West Virginia’s COVID-19 numbers are devastating; America’s, even more so.
In the 24-hour period from 10 a.m. Sunday to 10 a.m. Monday, the Mountain State gained 995 new positive coronavirus cases. In the 24-hour period from 10 a.m. Monday to 10 a.m. Tuesday, there were 1,400 more new cases. There were 42 new deaths in that same period, bringing the death toll to 1,171 at the time of this writing. Nationally, the United States has averaged about 200,000 new cases a day for the month of December; total U.S. deaths have surpassed 319,000.
It isn’t certain that state and national COVID spikes are due to Thanksgiving travel and gathering, but it isn’t far-fetched to think so. Some cities and states have been able to identify a direct connection: Doctors and health officials in Chicago, Ill., Long Island, N.Y., and Washington state told NPR they treated a surge of COVID patients who had contracted the virus during Thanksgiving festivities. For some of those patients, Thanksgiving was the last holiday they will ever celebrate.
Thanksgiving likely isn’t the only factor driving up numbers in West Virginia, but it’s undoubtedly a contributor. And with three major gathering days coming up in quick succession, we’re afraid we’ll be starting the new year with a tsunami of new cases and deaths.
Whatever precautions — or lack thereof — West Virginians took for Turkey Day don’t seem to have worked well. To those who did not travel and did not gather back in November: Thank you. We know how hard it is to be separated from loved ones during the holidays, and we appreciate the sacrifices you have made to ensure everyone can get together next year. To those who traveled and gathered on Thanksgiving: Please reevaluate your holiday strategies. The best approach to Christmas and New Year’s get-togethers is simply to not to. But we know how people are, and many will gather anyway.
To those who plan to travel and visit family: If you implemented precautions at Thanksgiving and no one fell ill, consider doing the same thing and even adding more protective elements this time; after all, community spread is much higher now than it was last month. If you took no precautions at your gathering and no one got sick, praise whatever deity or universal force you believe in, because you were incredibly lucky. Please don’t tempt fate by doing the same thing at Christmas, because you and your loved ones may not be so fortunate this time.
We realize we sound like a broken record. We’ve lost track of how many times we’ve written these words, begging people to be careful, to make smart decisions, to take precautions if not for themselves, then for their loved ones and neighbors. Honestly, we’re getting tired of repeating the same pleas and advice. But we have a responsibility, as the local newspaper, to do what we can to help and protect the community. As long as West Virginia’s positive COVID case and death numbers continue their upward trajectory, we will continue to beat this same drum, because the only way to make it through this pandemic is for everyone to work together.
