I write this on Wednesday morning, with Biden ahead of Trump 238-213 in the Electoral vote and seven states still not declared for either side. Four of the seven are leaning Trump; three leaning Biden, but the light reds and light blues have shifted back and forth for hours, and might well do so again today—and tomorrow—before they move to bright red or bright blue. The popular vote—Biden up by 2,300,000—is tucked away for another day and discussions of electoral reform.
One thing is certain: millions of Americans have decided that the Covid-19 threat is less important than the economy, or that it is overblown. Last night, as the vote counts spilled across the TV screen, commentators commented on the president’s whirlwind appearances in the last week, and the enthusiasm of his crowds. “The economy” was cited by many voters.
There was little talk last night of Covid-19, no talk that I heard of the spread of the virus from polling places or rallies. No fears in voting lines—although most seemed masked and distanced. And the newspaper and radio pundits I’ve heard this morning make no or little mention of the disease. It’s as if the election took our minds away from something that has been with us for too long.
Millions of Americans have explicitly or implicitly decided that Covid-19 is not as serious a disease as advertised, or that it is not a personal threat because of their age or station, or that if they happen to contract it, they will bounce back as the president has, or that a herd immunity and the imminent arrival of a vaccine will soon reduce Covid-19 to a historical footnote.
Meanwhile, the disease is raging again in many countries as experts quibble over a second or third wave, and 1199 Americans died of it yesterday. There were 94,463 new cases announced, with our largest yet hospitalization census—50,176.
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