Dark days

I saw a stat the other day where 49 of the 50 states in America are experiencing significant growth in COVID-19 cases. And my home state of Minnesota is currently enduring its worst stretch since the pandemic began 9+ months ago, and not merely due to the high rate of positive cases.  

I couldn't care less about case numbers, especially given the massive expansion of testing and focus on testing of asymptomatic people.

This is the data I care about. When ICU beds are full, the impacts affect anyone who needs critical care, not just COVID patients. pic.twitter.com/JO4eLO0xOn

— Rob Doar (@robdoar) November 19, 2020

The death toll is also rising at an alarming rate, as Minnesota surpassed 3,000 total deaths this past Wednesday. In fact, the past three days have seen 205 Minnesotans die due to the virus, easily the largest three day total in the state. To put that in perspective, it took more than a month to accumulate the first 200 deaths in Minnesota due to the pandemic. 

Despite all the harrowing news, there still seems to be a significant amount of COVID shaming towards those who questioned the severity at the outset but are now coming around. Republican governors Doug Burgum (North Dakota) and Kim Reynolds (Iowa) have issued mask mandates in their respective states after declining to do so the first several months of the pandemic. Naturally the COVID woke scolds dredged up old quotes from the governors showing where they once adamantly opposed such mandates. 

Here in Minnesota, Senate Majority Leader Paul Gazelka recently tested positive for COVID-19 as did multiple other state senators who gathered for an in-person event. Despite being a vocal critic of Gov. Tim Walz's handling of the virus, Gazelka has now emphasized that the Senate understands the seriousness of the virus. Naturally he was roasted by DFLers who accused Gazelka of showing concern only after the most recent election cycle. 

Perhaps the biggest eye opener had to do with former Elk River legislator (and personal friend of mine) Nick Zerwas. What began as what he thought was merely a nagging cough evolved into something much more dire. 

 

“I spent four hours in an emergency room while they were trying to figure out which hospital had an open ICU bed,” he said. The Elk River Republican, who was born with a heart condition and had many open heart surgeries, knew he was at risk for COVID-19 but was not prepared for the seriousness of the infection.

“I’ve been sick. I’ve been down this road before,” he said. “I was stunned when I became so overwhelmed and ill.”

Zerwas, who spoke during the Walz press briefing Tuesday, said he opposed the governor’s early restrictions but says the surging caseload and the effects on the hospital system make this a different situation.

“This is a completely different ballgame. Everything has changed,” said Zerwas, who was released after a five-day hospital stay. “If we don’t respond now I feel like it may be too late.”

As a Minnesota Republican, Zerwas was overrun on social media by MN proggies for not taking the virus more seriously from the beginning. He also received scolding from COVID deniers who suggested that his significant underlying health condition regarding his heart was the main reason he wound up in the ICU, not necessarily the virus itself.

My main point in sharing all these stories is to emphasize all that's wrong with the discourse in our society. People seem to be more interested in being right than helping a person "see the light" on a key issue (Sarah Silverman cleverly described this as "righteousness porn"). If people who took COVID seriously from day one really desired to have us all "come together" in an effort to combat this pandemic, shouldn't they be rejoicing that the initial skeptics are coming around more to their line of thinking? I've been wearing a facemask in public long before Walz's mandate, and I know I was derided by some for the practice. But if those same people came to me confessing the error of their ways, I'm not sure how an attitude of "I TOLD YA SO!!!!!!!!" would help matters. 

Thankfully there is a glimmer of hope as it's been estimated that vaccines could start to be administered as soon as next month. Until then, I will pray fervently that lessons learned from being physically distanced from our loved ones, having our economy disrupted, etc. will lead to a deeper appreciation of life once this pandemic is under control. I'm not terribly optimistic that will occur but I will pray for it nonetheless. 

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