Another Weekend Update: Clear and Nearly Present Danger

On Saturday there were large demonstrations in Washington and other US cities, and in cities in Europe and elsewhere, notably in the UK and in Australia, where the same basic issue as in the US reached its boiling point, namely the number of Indigenous or Aboriginals who died in police custody without a single conviction.

As a response to the militarization of Washington by Homegrown Hitler as well as to the issue itself, the demonstrations are laudable and inevitable.  But coming in the midst of the Covid crisis, they are also dangerous, especially when arrests and incarcerations are involved.

Already there is evidence from doctors on the ground of an increase in infections stemming from Memorial Day weekend, when so many Americans went out into crowds.  States like Florida and Arizona are seeing more cases and hospitalizations; Arizona's system is maxed out.  And there are scattered reports of protesters already testing positive.  One expert speculates that the impact will show up in July, and by then it could be an uncontrollable surge.

Apart from the demonstrations, there does seem to be a general attitude that the danger is over, and that people who "choose" not to wear masks or practice physical distancing are just adults choosing to take risks with their own health and taking responsibility for their own actions.  Such thinking and behavior is encouraged by the Trump administration, which vocally criticizes anyone who adheres to the guidelines of its own CDC.  Even people who disdain Trump are affected by this apparent permission.  When a few people stop wearing masks, it sends a viral message to others that not only is it socially acceptable to not wear one, it is once again weird to wear one. 

That people infect others, that almost half of infections come from carriers who have no symptoms, is conveniently forgotten. As someone in a vulnerable group I resent this, I take it personally.  It dehumanizes me, leading me to dehumanize younger people--I think of them primarily as vectors of disease.  And thoughtlessly or even callously aggressive ones at that.

So because of the casual attitudes, premature reopenings and now crowds of people who come together and then go back to their separate cities and towns,  it seems to me entirely possible that we will see a second wave bigger than the first, beginning not in the fall but this summer, in July.  We may be on the brink of a true tragedy.  Needless to say, I hope I'm wrong.