The Two Weeks That Stretched into a Year, Part II

Exactly a year ago today, Texas shut down. Yesterday, the state officially lifted mandates and shutdowns. I went grocery shopping. Stores required masks, and people wore them. Nothing feels different yet. Maybe we could even speculate that no mandates or shutdowns were ever required. All people wanted and needed was accurate information—which is what we didn’t get.

Our household suffered less than many. We work at home, didn’t have kids in school. As an introvert, I was content to stay home most days with no pressure to be somewhere. That’s harder for Mr. Spherical Model. We have gotten through the year healthy (with exceptions of injury recovery for Mr. Spherical Model, unrelated to the pandemic). That probably gives me ability to consider what happened with less emotion than those who suffered greater losses. But I wanted to take a look back at this year today. My recounting is pretty mundane, but it may be useful for history—at least to me.

 

What We’ve Been Through This Year

Wikipedia has something of a detailed timeline. So I’m going to do one highlighting what I remember and experienced this past locked-down year. Feel free to skim. 

January 2020

·         We start hearing about this virus that supposedly came from a Wuhan wet market, which is spreading in China. We’re told it spreads by eating bat soup, not human-to-human.

screenshot from Epoch Times documentary on CCP virus

·         We hear of it spreading person-to-person in China, despite denials.

·         January 30 President Trump closes travel from China. Meanwhile, he is derided by Democrats for being racist.

February 2020

·         President Trump closes travel from Italy, where there is a serious outbreak, overwhelming hospitals, with high death rates particularly among the elderly.

·         Meanwhile Nancy Pelosi in San Francisco and Andrew Cuomo in New York City are calling for people to come out to Chinese New Year festivities, to show they are not cowed by President Trump’s “fearmongering.”

·         A cruise ship has an outbreak. People from the ship are quarantined until they are completely cleared of the disease.

The Grand Princess cruise ship had an
outbreak of COVID-19 a year ago.
Getty image from here

·         We begin learning that the virus came from a lab near Wuhan. It may have been an accidental leak; whistleblowers died. WHO said whatever the Chinese Communist Party told them to say. The Epoch Times calls it the CCP virus, which is probably most accurate.

March 2020

·         We work the polls for the primary election.

·         I sing in a choir, unaware that this won’t happen again for a very long time.

·         President Trump calls for businesses to retool to provide needed PPE (personal protective equipment). We need to rethink supply chains.

·         Democrats complain that President Trump has not done enough to prevent the spread, or to provide PPE.

·         Our kids visit and attend an off-season league football game—turns out to be the last outing for a while.

·         The rest of the Houston Rodeo is cancelled.

·         Businesses are shut down (March 11, 2020)—for two weeks, to “flatten the curve,” meaning to keep hospitals from being overwhelmed to the point that people die because of lack of resources for them.

·         We begin work on the district platform by Zoom meeting (which becomes very common this year).

·         District convention is postponed.

·         Schools close temporarily.

·         Our church closes temporarily—no Sunday or weekday meetings.

·         Our book club, which we hold in a nursing home with a resident there, is cancelled indefinitely.

·         We find ourselves mostly homebound, because Mr. Spherical Model broke his ankle (March 13), so he can’t walk or drive.

·         Early on, I imagine hospitals with overwhelming numbers of sick people, in parking lots, unable to get help inside. Why else would such drastic measures be put in place? This never happens anywhere in Texas. Some areas of New York and New Jersey were briefly overwhelmed, but no one went without help, as had happened in Italy.

·         President Trump starts holding daily press briefings on the pandemic, along with Drs. Fauci and Birx and others, to inform and reassure the public.

·         People start making masks at home, in large numbers to supply others. (I make enough for us to get by.) Clothing and other manufacturing companies retool to make PPE. Innovation happens to supply larger numbers of ventilators, which we later learn are seldom needed.

·         Dr. Fauci at first says the public should not use masks; they don’t work. Later he says they should wear masks. He excuses his lie because he had been concerned that the public would use up what was needed by healthcare professionals (our first hint that he lies because he doesn’t trust the public).

·         Guidelines are given for “social distancing,” which becomes a ubiquitous phrase: Stay home unless going out is necessary. Avoid contact with people outside your home. Stay outdoors, or, when indoors stay six feet apart; when unable to social distance indoors, then wear a mask. [This quickly got distorted into masks everywhere, in addition to social distancing, and in some places even outdoors alone, like on a surfboard or a bicycle.]

·         Texas suffers its first 47 deaths between March 16^th and the end of the month.

April 2020

·         More than two weeks have passed, the curve is lowered, so that there is no concern of overwhelming the system. But lockdowns and mandates continue with no indication of when they will be lifted.

·         The clearer it gets that there is no chance of overwhelming the hospitals, the more draconian the demands are on the people.

·         Schools either go virtual or shut down for the remainder of the school year.

·         Tax payments are postponed for 90 days. 

·         Governments show authoritarianism, inflicting mask mandates, identifying which businesses they will allow to open, and shutting down churches during Easter season, even when the churches are willing to meet outdoors, in cars, distanced, with no one coming into contact with others in the congregation. 

·         Good news comes out that doctors are successfully treating patients by intervening early with hydroxychloroquine along with zinc and azithromycin, as well as some other successful treatments. 

·         President Trump mentions a couple of treatment options and receives huge backlash. The media tout a Lancet study, which is one week later repealed, because it was a lie. Other studies touted use parts of useful protocols but at the wrong times—and in lethal doses—and then proclaim drugs such as hydroxychloroquine are dangerous. The media continues to tout these false studies and begins censoring information about useful treatments. 

May 2020

·         We’re doing church at home entirely. Fortunately, we’d been prepared over the past couple of years to be able to do just that.

·         Mr. Spherical Model, who has been commuting to work in his upstairs home office by scooting up the stairs on his backside, begins physical therapy to be able to walk again.

Mr. Spherical Model commuting
upstairs to his office

·         People who put businesses on hold “for two weeks” do some civil disobedience. [I heard Shelley Luther and her husband both testify on HB 3 today in the House State Affairs committee meeting; they are still fighting the criminalization she went through, even though she opened her business safely and no one spread the virus there—but she did it before government allowed. Yet government did nothing to repair the “takings” they did to her and many other people.] 

·         We visit kids—all of whom have been safely virus-free—for a birthday celebration.

·         I did the garden this year, since Mr. Spherical Model cannot.

June 2020

·         Our community pool is closed for the summer, even though outdoors, and with chlorinated water, spreading is unlikely. Our neighborhood park has all the equipment taken down and is closed. We will not get any refund from the HOA for this loss of amenities.

·         We hold the district convention in person, beyond county boundaries to avoid the county judge’s no-gathering orders. No one gets or spreads the virus at this gathering of several hundred people.

Rep. Dan Crenshaw speaks at
our District 7 convention June 15, 2020

·         I no longer disinfect my groceries as I bring them into the house. There’s something called “viral load” that means, unless you have an infected person sneeze a lot of saliva right on your items, you’re not likely to have the virus passed to you from items, food, packages, clothing, etc.

·         We still don’t know anyone who has had the virus. I start keeping track of data, including my zip code, where we have our first two deaths.

·         Riots have become a daily part of life in several cities around the country; these are not thought to spread the virus for some reason. 

July 2020

·         We help our neighbor rehabilitate his pool so I can swim daily.

·         I attend the first two days of the State Republican Convention committee meetings in person, downtown (I’m editing the platform, not on a committee). I work the third day from home. No illness is spread to anyone attending these in-person meetings.

·         That same week Mr. Spherical Model runs our primary election runoff (postponed from May), safely, but in an unpleasant alternate location. There is PPE and hand sanitizer everywhere. People use a latex finger glove to touch equipment, and are given sanitizing wipes. All is safer than grocery shopping; nevertheless, the interim county clerk attempts multiple ways of thwarting election integrity and blaming it on the virus. This is a wake-up call for the November election.

·         The rest of the State Convention is done virtually because of the Mayor’s last-minute contract-breaking lockdown order. Doing business virtually with 7,000+ people is nigh unto impossible. We face denial of service and other hacking problems (including on the platform). Business is not completed at this time.

·         Frontline Doctors begin speaking out—but are silenced. Some are fired. [Months later, now, we know what they said was true.] 

Frontline Doctors speak out.
screenshot from here

August 2020

·         We start having in-person church, limited to 50 people, in masks and social distanced, per session. I offer to play the organ for our session—even though we aren’t allowed to sing—promising to wipe it down afterward.

·         We’ve missed having our Texas grandchildren each spend a week with us, as in other summers, but we get a quick visit.

·         Texas has had a surge, but by the end of the month is in decline. At this point the county judge places a graphic on the county public health site to indicate we are in the red zone, high alert, despite the decline. [This graphic never changes, no matter what the numbers are, we now know.]

from the Harris County
public health site

·         Using the pandemic as an excuse for skirting election integrity rules—particularly concerning ballots by mail—increases. 

·         I attend an online music festival, which in some ways offers more than in-person, and is less expensive. It has been a hard time for musicians and others who make their living from music festivals and other performances.

·         We help son Economic Sphere and his wife move into their first owned home.

September 2020

·         Schools are either delayed or done with some combination of in-person and virtual teaching. Our grandchildren, in a small Texas town, get to attend in person but must wear masks. Schools around us are mixed—parents decide. Teachers must do both.

·         Teachers we know are among the most frightened about getting COVID-19, despite their relative youth and good health.

·         The President and First Lady get COVID-19 and recover quickly. 

·         A brother-in-law gets it and suffers badly—until he changes to a doctor that does the HCQ/zinc/Zithromax protocol and he improves almost instantly. 

·         There’s no trick-or-treating this year.

My grandson designed our pumpkin

·         We start having up to 100 people attend church, spread out. People have the option of joining virtually from home.

November 2020

·         The election fiasco happens—everything we warned against and more.

·         We work our polling place. None of our workers gets exposed to the virus.

·         People are warned not to gather for Thanksgiving. We nevertheless have Thanksgiving with kids—outdoor dining. So illness is spread at this gathering.

December 2020

·         Mr. Spherical Model injures his shoulder putting our Christmas tree up on the car. (I was inside Kroger waiting way too long for help.)

·         Mr. Spherical Model travels to help out a nephew; he further injures his shoulder.

·         Mr. Spherical Model gets shoulder surgery, preventing us from celebrating our anniversary. I spend the day wearing a mask in the waiting room. No illness is spread from this time in public.

·         We have our first Tea Party meeting since February. It is well attended, and we look at what we can do, looking forward to the legislative session. No one gets sick from attending this gathering.

·         People are warned not to gather for Christmas. We ignore that. Kids visit on Christmas day. But we have no church party or other gatherings. I make my specialty dipped chocolates as usual, but we have a difficult time knowing how to give them away. A few people accept plates dropped off at doorsteps. The rest get eaten by Mr. Spherical Model, who gains some temporary weight.

January 2021

·         We get to start singing at church. I play the piano until the organ gets fixed. Still limited to 100 people, with masks, spread out every other pew.

·         There are various versions of the vaccine available and being rolled out. I will not be getting one, since I am a lot more likely to have an adverse reaction to the vaccine than I am to die from the virus (assuming appropriate treatment—but my plan is to avoid ever getting it).

·         Authorities say you must wear a mask, even after both doses of the vaccine. They do not explain why that would be necessary. They do not well explain why people who have had the virus still need the vaccine and must wear masks and avoid gatherings.

·         Mr. Spherical Model begins physical therapy for his shoulder, while I do all the heavy lifting of putting Christmas away.

·         There are a million or so people at the US capitol on January 6^th, approximately .01% whom loot and pillage the place, with media blaming the President. No one talks about this being a super-spreader event, because it isn’t one.

·         The CDC (or is it WHO, who have US funding again because of Biden?) lowers the number of cycles for testing, which, not surprisingly, lowers numbers of new cases right after the Biden inauguration.

·         Since we spend so much time at home these days, we give in and get a puppy. She’s adorable, but big trouble—and getting very big soon (a Great Pyrenees).

Our new puppy likes snow.

February 2020

·         News media tell the surprising news that HCQ with zinc and Zithromax, and a couple of other treatments are actually effective—failing to explain why they’ve been censoring this information since March. 

·         President Biden claims there was no vaccine available when he took office—forgetting that he received both his doses prior to inauguration, the first in December and the second in early January.

·         We have friends and family members who have been getting the vaccines. It appears to be common for the second shot to be much worse than the first—causing pain and possibly a couple of days of fever. This is supposed to indicate that it is working. (I’m noting that, for some, this reaction is worse than the virus typically is for their demographic.)

·         We survive the “snowpocalypse” in Texas—without power for a day and a half, better off than those who lost power longer and had frozen pipes that burst. Loss of power suddenly looks like a greater catastrophe than a pandemic, the worst of which is the shutdown of society combined with refusal to allow treatments. 

·         There is concern that vaccination may be required for participation in various parts of society—shopping, traveling, attending events, for example. Then there is the question of how they know—will we have to carry around certifications? Will I be allowed an exemption for health reasons, or will I lose the ability to function in society?

·         The media suddenly becomes aware of what we knew almost a year ago: NY Governor Andrew Cuomo order infected people into nursing homes, causing the deaths of thousands, and then covered it up. And, by the way, he’s being called out for sexual harassment, as though that were the more important issue.

March 2020

·         CDC guidance now admits that wearing a mask after taking the virus will not be necessary.

·         The current occupant of the White House seems to have forgotten to address the joint houses of Congress this year.

·         Former President Trump addresses the country from CPAC in Florida, where there is a large gathering—allowed by Governor DeSantis. No one seems to be attempting to claim that CPAC will be a super-spreader event.

·         Governor Noem of South Dakota is something of a CPAC rock star, because she never locked down the state, and they fared as well or better than most states—without the damage to the economy.

·         Evidence shows that the states and cities with the tightest restrictions not only do not fare better than more open states; they fare worse. California is attempting to recall its governor. And New York’s governor is not likely to last much longer either.

·         My zip code is exactly average in Texas for deaths from COVID-19. There have been 17; three happened within a week in February. Before that most months had only 1. I have not known any. The daily active cases (7-day rolling average) has been decreasing since January 25.

·         The daily deaths for Harris County (7-day rolling average) is 12, where it has been for some time, down from a high of 40 in August.

from the Harris County Public Health site March 10, 2021

·         Daily deaths in Texas (7-day rolling average) have dipped below 200, down from 349 at the beginning of February, which is approximately what it was in August at the peak. It isn’t clear to me where those deaths are taking place, since I don’t track all 250 counties. Harris County claims high case counts still, although actual numbers don’t bear that out. But we make up nearly 14% of the state’s population yet only 6% of the state’s daily COVID deaths. Some people speculate it is illegal immigrants at the border bringing in cases, but data doesn’t show large case counts there.

What Have We Learned

We’ve learned not to trust government with our healthcare. When they continue a two-week lockdown indefinitely, without explaining why or setting reasonable expectations for when it will end, they lose our willing cooperation.

We’ve learned not to trust experts in a single specialty to set policy for all of society; they consider everything (and everybody) outside their specialty nonessential, expendable, or irrelevant.

 

Dr. Scott Atlas quantifies other losses compared to COVID-19 deaths,
as of half a year ago. Screenshot from here

We’ve learned not to trust the media to either tell us the truth or to allow truth to be told—even when that censoring costs lives.

Our family has been blessed to get through this entire year without losing a loved one to the disease. We know that’s not true for millions of people. We do know people who have lost close loved ones; the virus is real. But this virus may be a risk we learn to live with, as we have the 1918 flu and some other maladies. If we can grasp that, then life can get back to something approaching normal.

Virus conditions are better than they could be; it wasn’t as deadly as we feared, and there are treatments and vaccines. The economy and society are worse than they should be; we shouldn’t have let that happen, and we’d better prevent it going forward.