America has had over 267,000 COVID deaths. We were advised by the CDC to shelter in place for the Thanksgiving holiday and not travel to family. However, that suggestion was ignored and close to 5 million people flew somewhere for Thanksgiving. With millions of Americans flying for the holidays and millions more who are STILL refusing to wear masks while throwing wild parties and seeing friends, it is no wonder we are starting to COVID spikes around the country.
There are elected officials who are ignoring these warnings and thumbing their noses at the severity of COVID. Dr. Fauci consistently advises Americans to follow the protocols encouraged by scientists and health care professionals. In an interview with ABC’s This Week, he stated that we need to prepare for a surge upon surge as the colder months roll in and people continue to travel for the holidays. Here is more on the story via People:
“We have to be careful now because there is almost certainly going to be an uptick because of what has happened with the travel,” Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and a member of the White House coronavirus task force, told ABC’s This Week on Sunday.
“We likely will have an increase in cases as we get into the colder weeks of winter and as we approach the Christmas season,” he added.
“I can’t see how we’re not going to have the same thing,” he explained. “When you have the kind of inflection that we have, it doesn’t all of a sudden turn around like that.”
“And perhaps even two or three weeks down the line, we may see a surge upon a surge,” he said. “We don’t want to frighten people, but that’s just the reality.”
“I think we are going to have to make decisions as a nation, state, city and family that we are in a very difficult time, and we’re going to have to do the kinds of restrictions of things we would like to have done, particularly in this holiday season, because we’re entering into what’s really a precarious situation,” Fauci said.
I am so tired of people being hella irresponsible. It is not only affecting their loved ones it is putting healthcare workers at risk. Hospitals are approaching capacity and unable to deal with other urgent needs of the communities they serve. Often those being irresponsible are not the ones suffering and the people they come into contact with are paying the price.
Even sadder, experts are predicting that the number of deaths will double during winter. Unfortunately, we can’t control people and since we can’t even get our elected officials to do the right thing, we must all prepare for the worse. Although, getting calls from Kamala Harris and clapping for frontline workers are nice gestures, what would be better is following protocols that are in place to help curb spikes. I commend those willing to make the necessary sacrifices by wearing masks and not seeing family and friends, but it is getting exhausting having to suffer because of other people’s selfishness and stupidity. I hope this vaccine works and that we get it fast. In the meantime, I will social distance meet with my mom with a mask, Zoom call my friends and hope for the best.
Photos credit: Avalon.red
He’s not wrong. Canada went through their own post Thanksgiving surge and begged us to listen to them. We saw big crowds at the airports anyway. I figure that there will be a covid reckoning two weeks before Christmas and to be honest I’m just battening down the hatches before it hits. Bought enough supplies to see myself and my two cats through to February if things really start to go sideways. After February I will restock again and see where things stand.
Some people in this country are just so damned selfish to be believed. There will be other Thanksgiving’s and if you are an adult you’ve already lived through plenty of them.
Me, too. Just need to go out for perishables.
Advisories from the CDC are not enough. Millions of people keep proving time and time again that they are selfish, irresponsible, and don’t care if those of us who ARE responsible, concerned, and/or vulnerable are stuck indoors forever or are forced to go into unsafe work conditions as the virus rages, so long as these people can “live their lives.” It is sickening, and after this is over and things improve, I won’t forget all the people who said with their actions that my life and my family members’ lives don’t matter.
In short – we need to shut down the airports except for essential travel. Shut down bars, shut down theme parks, and get f*cking serious about quashing this thing. The US government could lessen cases significantly in a matter of weeks and they’ve chosen not to. How that benefits the economy or human life is nonsensical.
I think Fauci could responsibly change the “may” to “will” in that statement, unfortunately. Given how many people traveled last weekend, I don’t see a way to avoid the “surge upon surge” scenario. We just keep NOT LISTENING as a nation. It is maddening.
I am 100% ready to hunker down through the winter. I’m content with phone calls and Zooms and socially distant visits with my parents on their deck. They’ve prepped and bought themselves an outdoor fireplace and chargeable electric blankets so they can take visitors outside.
I have enough indoor projects to keep me occupied for months. On top of my job with I am blessed to be able to telework for.
I work in healthcare. I am not a healthcare worker, I’m on the administration side. I’m seeing impact this is having on our staff in the hospitals and it’s horrible just horrible. I feel so badly for small business owners restaurants have to close. I don’t have an answer. So many people suffering. It’s just so hard to watch the impact this has on the people who are working in the hospitals day after day. They’ve had no break. They are breaking.
There is a photo that’s gaining attention recently of a doctor in protective gear holding an elderly man while he cries. The doctor in the photo has worked 250 days straight.
Our medical staff are human beings, and I really worry that we are treating them as if they are disposable and not incredibly valuable resources that we need to nurture.
I had accommodations to work from home and they have just been denied for me and everyone else in our school system. My city is at a stage 4 and we have had Covid cases almost every week at my school. And educators are not even at the top of the line to get vaccines. We may have to make some tough decisions in January as to whether or not we can continue working. We would have to sell our house. It’s awful.
Marigold, my heart goes out to you, and everyone in every field in your situation. I taught for 30 yrs (retired early due to health issues); I can NOT fathom having to teach on Zoom during this pandemic, let alone the fear of having to go into a classroom with 20-30 kids, each bringing whatever they bring from/take to home, esp. in the winter months when you can’t leave the windows wide open because of the cold weather.
I know it doesn’t count for a hill of beans, but you (and all the others in your situation) *are* worried about. I wish there was something more tangible to “give” other than wearing a mask when we have to go out, and sitting our a$$es home when we don’t have to, to get this under control.
We just had notification from our governor that w/in 2-3 wks. the ICUs in So. Cal. will be at 107% capacity; they’re asking for retired Drs. and Nurses to please help. I just… I am flummoxed. I just truly don’t understand HOW people can deny a WORLD WIDE PANDEMIC that has killed almost 270 THOUSAND PEOPLE HERE IN THIS COUNTRY ALONE! I don’t understand HOW they can say this as they lay DYING of it in a hospital.
I am completely OUT of compassion for these people. Can you imagine how these selfish $%$#^ would’ve survived in depravation of either of the WWs? Frankly, it’s MY opinion that people who refuse to wear a mask, soc. distance, and deny its existence should be denied medical treatment, taking up those resources for something they think is a hoax, but that’s another conversation.
My family is one of those ‘it doesn’t affect me’ types. After a recent tragedy, I was guilted into going to my sister’s for Thanksgiving. Everything in me said to stay home but I wanted to be “dutiful.” There were only supposed to be five of us. I get there and there’s a “surprise” guest talking about her night out the night before at a crowded club, maskless. I grabbed my purse and left. Got a tearful phone call from my sister “Pleeeese come back, you’re my sister, guest is leaving right now, I needed you here!!!!” My dumb ass went back. Received lots of passive-aggressive comments. Ended up eating my food and leaving anyway. Now my name is dirt in the family.
I’m sorry, Marcy. My family is also a bunch of deniers. We stayed home for Thanksgiving, but did a Zoom call with my parents, who sniped at us the whole time then announced that if we refuse to come over for Christmas, then there is no point in even having a holiday. (Honestly, that’s fine with me — I’m happy to have my holiday at home in my PJs! But it hurt my kids, especially my youngest who is a Christmas fanatic.) It feels like they love their delusions more than they love us. All by long way of saying my name is dirt in my family, too.
I’m having a hard time finding the right words to express what I mean,but I’m always greatly impacted by tragedies of the people who had to wait or couldn’t hold on any longer. Like in WW2, those people that died right before the concentration camps were freed. Or the slaves in Texas whose freedom was delayed and the abuses they suffered when they should have been free. It is so incredibly sad when people die when hope is right around the corner.
I worry about the tens thousands of people who will die in the next few months. After vaccines have been found, but before they can make an impact on their survival. These people do not need to die, but our national character is too impatient to sacrifice for the greater good.
EXACTLY. We have barely left our house since March. My husband is 70 years old and I’m almost 60. The vaccine is so close. While can’t they just chill out until we are safe??
Yes! It is so close, I can’t believe the number of people who are giving up NOW.
This is a really poignant comment and you’ve put into words what I’ve been struggling to say. At some point, the last ever person will die of COVID 19 – there is hope. Why can’t we just persist?
I love the penguin mask.
God bless him. I like how he’s wearing two masks, I do this for multiple reason: First, the cloth masks never cover your whole face. Second, it’s more sanitary to change out the disposable one underneath.