COVID chronicle - Five

It’s the first month of the New Year. Still mid-winter. The tough times over the past 11 months anchor the shroud of pain and fear still hanging over many people. (My arbitrary “start” of the impact of COVID is March 2020.) Plenty of unknowns about the direction the COVID pandemic could take would normally trigger more gloom. What awful things will come next? But I, for one, am so tired of considering what ifs? that I’ve turned off the worry circuits in my brain and have just moved on.

So, after this post, no more coronavirus claptrap for a bit. But let’s encapsulate this moment in time, shall we?

Courtesy of National Geographic online

As of January 31, per National Geographic…
Worldwide: 103 million confirmed cases; 2.2 million reported deaths
U.S.: 26 million cases; 440,000 deaths
Canada: 779,000 cases; 20,000 deaths
Japan: 388,000 cases; 6,000 deaths

Those are the tragic figures, which I am certain will be reviewed and revised once the medical and social carnage finally ends. Even at this juncture, it's been thorny to keep track of all the disruptions caused by this human cost. It’s affected everyone where the virus has sunk its spikes into society. We’ve had nearly a year of adjusting to great unknowns and reacting to events with our socially distant thought processes fueled by social media. We all perceive that, like 9-11, our lives will be changed permanently by the experience.

Beyond the human suffering, there’s historic economic decay. And how will this lost year affect the development of following generations? Then, there’s the impact of the nailbiter U.S. presidential election that –let’s face it – affects the entire world. Also, factor in the death of George Floyd, which has sparked bitter racial debate in the U.S., raised voices of dissent, and energized grassroots movements seeking racial justice even beyond their shores. Society has changed.

People have changed how they interact with their families, their neighborhoods, at the (for the lucky, virtual) office, and in nearly every other facet of life. COVID has undoubtedly engineered drastic shifts that will have lasting consequences even after the pandemic ends. This is where I think we are now.

But, where are we going? Somehow 2021 feels like we are on firmer ground. I’m encouraged by the sprouts of determination to quell the virus by the new Democratic administration in Washington. Efforts in Canada and Japan to roll out vaccines continue. The constant barrage of crap has tranquilized us so long that anything resembling a way out of this is a mental life ring. Spring is nowhere near sprung yet there are conspicuous buds of hope!

I’ve got a couple of posts coming up in which I’ll offer a proper goodbye to Nashville and a zesty hello again to Yokohama (round two).

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