**************
Wednesday US COVID News

“In one week new daily coronavirus cases in U.S. go from 104,000 to 145,000, latest all-time high. The rise in infections comes with new highs in the number of deaths reported in a single day at 1,549 ” Washington Post

“The Surging Coronavirus Finds a Federal Leadership Vacuum. The winter wave has been anticipated for months. Now that it’s here, health officials worry once again about strategy and supplies. As the country enters what may be the most intense stage of the pandemic yet, the Trump administration remains largely disengaged. President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr. is trying to assume a leadership mantle, with the appointment of a coronavirus advisory board and a call for all Americans to wear masks, but until his inauguration on Jan. 20, he lacks the authority to mobilize a federal response. With 1,000 deaths per day, it’s like two jumbo jets dropping from the sky. But Somehow, as a nation we’re not outraged.” For the complete article: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/11/us/politics/coronavirus-surge-trump.html

“President Donald Trump and task force leader Vice President Mike Pence have declined to address the pandemic publicly in weeks. The task force leadership is under constant scrutiny, while the White House has repeatedly declined to make all of its reports publicly accessible.”
Washington Post

Wednesday: “Two more White House official who attended Trump’s election night gathering has tested positive for the coronavirus.”
Washington Post

“US surpasses record Covid-19 hospitalizations for the second consecutive day. Record high hospitalizations are expected to continue daily as new Covid-19 cases continue to sky-rocket.” CNN

“US hospitals approach ‘crisis level’ as some reach capacity and others face threats of strike.” CNN

“Kansas City area hospital administrators continue to sound alarms this week over increasing hospitalizations and staffing shortages due to the pandemic. One of the only relief valves hospitals have is canceling essential surgeries. That includes Cancer and heart surgeries. ” KMBC News
Side Note: My husband works for one of the Metro Hospitals. So we’re very, very aware of this frightening strain on the system…

**************
The bad COVID news is coming in faster than I can keep up to it. Above is more than enough to put into my archives as a reminder of today in US history. Even having lived through these times, it will be hard to image – once life is finally back to normal – how bad things really got. To save itself, the human mind tends to forget the “bad” in life. So I’m sure 5 years from now, what is happening now will seem unimaginable for those of us who are spared. But it is something to be remembered to prevent it from happening again.

Now to the “good news”. After one day of winter weather and being stuck indoors yesterday, both the groundhogs & I were outside again today. It was sunny and in the 50’s