This week’s testing numbers are what I was really expecting last week. As terrifying as they appear to be, it is actually a good sign. We are now doing modest testing and by next week it will be moderate levels of testing.
I urge folks not to freak out. We knew the number of new cases would be huge and widespread. But it finally gives us a view on where we can best deploy our resources nationally.
Again, I want to focus on how really good these absolutely horrible numbers are. When we get testing right, many things get a lot better for a lot of folks.
Testing finally allows hospital personnel to know if they are the problem or the solution. Many, right now, are exposing themselves to this virus with substandard protection. Now we will know who should be isolated because they are infected and who can go back to work because they are not. That is huge in the management of this problem. Frontline healthcare workers have not done well in other countries. They are our most precious resource in this fight; seriously, the most precious.
The wave of COVID-19 will roll over the country hitting different areas at different times. We can finally see it, track it, and develop a plan. It may sound crazy, but some areas are going to be able to open up because testing is finally up to speed. It will still be weeks or months away, but if testing is widely available, small communities, especially rural communities that may be growing our food, may well be able to move to a modified stance.
We are in a defensive posture; hunkered down and trying to keep the enemy out. We haven’t done a great job of it, so the curve of illness and death will be steep and ugly.
At some point we are going to have to get out of our fox holes, and step into COVID-19’s ugly face and kick it down. Beat this bastard into submission.
That part will not be so easy or comfortable.
We are up-armoring the healthcare system with drugs and therapies and treatment paths, but “need vs. speed” is the now becoming an increasing problem. Every time a drug is mentioned by POTUS, it becomes unavailable to those who need it for its prescribed uses. The inclination to “just try stuff” without scientific validation is harmful to the effort and undermines confidence in the scientific community. Science takes time.
It is hard enough to get it right; hope and magical thinking should play no part of this. Yes, even hope is a distraction in science as it adds no clinical value. Do the science first and add the heart later.
The awful weeks in front of us, so often defined by simple numbers of sick and dead, are really the start of fixing this problem. Please, it is easy to be overwhelmed by numbers, but that is not the story.
The story is that hundreds of thousands of incredibly decent, smart, compassionate people are fighting globally, rising to this cause. Working together we will crush the un-living shit out of it. Do your part and do it well. Support each other. Be the kind of “helper” that would make Mr. Rogers proud.
This will take time and that time will be difficult. Stay strong. Lean gently on others if you can’t. We will get through this together.
If you want to read more of my work you can find it at bigwordsmallworld.com
-thank you. jurgen
Big Word • Small World 
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