I got COVID.
I've been sick, miserable, my brain is foggy, and I'm mostly just mad. I've spent the last two years being dead careful. Not going out, wearing masks, double masking at work (an indoor bar), not seeing friends because I didn't want to get them or myself sick, and so on. And I got it this week while grabbing dinner with my best friend who I hadn't seen in a year.
I'm now part of a surge in Los Angeles. Despite cases surging at huge levels (and keep in mind, home tests generally aren't included in the count so it's higher than the official number) no one seems to be doing thing. Restaurants are unmasked. Movie theaters have dropped masking rules. People have been asking me why I still even wear a mask. Even as cases have been going up, even as people are still dying. I hate it.
Also, COVID sucks. It really does.
I started typing this entry on Sunday, but was just really out of it. It's Tuesday, and I think I'm finally getting better. I think and hope I was lucky and just had a minor case. Having had it, I wouldn't wish it on anyone. Seriously, COVID sucks.
It would be great if there was at least some level of strong public health infrastructure, care, testing, vaccinations, all of that. If the people in power were doing something to help, even if the local leaders and people in power have given up.
And oh god have they given up. Take this tweet the other day from White House Chief of Staff Ronald Klain:
Wow, great. Okay. Except for the fact that we just crossed the million COVID deaths this month! 200,000 people have died since mid-December. So what the hell are you talking about? Those deaths occurred while Democrats have controlled Congress and the White House.
The other infuriating thing is that the money for programs that are helping is running out. Even though we could hit 100 million new, fresh COVID cases by the fall—basically a third of the country getting a disease that will cause some organ damage if not outright permanent disability or death—the money for care and testing is running out. Austerity loving ghouls in Congress are holding it up because 1) how dare the government do something to benefit the public and 2) “the pandemic is totally over, guys, help The Economy.” And the solution? Well apparently, states and cities should take the money left in their federal COVID relief and hire more cops!
Seriously. This is real. On the same day. I just wrote in the previous edition of Let's Do the Panic Again about how cops already essentially stole millions of dollars in COVID relief. Police departments are heavily funded right now, they already have huge amounts of staff. The crime wave stoking fears from reactionaries is mostly overblown, so what's the point of hiring more cops? To crackdown on people when they eventually protest being left to suffer and die from the pandemic? Several writers I quite like have already talked about how the United States doesn't have any money for or political will to help people in the pandemic, but they readily send arms to warzones. That's not to downplay the suffering of Ukraine, they're being attacked by an imperialist authoritarian whose troops are doing war crimes, but it's a damning indictment of Congress. Nothing for the climate, nothing for people in poverty from the pandemic, no stimulus checks, nothing for COVID. In fact, given how little the Biden administration has been fighting for its own agenda, and how the midterms are likely to shake out, the money being spent now might be the last bit of significant COVID funding available.
There's the refrain of “we have the tools” from elected officials or people who downplay the virus. Cool, but they're not being advertised, or used. Just having something isn't enough. And let's remember that the public had to beg and essentially harass the White House for home tests and masks. There's no coordinated effort to reduce the spread by encouraging masking, providing paid sick leave, stopping evictions, nothing.
A million people are dead, countless more permanently hurt by this. And that's just the United States. Which horded vaccines but through both antipathy and ineptitude let so much go to waste.
Journalist Patrick deHahn had a sobering and depressing point in his report on the grim milestone:
“The one million Covid deaths outnumber those that occurred during the 1918 flu pandemic, both World Wars and the HIV/Aids epidemic in the US, making it the deadliest mass casualty event and health crisis in the country's history.”
This is the same country, in the same month as Mothers' Day, saw the reveal of a right-wing Supreme Court—with multiple members who were appointed by presidents who lost the popular vote and one whose wife actively participated in an effort to overturn an election—plans to overturn Roe v. Wade and also a massive shortage of baby formula, which puts the lives of so many infants at risk and is going to cause suffering. And why is there a shortage? Well one, the company has a near monopoly and had to close a plant to deal with contamination, but also the government had import restrictions on formula. Biden just announced he's using the Defense Production Act to get companies to make the needed ingredients, and that's good. A wider production network is good. But where is the urgency on the virus? Why not use FEMA or even the National Guard to help with testing and setting up hospitals and ICUs and the like?
It's weird to sit here and type this knowing that the country as a whole is basically cool with letting people get sick and die. It's an overwhelming thought that when I go to a bar or a grocery store or whatever, seeing the majority of people unmasked, gathering, they're actively endangering people and they don't care. I started writing this piece I wanted to be mad about the situation and having COVID. Now I'm just sad and anxious. Let's do the panic again.
Today's Panic Links
For all of my anger, there is one brief, semi-decent bit of good news. The USPS now lets you order another round of eight COVID home tests. This is the third round of that? I cannot recall Biden, Congress, anyone in power mentioning the second round of this. But, sign up. Get the tests. It takes 30 seconds. Having tests at home helped me quickly confirm my condition and isolate without getting my roommates sick.
The . Spencer Ackerman at Forever Wars has a scathing look at the country’s response to white supremacist terrorism in light of the horrific shooting in Buffalo over the weekend.
Lehman Brothers, one of the firms that completely fell apart during the 2008 financial crash—and part of the system of finance bros basically doing crime that was somehow legal in terms of shady subprime mortgages, exploitative deals, etc.—is still paying off its debts 14 years later.
Sam Levin at The Guardian has an excellent piece on the absolute failure of the Los Angeles local government's failure to address homelessness. I have a related piece coming soon for an outlet that I'll share as soon as it's up.
Today’s Panic Music
I’m a big fan of the band Kasabian. The new lineup has been great—and their words on sacking their long-time frontman over his actions are worth reading—and their second single that’s come out is great. It gets better with each listen. It’s equal parts anger and confrontation with a desire to not get destroyed by hate or misery.