August 1, 2021: End of Covidaze

August 1, 2021: End of Covidaze. It is certainly not the end of COVID-19. I started the effort, loosely called “Covidaze,” with the end date of today. The hope was that by this time, we would exhaust the funds from the philanthropy of my community at Wake Forest and we might all reach a point where the pandemic was somewhat in control. I was right about the funds and wrong about the pandemic. It still goes on, there are still needs, muted no doubt, but there are people looking for support with vaccines, tests, and the ancillaries that the pandemic has given us. The numbers keep varying and seem to have plateaued a bit where the Covidaze folks were working. Some of the people who needed support with supplies that Devdas was running are now back to their work as the malls and restaurants are open. On Saturday, I had gone with the hope of buying a shirt at the mall but retreated seeing the throngs of people there. Did a quick walk around to see if I could get a cup of coffee, all the outlets had long lines. Abandoned the idea and left the place. Shirtless. But that also means that people may be re-engaging in the economy. In America some news is reporting a steady economic growth. The work of Devdas is now over. The last round of supplies has been offered. The O2Cs stand in readiness. There is always death and always the need for O2. Sometimes families cannot afford O2, so the Wake O2Cs stand in readiness. One bondhu said, there will be a “third” wave, and these may again be needed. We stand in readiness. The Angels have truly been good. They still receive calls, and they respond with alacrity that amazes me. Setting up tests, finding vaccination points. And they will continue to do that. They said. Their phone number has spread far and wide and they are now known as who they are – volunteers who can support. That part of the original effort goes on. In the meantime, human behavior will allow the disease to spread. The evidence of human alliance with the virus is well displayed in the news from America where people have actively allied with the disease to allow it to spread. Rejecting vaccines, rejecting masks, embracing behavior that the virus welcomes. In this complicity with the disease the numbers go up. What is interesting, but not unusual, is that the metric has changed. People are not dying, the news said, the hospitals can cope, the news continued. Thus things are alright. Again if the medical system is stressed then the Covidaze may have to come back. But till then, evidently, all is well. One news outlet reported that there could be 140,000 cases each day, in a few weeks. Again. Because we let it happen. An ironical twist to Beatles, “Whisper words of wisdom, let it be.” Then Covidaze will return. We remain ready to deal with our stupidity.