It’s a matter of simple mathematics. What’s so hard to understand?
Within 12 hours of the President’s proclamation to the nation that there is nothing to worry about, more than 76,000 new cases were confirmed. This is the second highest increase to date. Regrettably Trump seems to be out of touch on this virus– or else in complete denial about this pandemic.
These increases are across-the-board, with hospitalizations and deaths all accelerating. The 76,195 new cases reported on Thursday is slowly creeping up on the record high of 77,299 new cases reported on July 16. The only country reporting higher single-day increases is India, which reported 97,894 new cases on Sept. 17.
COVID-19 deaths are up. Thirteen percent from last week. The number of COVID-19 hospitalizations are up as well– 34% from Oct. 1, according to a Reuters analysis. Eight states set new records for single-day increases. Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Montana, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma and Utah all reported their biggest single-day increases since the pandemic began.
Dr. Jeff Pothof, an emergency medicine physician at University of Wisconsin Health in Madison told reporters: “The picture isn’t rosy.” An understatement, if I ever heard one.
Even if 98 percent of those infected get well, the higher the number of people infected, the higher the 2 percent deaths there will be: 2% of 100 is 2; 2% of 1000 is 20. (Yeah, I know. I keep saying this). Until a vaccine is found, the only way to keep the deaths from mounting is to keep the infection from spreading. That’s the message the president should be communicating if saving American lives is truly important– not downplaying the importance of wearing masks and washing hands and social distancing.
I may be wrong, but to me it’s just elementary math. So for the life of me I just can’t figure it out: why is it so darn hard to understand?
