Coronavirus (COVID-19) important

Looks like the Guardian is reporting the U.S. at 41,000 deaths. And it's likely that there are more deaths that could be attributed to our hospitals being at or beyond capacity in urban centers.

Thankfully it looks like things are slowing in places like New York, and California, where I am, has managed its shit pretty well.

Unfortunately, South Carolina is slated to "re-open" everything next week, and there are small, albeit very, very vocal protest groups in the U.S. trying to call for the immediate re-opening of all states.

After many years of sitting back and simply observing my fellow countrypersons, I can tell you that I predict that the U.S. is going to reach full herd-immunity. This means that likely we're going to see waves of outbreaks, and large numbers of people dying as hospitals keep reaching full capacity.

People in this country are, unfortunately, dumb. I wish I could say my country is being led by a responsible, informed, considerate leader, but nothing could be further from the truth.

The truth is that there was no plan. There was no response. Our leader has not responded. There was some orange-haired guy that thought he heard--somewhere--that hydroxychloroquine could possibly be effective in treating this thing, and without fully considering whether that was true he gambled that it was going to work and told people to munch away on pills.

It's very clear the economy of the United States is going to falter.

It's becoming unfortunately clear that the people who live in this country are going to help usher in a wave of deaths related to the coronavirus.

So things are going to get worse before they fully get better. It's only just started to get ugly.

I hope everyone out there is hanging in there. I don't want to be the harbinger of bad tidings, and honestly, above all else--I hope I am wrong.

But regardless of what happens, at the end of all this, there will be a light. The end of a tunnel always has light.

I feel with you, Poots. I've been following the US news closely for quite some time now, but this is beyond anything I could have possibly imagined. I don't want to get too political in here as I welcome everyone on the forum, but I will say this one thing anyway: The president of the United States of America is seriously mentally ill. I mean, there are currently thousands dying and Donald Trump is holding one unhinged "briefing"-turned-rally after another and is more concerned with the optics of his brand and ratings rather than the actual job he agreed to 3 years ago. The GOP is unwilling to take any action because they know they need him or at least know the political perils for themselves if they'd do something about it.
The most frustrating thing, as you point out, is that there are still people cheering and defending this bizarre behavior as if this was still just a political game of "my team vs. yours" rather than a matter of life and death - not realizing that they hurt themselves. Last week he undercut his newly announced re-opening policy in just one day when he called for liberation of various states. WTF? How can anyone defend such erratic demeanor? Seriously, during the last couple of these "covid-shows" I was about break my effing screen because facepalming apparently doesn't do it any longer.
It's truely unfathomable how far a society can sink in such a short period of time and it makes me even terrified of the thought that this might be happening again in my country, too (the writings are on the wall). The lunatics have taken over the asylum, facts have barely any impact or value anymore and appear to have been replaced by opinions and spin-stories.

Let's hope that the reasonable and sane voices in this dysfunct administration will prevail and help to overcome this crisis. It's really hard these days to remain optimistic... but I will. I will!

Hoooray, Austria is now leading worldwide in Covid19 incidence  (positivity rate is also quite high, which suggests there are many more undetected cases)
In March, when the first wave really hit, our gouvernment acted fast with a full lockdown (well, at least after the utter failure at the first heavy hit regions in ski resorts in Tyrol, which helped spread Covid all over Europe). During the summer they could not congratulate themselves enough how well they handled the pandemic (our chancellor said that the health crisis is over and, in late August, that there is light at the end of the tunnel).
What they didn't do during the relatively mild summer months is to prepare in any way for a second wave, despite the warnings of pretty much every expert.
Which is why our world-class healthcare system is now at or near capacity limits and beginning next week we're under full lockdown.

I hope everyone stays healthy , please take this seriously, whear a mask, keep your distance and try to limit the number of people you have contact with as much as possible. I know this sucks, but it's the only way to slow the spread until vaccines become available.

Oh gosh. I'm so sorry to hear that, Stefan.

We continue to bear the burden of not only having to live our lives differently in order to protect those around us, but also to constantly worry about the folks who have decided they don't need to. We're entering another lockdown here in Portland. My parents at home in England are back in another lockdown. And there are still people out there calling it tyranny and a betrayal of their rights. They just aren't smart enough to correlate not doing their part with the fact that this will continue to suck until they do.

To echo your sentiments, please stay safe everyone. And as difficult as it is to stop worrying about the idiots who don't care, we can only control what we can control, and we should use all the mental energy we can to keep ourselves and our loved ones safe by doing the right things.

Hoooray, Austria is now leading worldwide in Covid19 incidence 

Croatia took notice, thought "Well, that will never do!" and took action.
Now we are leading in Europe, if not world.
Baby steps, eh? 

The first people I directly know (my grandma, a friend working at an elderly care home, another friend working at a hospital) have already received or are receiving their first dose of the Covid vaccine and I cannot express how happy I am about that.