Failures in practicing social distancing – Afternoon statistics – Landon Spradlin – Hardening of attitudes among the evangelicals – Mardi Gras – The threat of Easter – Sad story of a medical care worker – Improvement in air quality – Lament for Italy
I walked today locally, doing about 20 miles in a loop. It was a fine day and ordinarily I would have rejoiced to see so many out of doors. I have long contended that our nation as a whole is much too sedentary in its habits. But such activity is less enjoyable when you are forced to regard anyone in your proximity as a potential source of contagion. And people are not practicing social distancing here, for all of the lip service that’s paid to it. Today, for instance, I came across:
- People walking side by side as others were passing from the opposite direction, instead of going into single file
- Bikers passing pedestrians in tandem instead of one falling behind the other
- People with strollers occupying the dead center of sidewalks
- Dog owners with those ludicrous retractable leashes that are almost as bad as no leash at all, failing to reel their dog in as others approached and on occasion blocking the entire footpath
Perhaps matters are different in areas hit harder by the virus, such as New York or Washington State, but here quite a number of people do not seem to care.
At 3:00 PM the statistics are as follows: # of cases worldwide – 585,040; # of deaths worldwide – 26,455; # of cases in U. S. – 97,028; # of deaths – 1,475. In less than a day we’ve had an increase of 11% of cases and of 11.5% in deaths. For the U.S., the increases are nearly 18% of cases and 25% of deaths.
Landon Spradlin, a Virginia pastor who denounced the fears over the coronavirus as “mass hysteria,” went on a missionary trip – to New Orleans, of all places, to “wash it from its sin and debauchery” – collapsed on the way back home, was taken to a hospital in North Carolina, and lived just long enough to be diagnosed with the disease, which in his case was extraordinarily virulent and claimed his life in a matter of hours.
It seems to me – though of course I may be mistaken, for this is hardly my area of expertise – but it seems to me that the evangelicals were somewhat less hostile towards science when I was growing up than they are at this stage. Certainly they believed then, as they do now, in the literal truth of every word of the Bible, but they appeared to be more or less resigned to the fact that others might have a different opinion. Now if they come across anything that does not fit in with their point of view, they close their eyes to it and then they close their minds. It is a pity, for there are many likeable people in their ranks: kindly, charitable, well-intentioned, quite ready to do one a good turn and even willing to extend their benevolence to those whose religion is not their own. But the increasing rigidity of their theology is depriving them of the knack of living. Under the current conditions, this blindness can be deadly. Going to church services in closely-packed rooms and hugging one another in religious ecstasy might indeed be a demonstration of faith in ordinary times, but to do so when an infectious virus is ravaging the country is little short of madness. The pastors, who as the leaders of their flocks ought to display at least a measure of responsibility, positively encourage them in this recklessness. They claim that their prayers will have the power to deflect such threats from the outside. Like Theobald Pontifex in The Way of All Flesh, they are great believers in the efficacy of prayer. “And so am I under certain circumstances. Tennyson has said that more things are wrought by prayer than this world dreams of, but he has wisely refrained from saying whether they are good things or bad things. It might perhaps be as well if the world were to dream of, or even become wide awake to, some of the things that are being wrought by prayer. But the question is avowedly difficult.”
Returning to New Orleans, it appears that the Mardi Gras celebrations, which were performed when the virus was already disseminating throughout the nation but when relatively few were aware of it, might have played a role in the current increase of cases in the city and its environs. Of course the Mardi Gras celebrations in New Orleans are essentially a secular affair, despite their origin. But religion has its orgies as well, and it appears that one is looming on the horizon that will aggravate the situation still further.
Easter comes on April 12th this year. Easter was never the most benign of holidays to begin with (the number of pogroms it has inspired is legion) but on this occasion it promises to be even deadlier to its adherents than it has been in the past to outsiders. Will the congregants flock to services on Palm Sunday, Good Friday, Easter Sunday? Or will they show some common sense and stay at home? For that matter, Passover begins on April 8th, but that is principally celebrated at family homes and the pressure to attend a seder of any kind is less intense. Most Jewish families, I suspect, will quietly resign themselves to a ceremony held among immediate relatives only. What will the Catholics and the Protestants do? I agree that it is hard on them to forego a ceremony that many feel to be an important annual milestone, but at this point it simply is not a good idea to sit alongside several dozen people in a crowded room for any length of time.
A sad story: Danielle Trezzi, a young nurse in the Lombardy region in Italy, committed suicide upon learning she tested positive for the virus. Apparently fears of infecting others may have played a role. I have no doubt that men and women in the health care industry must be under tremendous stress. Need to look into ways of volunteering so as to alleviate (to some small degree) the pressure that the health care professionals in the area are undergoing.
The air is noticeably cleaner as a result of the pandemic. Los Angeles, for instance, has not had any unhealthy levels of ozone for over a month. The wildlife seems to be enjoying the benefits of our reduced activity as well. Today when I was walking I heard a chorus of birdsong in every street and trail I used.
Alas, poor Italy! More than 8% of the health care workers have the virus. Several doctors have died, including two who came out of retirement to help combat the ravages of the epidemic. It now has the highest death count of any country. There is a slight decrease in the incidence of new cases, so perhaps it will eventually get to the stage that China is in now – but at the moment it’s a shambles. I shouldn’t say “at the moment” – even if the rate of new cases continues to decrease, it will take a minimum of two months before they can even begin to repair the rips and tears in their social fabric.