Last updated: The wind shows us how close to the edge we are: COVID-19 update

The wind shows us how close to the edge we are: COVID-19 update

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“The wind shows us how close to the edge we are.”

“I know what the fear is. The fear is not for what is lost. What is lost is already in the wall.
What is lost is already behind the locked doors.
The fear is for what is still to be lost.”

Life changes in the instant. The ordinary instant.”
Joan Didion
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The pandemic didn’t magically disappear with the summer heat, or post-election in the United States. Rather it continues; a deadly swath immune to pleas for mercy, just as scientists and doctors warned it would.

You know the drill; let’s review the reasons for hope and our current reality.

Your dose of hope: Vaccines are closer than ever

Germany could start administering doses of the vaccine soon.

When deciding on a vaccine, reading the small print is encouraged:

Soon, dogs will return to The White House: Major and Champ Biden are paw-fectly amazing.

(I strongly suggest clicking through each of those photos before continuing to read what’s next.)

The news you need to know:

The death toll of COVID-19 victims is simultaneously without comprehension and quite clear, yet leadership in the U.S. seems to have abandoned dealing with the virus and the startling number of cases until President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris take office in January of 2021.

Americans traveled en masse over the Thanksgiving holiday, despite the warnings of scientists and doctors who begged them to stay home for the greater good. Now as the December holiday season looms, states are facing dire consequences and uncertainty.

Those who believe a vaccine will remedy all that’s been undone by COVID-19 have much to learn. In ways, the trauma seems to have altered the genetic make-up of citizens in places like Italy, where the virus struck hard. As the first wave withdrew, an ocean of sorrow, anger, depression, and anxiety stormed in to take its place.

On November 27, 1 out of every 1,000 South Dakota citizens was dead from COVID-19. Nine days later:

As the U.S. grapples with coronavirus, other countries are seeing different results after having taken strong approaches to fight COVID-19. Vietnam has reported zero deaths, while New Zealand has reported 20, and South Africa only 148.

Quote of the day

“The way sadness works is one of the strange riddles of the world.

If you are stricken with a great sadness, you may feel as if you have been set aflame, not only because of the enormous pain, but also because your sadness may spread over your life, like smoke from an enormous fire.

You might find it difficult to see anything but your own sadness, the way smoke can cover a landscape so that all anyone can see is black.

You may find that if someone pours water all over you, you are damp and distracted, but not cured of your sadness, the way a fire department can douse a fire but never recover what has been burnt down.”
Lemony Snicket, The Bad Beginning

Struggling to cope? You're not alone. Help is available.

As cases of COVID-19 increase, so does the associated anxiety and depression. Mental Health America has compiled resources and information HERE.

Data you need to know

Where do we go from here?
The most brilliant minds are on it.
Learn more HERE

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