A year ago today, former president Donald Trump assured the nation that his administration had the Covid-19 pandemic “very much under control.“ Of course, by then, nobody with any common sense had any reason to believe him.
The first death was recorded on March 21, 2020, and businesses began closing soon thereafter. But nobody could have imagined that, even under his narcissistic, incompetent, and uncompassionate leadership, Covid would take the toll it has over the past year.
In my commentary on February 17, I cited The Economist’s estimation of the economic toll at trillions of dollars. But it readily admitted that the human cost is incalculable. The death toll, however, is not.
Which brings me to this unthinkable milestone:
The COVID-19 death toll in the U.S. topped 500,000 Monday, all but matching the number of Americans killed in [World War I, World War II, and Vietnam] combined. …
The U.S. toll is by far the highest reported in the world, accounting for 20 percent of the nearly 2.5 million coronavirus deaths globally, though the true numbers are thought to be significantly greater, in part because of the many cases that were overlooked, especially early in the outbreak.
(The Associated Press, February 22, 2021)
For well-known reasons, it’s arguable that President Biden performs his role as comforter in chief with more conviction and empathy than any of his predecessors. And he showed why during an address to the nation and a candlelight ceremony to mark this tragic toll last night.
JFK is famous for exhorting Americans to national service by saying: Ask not what your country can do for you — ask what you can do for your country. I suspect Biden will become equally famous for comforting Americans who have lost loved ones by saying:
There will come a time when their memory brings a smile to your lips before it brings a tear to your eyes.
But, in the meantime:
You’d be well advised to use this time to prepare yourself for our brave new world. Because, even if intermittent lockdowns loom, the new normal will surely feature some surreal social-distancing measures. This, for example, because coughing (in public) will be more taboo than farting; shaking hands more taboo than picking noses.
God help us.
(“Covid-20 Is Coming. What Happens Then…?” The iPINIONS Journal, February 17, 2021)
In other words, with Covid joining the flu as a seasonal virus, if not a year-round one, wearing masks might be the least-inconvenient feature of our new normal way of life.