Wednesday: Day 3 of New York City’s Phase 2. In some ways, normal life is returning.
Playgrounds are open again; it’s nice to see tots on swings, hear screams from kids on the equipment — our apartment has two parks in shouting distance. If I don’t get out today to whack tennis balls against the nearby handball wall, I’ll go tomorrow morning. A huge number of weeds has broken through my local playground’s concrete in three months; I may do a little community gardening to help tennis balls bounce true.
The Kid and I can order books from our local independent seller, Greenlight Bookstore (though its website warns that appointments for curbside pickup are booked long in advance). Restaurants that can manage outdoor seating can actually serve customers (as opposed to setting up tables for patrons eating from to-go containers, as The Girlfriend and I did last week); the city’s set aside extra space to help diners with physical distancing.
The city's also setting aside another 23 miles of roads in its “open streets” plan for pedestrians and bicyclists to use from 8 a.m.-8 p.m. — barricades block cars on certain blocks, allowing kids to play on streets, especially in neighborhoods hit hardest by Covid-19. Next month some blocks will remain open (that is, closed to cars) at night. The city plans to reopen its beaches, too, though it says visitors will have to maintain separation.
The virus’s spread has slowed dramatically, though it hasn’t stopped: 17 people in the state died Tuesday, bringing the total to 24,782; more than 1,000 remain in the hospital, down from 18,000 in the Covid-19 wave’s April peak.
The wave’s financial wreckage is just being sorted through. Mayor de Blasio says the city may lay off 22,000 workers — almost 7 percent of the city’s labor force — to make up for a $9 billion shortfall in tax revenue. The MTA is postponing the subway’s desperately needed $54 billion modernization plan. (Grand total of subway rides taken in three months by The Girlfriend, The Kid, The Co-Parent’s family, and me: one.)
We voted Tuesday, in the state’s delayed primary. The Girlfriend gave me her absentee ballot, which I handed to a polling station worker, who assured me it would be counted even though this wasn’t her polling place. I went mid-morning to my local school gym, saw only four or five voters; ballot boxes were distanced, but workers told me voters were few and far between. (“I hope they’re all voting by mail,” one said.)
In the city, the dynamic was how far left Democratic voters were willing to push their party. The apparent answer: pretty far. (The mass of absentee ballots slows counting, may push back final counts for days.) For the progressives: Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez won her Bronx/Queens race handily; Jamaal Bowman was routing incumbent Rep. Eliot Engel; Ritchie Torres looked set to win the open 15th District race, Mondaire Jones the 17th; in Queens's 12th District, Rep. Carolyn Maloney was being pushed by Suraj Patel.
In my state senate race, a Democratic Socialist, Jamari Brisport, won over a respected assemblywoman; another Democratic Socialist just missed on upsetting my incumbent assemblyman, Walter Mosley. As Tea Party activists in the early 2010s tilted their party rightward by upsetting Republican stalwarts, it appears a similar dynamic is now playing out, at least in New York City.
Meanwhile, Covid-19 waves are breaking across the nation, especially in the South and West: Arizona, Texas, Florida, California are among the worst hit. The numbers are not attributable to more testing; 18 states are seeing hospitalizations rise. The U.S. has 4 percent of the world’s population, 25 percent of the world’s Covid-19 deaths (121,000, with more than 2.3 million confirmed cases).
The president, desperate to kick-start the economy to goose his election chances (which — though after 2016 Democrats remain chary of polls — don’t look good), continues to pretend the virus will disappear. He wants the numbers of sick people down, if not the actual amount of human suffering; he insists he wasn’t joking when he told his Tulsa rally Saturday that his administration should slow Covid-19 testing. He told Sean Hannity, “We’re very close to a vaccine and we’re very close to therapeutics, really good therapeutics. But even without that, I don’t like to talk about that because it’s fading away. It’s going to fade away.”
So far, the virus is making like Buddy Holly. It’s bad enough that governors of New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut issued an advisory to quarantine visitors from nine southern and western states (based on their rising 7-day infection rates); no one’s barred, but visitors can be fined if they don’t stay in quarantine for 14 days upon arrival.
Meanwhile, U.S. residents are likely to be banned from traveling to Europe.
Many of my high school classmates in California’s Central Valley have never trusted government statistics about the virus, despise Gov. Gavin Newsome for insisting on mask-wearing statewide. I was interested to see a couple of them post recent messages of a different tone. A hospital in our high school town is diverting non-Covid patients, worried about running out of beds.
One classmate posted, “If someone tests positive for Covid-19 antibodies but has not had any symptoms for months, should they too be required to wear a mask in public? I want to hear all sides if there are any opinions.”
A discussion ensued.
Classmate #2: “Yes, you should still wear a mask. They do not know 100 percent if you’re protected from catching COVID-19 again, nor are scientists sure how long any immunity will last. What we do know through science and history is masks will slow down the spread of infectious diseases. I will continue to wear one.”
Classmate #3: “Don’t force or try and shame someone to wear a mask. I believe there isn't enough TRUE evidence on how accurate the tests are, and we know the numbers have been fudge.”
Classmate #4: “Doctors are saying masks being made are worthless and can be even harmful. They lower oxygen levels.”
Classmate #2: “You are correct that a N-95 is the best, but since those are for health workers the research I’ve looked up, including CDC website, face masks will help with prohibiting transmission. Again, a mask is much better than no mask at all.”
Classmate #1: “I never said I wouldn’t wear one regardless of the outcome of my test results. I do take issue with the executive branch of government trying to mandate to the people. Legislation needs to be passed and signed by the Governor to make law.”
Classmate #6: “I don’t see any reason to make it a law ... that would be like if it required a law for people to look both ways before crossing a street.”
Meanwhile, young people are now testing positive in higher percentages, for three possible reasons: 1). More are being tested; 2). We’re protecting old people (such as those in nursing homes) more effectively; 3). More are congregating and getting sick. (Epidemiologists say it's likely all three.) Doctors are trying to stress the virus’s devastating consequences, including on the young and formerly healthy.
First wave? Second wave? Semantics. Either way, consequences are brutal.
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