The Use of Ashes

So, COVID-19, which does not sway Democratic or Republican, nor show much interest in the outcome of the election, will spread like a massive, uncontrolled wildfire through the United States. Hospitals in Utah, Montana, SW Texas, Wisconsin and rural Kansas/Missouri/Nebraska — among others — are already beyond full and debating how to ration care. At 100,000 cases a day, the flow-through hospitalizations and deaths are on the way, putting dozens if not hundreds more hospital systems at risk. And half the country will insist on “giving thanks” in person, indoors, at family gatherings one month from now. In case we needed another dose of fuel on the fire. If we assume the typical percentages of hospitalizations and time period for progression after infection, the new infections we record next week, while we are focused elsewhere, will begin to manifest as new hospitalizations at or near the end of November. Right about when flu season starts peaking.