We’ve reached a horrible place, where dead bodies are being transported to Philadelphia’s medical examiner in the back of an open pickup truck.
More than 47,000 have now died of coronavirus in the US. Even if we assume we’re at the top of the curve, tens of thousands more will die. By this time next week, it seems very possible that more people will have died in the US of Covid-19 than the the 58,000 who died in nearly of decade of fighting in Vietnam. We’re already far past the more than 35,000 who died in Korea.The country was much smaller during those conflicts. But everyone, it seemed, had a story. The same will be true now. Even if you don’t know someone who has died of this disease, you can be sure the death toll includes relatives of people you’ve heard of. Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s brother died and Rep. Maxine Waters’ sister is dying, we learned Thursday. (Read this moving tribute by a former CNN colleague to his father, who died at 69 after 28 days on a ventilator in New York.)
.
The dead are not all elderly. The woman now thought to be the first US coronavirus victim was otherwise active and healthy. I can’t stop thinking about the five-year-old girl in Detroit.
Best in Moderation
Article URL : https://edition.cnn.com/2020/04/24/politics/what-matters-april-23/index.html