Where in the hell do I begin? As I write this, we are about 4 weeks into the US’ COVID-19 Coronavirus lockdown. By April 18, 2020, this horrific virus has taken 154,350 lives worldwide (571,851 recovered). In the US, 32,823 lives have been lost (59,532 recovered).
I wanted to start writing about this a few weeks ago, but in “regular non-Moe Train life,” I’m the General Manager of a large retail store that has been deemed Essential. Dealing with working every day has become incredibly all-consuming, and extremely stressful, but I’ll get into that on a different post.
So many people have turned this shit into a damn politics discussion. There are crazy people on both sides of the US political landscape. There are people who think COVID-19 is nothing but a distraction from the election. Others think it’s a hoax, and I’m not talking about the president.
How fucking blind do people have to be to think this is some kind of conspiracy or that this isn’t a serious situation? There are shady things going on all over the world in regards to COVID, but it doesn’t make it any less real. Price gouging, stories of some hospitals declaring more deaths from COVID than are true, etc…
Before you ask… Yes, I know someone with it, and plenty of people who know people who have been sick or died from Coronavirus. I’m sure some of you reading this are asymptomatic carriers. Who knows, I could be too. After all, I’ve been in contact with a ton of people at work… but I do always wear a mask and use hand sanitizer religiously.
We’re in the midst of the world’s largest immediate health scare that anyone has ever seen. Not even my 100 year old Grandmother remembers the 1918-1920 Spanish Flu pandemic. Countries across the world are seeing record losses in such a short period of time.
I’ve heard, “Well, isn’t influenza more deadly?” Business Insider states:
While about 0.1% of people who get the flu die, the coronavirus’ global death rate is about 4.7%, based on the current numbers of cases and deaths. However, the death rate of the coronavirus fluctuates constantly and varies strongly by country — in Italy, it was above 11% as of Monday, while it was 1.8% in the US.
Death rates of both the flu and the coronavirus vary widely between age groups — the two seem to be most fatal in people over 65 years old.
Everyone is struggling right now (besides those annoying ass celebrities who like in their own zip code), but I have hope that many will pull through. However, I know that too many businesses will be shutting their doors for good sooner than later.
This world is fucked right now in countless ways, with no definite end in sight. I hope all of you are following social distancing guidelines, and protecting yourselves from the virus in every way that you can. I know I’m not known for being super serious very often, but Coronavirus is REAL, and impacting millions worldwide. Please don’t be one of the selfish people who refuse to respect social distancing or endanger children by bringing them into crowded social places without proper protection.
STAY SAFE AND STAY HOME AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE. PROTECT YOURSELF AND OTHERS IF YOU MUST GO OUT, AND RESPECT THE HEALTH AND WELFARE OF ESSENTIAL WORKERS!
I have so many thoughts about this situation, coming from the view of an essential worker, so…. To be continued.
– Moe Train
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