200-plus days! 200,000-plus dead! And a sick President!

 In the beginning of the lockdown, I used to journal at least one COVID-related event, observation or thought each day. And my Sunday afternoon ritual was to compile those daily entries into a weekly blog entry—almost John Oliver’s “Last Week Tonight”-style.

 

Then writing every day seemed like an over-reaction to what became the new normal. And before I blink, another 100-plus days passed by without me blogging. I have a definitive way to tell. Because my last blog entry is titled, “100 Days!”

 

I was planning to write a blog on the 200^th day. I realize how you count the number of days is subjective. I started counting from March 17, when California officially went into “shelter-in-place” by Governor Newsom’s order. That makes October 2, 2020 the 200^th day by my count. But October 1, 2020 late night came with such a shock, that I needed a few more days to digest the happenings all around me before collecting my thoughts to write something.

 

The President, who never seriously took his own risk of becoming ill with COVID-19, finally was tested positive and had to be hospitalized because he had serious symptoms. While nobody wants the President to suffer and the country to fall into disarray, one can only hope that finally people learn to lament the 200,000-plus American lives (almost 210,000 by today's count)  that have been lost, and don’t claim a false victory over the fact that the models that predicted even higher death rates by this time have been proven wrong! Of course the death rate is lower because a large number of people took reasonable precautionary measures to keep themselves safe and keep others around them safe. 

 

Let’s just accept the fact that the country does have a sick President. It takes a special brand of hubris to go against medical experts’ suggestions and take a victory lap in a motorcade to ensure the “fans” that the President sprang back to health! I guess sometimes it is hard to miss even the dubious accolades when there is a chance of a superlative being legitimately added before your name---"No. 1 super-spreader” of the country!