sick people.
- That’s more than 11,500 total
- These guys say 430 deaths, 11 today, and at least 1,812 recoveries.
- We’ve actually reached a new high in our 7-day rolling average of cases: 424.
- Forsyth County alone has 16 new cases today — that’s 268 total.
- Guilford County has not yet updated it’s page, but these guys say 22 new ones today, with one new death making 31.
- The NC DHHS dashboard has some new metric tools, like a breakdown by county, ZIP code, race, age and more.
- 41 percent of lab-confirmed cases fall into the 25-49 age range. And 87 percent of the deaths are people over 65 years of age.
A diversion
It was a terrible idea for a TV show: A gritty, cop drama, but it’s a musical! “Cop Rock” came about in 1990, created by heavyweight Steven Bochco, the guy who made “Hill Street Blues” and “LA Law,” but also “Doogie Howser, MD.” “Cop Rock,” though, was the show that no one asked for. The musical numbers are jarring against the hyperrealism of the storylines. And the whole thing is just hard to watch. Here’s the worst one: the pilot, which aired on Sept. 26, 1990.
Program notes
- tyTonight’s featured image is “Alexander Condemning False Praise” by Francesco de Mura, ca. 1760. Thanks to the National Gallery of Art‘s public-domain collection.
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Our stubborn arrogance will kill us. Don’t climb that tree. We’re at the top before the command is finished. Then we wonder why our arm broke when we fell. It’s a strange nature of too many humans.