Readers who have begun to relax now that the economy is beginning to reopen and things are starting to “get back to normal” should take a minute or two to read this article. It’s important.
Gloria (not her real name) was a strong, healthy woman in her 80s who until this week lived independently in her own apartment in Elizabeth, New Jersey and walked five miles daily. Everyone looked up to her as an example of strength in aging.
Friday morning she had a little trouble breathing: the only symptom that heralded the start of SARS-CoV-2, the novel coronavirus that causes COVID-19.
Three days later, on Sunday, Gloria passed away.
Her stunned friend in New York City could not believe it. “She had a cough on Thursday,” she told JewishPress.com. “No other symptom. But three days — it makes no sense.”
Gloria really was one of the careful ones, her friend explained. She didn’t go out anywhere except for those walks and for dire necessities to the supermarket, always wearing a mask and gloves. No one can figure out how she became exposed to the virus.
Coronavirus Cases Rising in 20 States
The US surpassed two million confirmed cases of SARS-CoV-2 on Wednesday, with new coronavirus infections rising in at least 20 states, while restrictions on daily life are being eased across the country.
As of Thursday morning, more than 112,000 people in the United States have died from COVID-19 according to the tracker from Johns Hopkins University. Those figures may only be the tip of the iceberg, however, because the figures only reflect the cases that were identified as deaths specifically from the coronavirus, and not those of people who died at home, or who were not tested and then died at the hospital at the last minute. Most experts believe the figures are higher.
As America reopens its economy, and Americans return to work, to their social lives, shopping habits and other routines, the coronavirus has also been able to reassert itself, surreptitiously spreading as people travel from one place to the next.
Despite urging by officials not to forget to wash hands, wear masks and maintain social distancing protocols, people relax as the rules are eased and sometimes forget to keep the restrictions in place.
Other countries around the world face similar situations, including Israel, where the government is now working to stave off a second wave of the virus as well.
‘We’re Still at the Beginning’
In the United States, nearly 525,000 people have already recovered from COVID-19. But that doesn’t mean the danger is past.
More people tested positive for the coronavirus in Florida last Saturday than on any day in the past two months, according to a report by National Public Radio (NPR). Since June 2, more than a thousand new cases were reported in Florida every day. On the flip side, the state’s coronavirus death toll dropped to double digits.
Across the United States, doctors are identifying 20,000 to 25,000 new cases of the novel coronavirus every day. Some 800 to 1,000 people are losing their lives to the virus in America daily.
Some states have maintained or dropped their numbers; others are seeing another rise in cases – like North Carolina, which had a daily average of 517 cases three weeks ago, but now is averaging more than 1,000 cases daily. South Carolina, Oregon and Alaska are also seeing a spike in their rates of infection.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and one of America’s leading experts on the coronavirus pandemic told reporters this week, “In a period of four months, it has devastated the whole world. And it isn’t over yet.
Fauci added, “Where is it going to end? We’re still at the beginning of it.”