Pandemic Diary - October 2020

October 2

The October surprise has landed. Trump tested positive for the coronavirus! Got the news just before going to bed last night. Melania positive too. Both have mild symptoms and will be in isolation for the next 2 weeks. It's all the news today. Of course I confess to Schadenfreude! By the end of the day we'll learn of more people in Trump's orbit who have the virus. My biggest hope is that it jeopardizes hearings for the Supreme Court Justice replacing RBG.

October 5

Donald Trump was helicoptered to Walter Reed Military Hospital less than 24 hours after news of his Covid announcement. So it's serious! Though all news outlets are covering the story details are murky. More White House positive cases emerge everyday. Turns out that the ceremony held to nominate Amy Coney Barrett in the Rose Garden was a super spreader event and many who attended tested positive. This includes 2 Republican senators on the judiciary committee.

Less than a month before election and the pandemic is again the big news. Trump's utter failure to handle the crisis. Plus his utter recklessness in continuing to campaign in front of crowds, endangering all involved.

My therapy this weekend was attempting to make sourdough bread. A daunting, multistep process that I doubt will become a regular activity. The outcome wasn't great, but it tasted right and looked passable.

October 6

A week of breathtaking Trump news. First, the New York Times exposé on his tax returns. We learned about his $400 million debt, that he hasn't paid taxes in years and paid just $750 in taxes in 2016 and 2017. Next came the first presidential debate in which Trump shouted, bullied, interrupted and basically demonstrated just how obnoxious he is. And then came news of his Covid infection, serious enough to be hospitalized for 3 days to receive state of the art treatments, including an experimental monoclonal antibody medicine. His return to the White House was staged for television in keeping with his narcissism and dictator delusions. More appalling was his dismissiveness of the health crisis, showing no regard for the critically ill unable to access the services lavished on him, nor acknowledging the losses of grieving families. This is a desperate man who knows his days are numbered. 

We see ads like these everyday. In our community face coverings are the norm and when we see someone's bare face we cringe.

October 12

Confirmation hearings of Amy Cony Barrett began this morning. Utterly depressing on top of all the other depressing news. Talk about rubbing salt on a wound!

The news has moved on from Trump's personal Covid drama to his return to the campaign trail as an unhinged lunatic. It's been so stressful anticipating his corrupt attacks on Biden. Now we're three weeks from the election and my anxiety is even greater.

I confess I feel optimistic about Biden and Harris. The polls are showing strong leads even in battleground states. My concern is the senate. It's always nail-biting for the democrats to win senate seats in red states.

Covid news has turned grim again with frightening surges in the UK, France and Spain. The rest of Europe is seeing a significant rise in cases too. The dreaded fall wave is here. In the US, after leveling off at around 40,000 new cases a day for a month, our numbers are climbing to over 50,000 a day. Different states are at play now - mainly the midwest and northern states. California is holding steady at around 3,500 new daily cases and under 100 daily deaths. But much of the state is still in the purple tier. Our county has moved to the red tier. Curious to see if we can continue to keep our numbers down with the lifting of some restrictions.

October 19

California went into lockdown exactly 7 months ago, on March 19. While our state is holding steady with new daily infections, case numbers nationwide are trending upward. Numbers are climbing to July/August totals. Daily deaths continue to be close to 1000. Europe's situation is alarming. Daily new cases in France are exploding - over 20,00 and in the UK just under 20,000. Spain and Italy are reporting big numbers too. Daily deaths in Europe are currently low, but hospitals and ICU units are filling up. Australia continues to do well with a handful of new daily cases. South Africa also appears to be holding steady at between 1000 and 2000 new daily infections.

Elections in 2 weeks. I mailed in my ballot 4 days ago. Fivethirtyeight predicts 70% chance of Democrats winning a trifecta. But I'm nervous as heck. We absolutely cannot endure more of this insanity that grips us! The news these days is full of Trump's shocking assertions and denigrations of experts. "Dr. Fauci is a disaster," he vomited. It really does feel like a horror movie in which an entire nation is taken hostage by a lunatic, and amazingly about half the citizens are okay about it!

My family's main concern now is Cayden, who was admitted to hospital 4 days ago. Today, he was anesthetized for biopsy and fluid samples. A persistent high fever, an abscess on his spleen and swollen liver are symptoms presented. Kalvin is beside himself with worry. Initially, due to Covid precautions no visitors were allowed and that was alarming to leave a 14 year old overnight at a hospital. But Cayden tested negative for the virus and his parents have been visiting him daily.

Summer is over. We had long periods of extreme heat in September and October, but today the temperature feels autumnal. With the shorter days, my daily schedule has to change. I can't do garden chores after dinner anymore. Now I have to cut my writing and reading time in the afternoon in order to get routine tasks done.