Delta for all

Given enough time we will all be exposed to COVID-19.  Right now the Delta variant is circulating, but tomorrow it may be a new variant.  Given what we know today - some of us, the school-aged kids, will probably recover.  The oldest community members, those over 85, make up only 2% of the population, but account for nearly 30% of the deaths.  It's not a good time to be elderly in the US.

Living in rural America brings many challenges, not least of all trying to remain compassionate and understanding when people around you share misinformation like they are observing the weather.  No masks and low vaccination rates in rural America has led to a death rate two times that of the cities.  The consequences for the rural populations are there, but they are unable to connect the dots because their thinking is chaotic, gullible, prone to group-think, and reliant on their social networks.  

The chart above shows the 7-day death rate per 100,000 population.  That is important because it is comparing rates, not actual numbers.  The green line represents rural America.  The purple line is the urban parts of the U.S.  The blue line is all of American put together (there are more people in cities that in rural areas so it more closely matches the urban line).  

A new report shows that in Arizona COVID-19 has been the leading cause of death since the beginning of the pandemic.  NO OTHER STATE has had such terrible outcomes.  The deaths can be tied directly to policy decisions made by the Republican-led state government.  Across the nation COVID-19 is the third leading cause of death.  The chart below compares Arizona to two other states which are more typical of the national average.  You can compare policy decisions on masks, vaccinations, social distancing, school reopening and find Arizona did virtually nothing to protect the public.

But taken a step further the U.S. is failing miserably when compared to other countries.  Here is a comparison of death rates across countries.  Sure there are countries that are worse than the US, but wouldn't you think in the richest nation in the world - where we feel we have our shit together...?  I mean, Iran, Russia, Turkey have lower death rates than the US.

I guess today I am very upset by our failures because my mom has stage 4 terminal cancer and she was exposed to COVID-19 though one of her grandkids (who caught it at school of course).  I don't know what the future holds, but I do know we are all going to get this shit.  You just better hope you are young enough and healthy enough to survive, because we aren't doing shit as a society to keep each other safe.  We absolutely have lost the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness because we are dying at rates we have never seen - nearly 800,000 deaths in the US and no end in sight.  

This message brought to you by your jaded, exhausted, and sad public health doctor.