{"id":88981,"date":"2021-03-22T16:49:32","date_gmt":"2021-03-22T16:49:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/radiofree.asia\/?guid=51adedbd05be7a02e12ef9c3488fa1cc"},"modified":"2021-03-22T16:49:32","modified_gmt":"2021-03-22T16:49:32","slug":"dont-prolong-covid-by-pretending-it-is-over","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/2021\/03\/22\/dont-prolong-covid-by-pretending-it-is-over\/","title":{"rendered":"Don\u2019t Prolong COVID by Pretending It Is Over"},"content":{"rendered":"\"A<\/a>

Hello! Hello out there! Hello? (knocks on mic) Is this thing on? Can you hear me in the back? Ready?<\/p>\n

IT\u2019S NOT OVER YET<\/em><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

There were more than 65,000 COVID-19 cases reported on Friday, and almost 60,000 cases reported on Saturday. The seven-day average for infections stands at 56,348, with a national total soon to top 30 million. Almost 1,000 people are dying per day, and more than 542,000 are already gone. All of those numbers are incredibly awful. It\u2019s not over yet. Not even damn close.<\/p>\n

Cases have spiked<\/a> in 21 states, most significantly<\/a> in New York, New Jersey, Delaware, Rhode Island and Michigan. Overtopping all is Florida, where scenes of beaches, bars and streets packed with unmasked Spring Break revelers<\/a> make for a galling counterpoint to the experts on TV split screens pleading with viewers to locate a molecule of responsibility. Most of those party people are not from Florida, and when they return home, at least some will almost certainly take COVID with them wherever they go.<\/p>\n

Cognitive dissonance abounds in Michigan, too. The state reported 2,660 more new cases and 47 more deaths as of Friday, a spike that momentarily leads the national pack. Several regions in the state have been moved back up to the highest measurement level of risk. \u201cWe may be seeing the light at the end of the tunnel, but we\u2019re still in the tunnel,\u201d Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said<\/a> on Friday. \u201cThe only way out is to move forward and to do it together.\u201d<\/p>\n

An odd declaration, that, since it was Governor Whitmer who on the same day announced that Michigan stadiums and arenas can begin allowing people inside as of Monday (albeit at 20 percent capacity). For a state standing at the highest risk level in many places, with infections and deaths spiking, the cognitive dissonance of Whitmer\u2019s warning in combination with her stadium\/arena decision is bewildering. Unfortunately, Whitmer is not alone.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe concern is that throughout the country, there are a number of state, city, regions that are pulling back on some of the mitigation methods that we\u2019ve been talking about: the withdrawal of mask mandates, the pulling back to essentially non-public health measures being implemented,\u201d COVID expert Anthony Fauci said<\/a> at a Friday briefing. \u201cSo it is unfortunate but not surprising to me that you are seeing increases in number of cases per day in areas — cities, states, or regions — even though vaccines are being distributed at a pretty good clip of 2 to 3 million per day. That could be overcome if certain areas pull back prematurely on the mitigation and public health measures that we all talk about.\u201d<\/p>\n