42 Time November 30/December 7, 2020
They cautioned that a cold-weather return to indoor socializ-
ing, particularly around the holidays, could turn a steady burn
into a wildfire. Throw in a lame-duck President, wildly differ-
ing approaches by the states and a pervasive sense of quaran-
tine fatigue, and the wildfire could easily become an inferno.
So it has. The U.S. is now locked in a deadly cycle of set-
ting, then shattering, records for new cases and hospitaliza-
tions. On Nov. 13, a staggering 177,224 people in the U.S. were
diagnosed with COVID-19. As of Nov. 17, more than 70,000
corona virus patients were hospitalized nationwide. And un-
like in earlier waves, which were fairly regionalized, the virus
was as of Nov. 17 spreading—and fast—in virtually every part
of the U.S., according to Johns Hopkins University data. This
coast-to-coast surge is pushing hospitals across the country to
the edge of catastrophe, their doctors and nurses exhausted and
their intensive- care units running dangerously low on beds.
Some cities are already playing out their dystopian worst-case
scenarios; in El Paso, Texas, the dead have been shunted to mo-
bile morgues partially staffed by the incarcerated.
But the U.S. public has become terrifyingly good at ignoring
those harsh realities. Almost 40% of respondents to a recent
Ohio State University survey said they plan to gather with at
least 10 people for Thanksgiving, even though in many areas
this comes with the likelihood of sharing a table with an in-
fectious person. Many people continue to dine at indoor res-
taurants and work out in gyms, because many elected officials
continue to let them. Almost 980,000 people passed through
U.S. airport security checkpoints on Nov. 15, nearly quadru-
pling the number recorded six months earlier, when COVID-19
was nowhere near as widespread.
That people are behaving this way at the most dangerous
^
Bodies loaded into a refrigerated temporary
morgue trailer in El Paso, Texas, on Nov. 16
Health
NOTHING ABOUT THE
CURRENT COVID-19
EXPLOSION SHOULD
COME AS A SURPRISE.
AS THE VIRUS SPREAD
THROUGHOUT SUMMER
AND FALL, EXPERTS
REPEATEDLY WARNED
WINTER WOULD BE WORSE.
moment of the U.S. outbreak speaks volumes about human na-
ture, which in the world of public health can be as dangerous
a variable as any pathogen. Rallying cries about flattening the
curve have been replaced with a desire to return to normal life
at all costs. Solid leadership is in short supply, with the outgoing
Trump Administration refusing to concede the election and give
President-elect Joe Biden the tools he needs to take over the pan-
demic response. Good news about promising COVID-19 vaccine
candidates seems to be emboldening people in the wrong ways.
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