The never-ending roller coaster ride

Will you ever ride a roller coaster ever again, or has this pandemic provided enough ups and downs to last the rest of your life?

Everyone is celebrating lower covid numbers and more eligibility for vaccines.

Except that the covid numbers have been inching up. Is no one paying attention?

Paris and Italy are going back into lockdowns. Poland is running out of ventilators. Brazil has the highest death rates since the start of the pandemic. And on, and on, and on.

My 37 yr. old niece in Orlando was in ICU last weekend. And tons of spring breakers are heading down… She is home recovering well, but it really shook us up.

As one New York Times reader wrote –

Right now, all I am doing is trying to cope with the death of my wife and companion of almost 41 years, Brenda. I know the death percentage is low, but that is no consolation to the 535,000 American families who lost loved ones. I know we should have been more careful. I know we didn’t take it as serious as we should have, until it was on our doorstep. But it’s one of those things that you don’t think will happen to you. It happens to other people, not us. Believe me, it can happen to anyone.

And just because they say you’re eligible for a vaccine doesn’t mean you’ll actually be able to get one any time soon. I’ve been trying to get an appointment for weeks.

So that means we can’t act like we’re in the clear. We will be. Just not yet.

I know, we are so, so tired, but we have to stay strong and not be tempted to do stupid stuff that will make things worse.

So many people around the world are acting like spoiled brats. “Oh no, you’re not going to tell me what to do – even if it is for my own good!”

Except in Sweden –

For the past 7 months, as in most other countries, the Swedish strategy has involved attempting to slow the spread…flatten the curve … and ensure that the first wave didn’t overwhelm the health service — primarily by appealing to the common sense and maturity of the Swedish public to follow official recommendations and guidelines on social distancing, self-quarantining, teleworking and good hygiene practices (handwashing etc) voluntarily — without the need for a socially, psychologically, educationally and financially devastating nationwide hard lockdown. Compliance between April and June was in fact extreme good, despite the misleading images in some foreign news outlets.

OK, China has its people under control, but I would hardly call that a good role model…

So stay strong a little while longer.

Finish your spring cleaning.

Plan your gardens.

Clean up the yard.

We will be having backyard parties soon!