A couple of days ago I wrote Part I of this post. Boy what a couple of days will do in a pandemic!
A couple of days ago, we had fewer than 1,000 cases nationwide. A few days ago, we had fewer than 50 deaths nationwide. A few days ago, we had fewer than 10 cases in Indiana. A few days ago we only had two cases in the county where I live.
All of that has changed over the past few days ago. The latest numbers are over 9,000 cases nationwide, over 100 death nationwide, 39 cases and now two deaths in Indiana, and four cases in the county where I live.
Other changes, over 30 states have called off school, shelter-in-place in San Francisco Bay Area, restaurants closed, small businesses closed, airline industry about to shutter themselves, car manufacturers stopping production, and more unemployment insurance requests than usually happen in a month or more.
This virus scares me. Scares me because it can kill me, my husband, my parents and many of my friends due to age or health-related issues. Scares me because our health care can’t handle what is coming. Scares me because 45 still isn’t using the full force of the Federal Government to get manufacturers to make ventilation machines, masks, or gloves.
Coronavirus scares me because I don’t know how bad it will get and if it gets as bad as they say, will I and my husband still have jobs, will I be able to take care of my mom, will we have enough food for our family, will there still be hospital care for my grandson whom remains in critical condition, and will crime rise so high we won’t be safe in our home, in our cars, or on the street should unemployment reach 20% as predicted?
When I go to the store and this is what I see, I am even more scared than I was just a few days ago.
Are you scared too?
Personal Reflections of a Middle-Aged Man 