Slice of Life: COVID by the Numbers 23 of 31

It's the 23rd of the month. Since March of last year I have recorded the coronavirus numbers for our state, the country and the world on a digital record every month on this date. I'm not sure why I started to do it, but I did. It's been a year; today I found myself wondering how much longer I would continue this practice. Believe me, a year ago I had no idea that I would sit on my couch in one year and still record the numbers. I had no idea the numbers would grow to be this large. I had no idea of all that would go on in a year. There are a lot of things I didn't know a year ago. 

Yesterday Ohio hit one million cases of coronavirus since the pandemic began officially last March. Who knew a year ago that we would have so many cases? 

A year and a lifetime ago. 

In Ohio, the governor took a swift approach of action when he cancelled the Arnold Classic (a large weightlifting event that has been held in Ohio for years) and sent students home into remote learning. It would turn out that we would finish our school year in remote learning. The governor was asked in his Monday press conference if he had any idea a year ago that we would see so many cases. "I didn’t have any idea that we would be at this a year later, and that we would have had a million Ohioans or so infected," the governor responded. I have no idea how many press conferences our governor has had in a year. I'm sure he didn't see that coming either. 

A year ago, we were shocked to see 3 deaths in our state; today we have seen over 18,000 deaths from COVID in our state. In Ohio, nearly 4,000 more people have died in the last month alone. There is little pause given to this news anymore. It took us from March until September to reach 4,000 deaths and now we have seen that in one month's time. 

Today is the 23rd. I can't help but wonder if in a year from now I will still be recording these numbers. Will the governor still be having press conferences weekly? Will we still be talking about this virus? Beginning next week, anyone over 16 is eligible for a vaccine. While we have had a relatively smooth rollout in our state, I can't help but think this quick move to younger people is because many people are not willing to take the vaccine in this state. What will that mean for us a year from now? 

Every now and then, I take the time to watch John Hopkins 30 Minute COVID-19 Briefing. In the most recent update, Dr. Jennifer Nuzzo was asked whether she thought we would have another wave of the virus as we begin to see cases uptick in other countries. Her response was that she wasn't sure. She reminded we have already had a third wave and our country has already had so many cases we likely have a higher immunity than some countries. (The United States is 4% of the world population, but currently has roughly 25% of the confirmed COVID cases in the world.) Additionally, we are rolling out vaccines rapidly. I wonder if the variants will play any roll in what may be come.

Time will tell if I will find myself sitting her on the 23rd of 2022 recording these numbers. My hope is that soon I can put away my pen and notebook that tracks the virus. That soon we will begin to be truly back to normal and have few virus cases to record. 

Let's hope the 23rd of next year finds me writing a different story. 

Here are the monthly recordings for those interested:

Here are five of my current COVID stops I find most useful:

• Covid ActNow
• CDC COVID Tracker
• The CDC variant count
• John Hopkins 30 Minute (Weekly) Briefing
• Worldometer COVID Tracker

It's March and I'm diving back into the March Slice of Life Challenge!  Buckle in!  This will be my 8th year joining the community (though I must confess to a two year break).  Yep, some of the writing will be messy.  Honestly, most of it will be messy.  Thanks for stopping by.  I'm excited to dive back into the madness.  Thanks to Two Writing Teachers for hosting.