We are now 10 months into a botched state and national response to the Covid-19 pandemic. As a scientist, data summaries on case counts, morbidity, fatalities, and hospitalizations are truly frightening. As an older adult with co-morbidities who is a husband of same, and parent of children at risk and others who fight on the front lines in hospitals, it is frightening.
We in Oregon seem to have staved off much of the worst that Covid-19 has brought, but we are not (yet) immune. The national metrics are staggering and we are facing a potential doubling of case counts and deaths in weeks, without harsh measures that will challenge any libertarian.
The data from today's New York Times make it clear. Nationally, we must act, all of us, to limit the outbreak this winter. It will take political will, selflessness, and strict adherence to yet-to-be-realized government restrictions for us to stem the tide. At least the Biden Administration now has the keys to the closet, but in each state and locality, all of us must act together. I'm not looking forward to hearing of 3,000 deaths per day in the US.
