The emergency is not over by a long shot
By Josh Resnek
As we all sigh with relief as though the worst has passed with the COVID-19 pandemic which changed the world, it appears the virus does not wish to go gently into the night.
CDC experts and followers of the pandemic from the start are nearly all predicting a possible huge resurgence of the COVID-19 virus in the fall.
Many of those who have received three inoculations are being urged to get yet another booster to remain a safer distance from the virus taking us down.
Extra caution is made all the more urgent in the knowledge the United States just passed the 1 million dead mark of those killed by the virus.
Top date, Massachusetts has suffered 20,393 deaths and 1.81M cases.
A resurgence of COVID -19 would include millions more infected in nearly all age groups, millions sick, many more dying, our hospital and health system bogged down again to the point of exhaustion and overload and the economy effected by the disruption to the job market caused by the virus infecting so many.
While the national debate about masks and vaccines continues, so too has the virus.
Numbers are way up in Massachusetts in May as opposed to April.
The virus affects different people in different ways. Infected people have had a wide range of symptoms reported – from mild symptoms to severe illness.
In China right now, huge swaths of that giant nation’s population are under severe restrictions because of outbreaks – especially in Shanghai and several other monstrously large and highly populated cities.
The net result – a shutdown of Shanghai and a costly slowdown in the Chinese economy which affects the world economy at a time of what appears to be a coming recession.
North Korea has announced it is dealing with a huge outbreak of the virus.
North Korea has not been vaccinating its population and has no real way of tamping down the wide spreads of the virus because its health care system is severely hindered by a lack of resources.
At a time when the US is just beginning to get back on its feet in the spirit of the spring and the coming summer, weekend festivities across the nation appear to be in full blossom while weekday life in our great cities and in the suburbs remain more cautious with events less well attended.
The return to the workplace in our great cities is struggling along.
It appears there will be no great migration back to the enclosed workplaces that typified the workforce before the pandemic.
Tens of millions in the work force are working at home and are quite pleased to be doing so.
The virus has caused a revolution in how we work and play.
That revolution has not ended.
It remains in full force changing our lives for decades to come.