A little after midnight last night, I found this article about our "Code Blue" situation of hospitals not having enough room for the number of dead patients. They are renting storage units for the dead bodies.
Notice the article also explained that the number of COVID-19 deaths is under-reported in 24 states, including Texas. That means that if I got sick with the virus, went to the hospital and died, but they hadn't performed a test that showed a positive result yet, I would not be listed as a COVID-19 death in Texas. That's insane. Absolutely insane.
It's getting hard to sleep again; similar to the early days of the pandemic. I have trouble falling asleep. I don't tend to sleep well. I have nightmares half the time. This afternoon I kind of lost it about how crazy this situation is and there's nothing we can do about it while our government leaders seem to just be making it worse. Needless to say, that put me in a "not so good" mood a lot of the time now.
I'm sincerely a naturally happy and optimistic person. I need that kind of energy back.
I read some Facebook discussions about teachers going back, hoping that I would see inspiring words there. I found some good stuff.
There is a little bit of good news today. Trump was openly wearing a mask when he went to visit injured soldiers at Walter Reed Medical Facility. I imagine, in the background prep discussions, they had to explain to Trump that it didn't matter if he was the US President or the Commander-in-Chief, absolutely no one gets to walk around the hospital without a mask on. Of course, Trump made sure he was seen by the media in a hallway where he could look like a dictator walking around with the military-uniform-wearing guys surrounding him.
Baby steps. Unfortunately, it also comes with the highlighted news that Trump's corruption is running even deeper with him, yesterday, commuting the prison sentence of Roger Stone - who was going to prison for lying to the government in order to protect Trump. Sigh. Baby steps.
But baby steps won't be enough to get us out of this situation. As the virus spirals out of control, too many people are dying. Are we supposed to just sit around and wait for Trump to be voted out of office and hope the newly elected officials can better organize and take care of business? That's a long time. The election is in November. The new president wouldn't take office until later in January. Even with fast-acting, sweeping changes, it's July now so that would be at least 6 more months of staring in disbelief as the leaders make everything worse. And if Trump loses in November, I can see him trying to "burn the house down" so to speak.
I don't mind being in lockdown. I don't mind quarantine. I do mind stupid mistakes that, to me, are obvious. Let the doctors and scientists make the decisions, or at least listen to their advice. From day one of this stuff, I looked it up on the internet and understood we were looking at a minimum of 12-18 months, but with that as a best estimate for dealing with this situation. Why is it so hard for people to grasp? Why do they have to stay in denial that it'll end in a few weeks or next month?
In a few weeks I may have to decide between returning to work in the high-risk school environment or forever financially ruining myself and my family in order to try to protect my health. I don't like being forced into a situation like that. My only hope right now is another state-wide shut down in Texas. I guess we will see what happens.
Humanity is forever changed. What we do now matters. How we transform society matters. Every bad decision is leading to people losing their homes, their savings, and sometimes their loved ones. It's big money on the line, but it's also life and death.
Be safe out there (and I'll be safe at home).
No comments:
Post a Comment