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APRIL 17, 2020
AIKEN-AUGUSTA’S MOST SALUBRIOUS NEWSPAPER • FOUNDED IN 2006
AUGUSTARX.COM
PLANETSTRONG
Let’s spend a few calm, quiet and rational minutes talking about everyone’s favorite subject, the coronavirus. (Part 3 of a feature of unknown duration.)
If the worldwide pandemic we’re all being affected by proves one thing, and proves it dramatically and conclusively, it is that the world, yes, pretty much the entire world, can react very aggressively to a health threat. And it isn’t just nations; the response goes all the way down to individuals, to your street and mine; to my house, your house and your next-door neighbor’s house no matter where we live. Do you know anyone personally in the Aiken-Augusta area who has tested positive for coronavirus? You might, but the entire metro area (which officially encompasses Richmond, Columbia, Burke, McDuffie and Lincoln counties in Georgia, and Aiken and Edgefield counties in South Carolina) has documented 413 cases (as of late Thursday afternoon) out of the total area population of some 604,000 people. The COVID-19-positive segment of the populace, therefore, is 0.06 percent; death due to the virus has befallen 0.002 percent the CSRA population. The flip side of the coin is that close to 100 percent of us have been directly affected, and are in some significant way contributing to the effort to limit the spread of this outbreak. We are all pitching in, whether willingly or not, and that is commendable. But let’s imagine for a moment the results if we put the same effort into the #1 killer in the U.S.: heart disease. By today’s issue date (April 17), heart disease will have killed an estimated 188,000 Americans so far this year. Before New Years Day 2021 the total will have gone far beyond 630,000, and that’s just in the U.S. And that’s just for this year. The estimates are based on the deadly yearly track record of heart disease, so the numbers quickly rise into the millions just for the past few years. Heart disease is a good condition to cite for comparison bePlease see REALITY CHECK page 2
Seven years ago this week, a terrible tragedy unfolded within the span of 14 seconds. At the conclusion of the Boston Marathon on April 15, 2013, two homemade pressure cooker bombs exploded near the race’s finish line. Three people were killed instantly, and hundreds were injured, including 16 who lost limbs, whether explosively or surgically. Within hours two brothers, Dzhokhar and Tamerlan Tsarnaev, were identified as the suspects. On the night of April 18/19, the brothers were located by police in separate vehicles and a firefight ensued during which an estimated 200 to 300 rounds of ammunition were fired. Tamerlan was subdued after a foot chase, but his brother Dzhokhar deliberately drove at police in the other vehicle, inadvertently running over his brother, then dragging him a short distance. Tamerlan died around 1:30 that morning, while Dzhokhar was not located and arrested until about 8:45 that night. He was sentenced to death and remains on death row to this day. “Boston Strong,” the city’s rallying cry of victory and solidarity after the arrest, marked the birth of the tradition where cities struck by tragedy respond similarly: Las Vegas Strong, Orlando Strong, Dayton Strong, Houston Strong, El Paso Strong, and on the list goes. The term was inspired by Lance Armstrong’s Livestrong Foundation, but Boston invented its use after tragedy. What made solving the Boston Marathon case so unusual was its voluntary “shelter in place” directive. Unprecedented in its scope and effectiveness, the level of compliance brought Boston, Watertown and Cambridge to a virtual standstill. The area’s entire public transit network, including buses, trains and taxis, was suspended. Universities, schools, offices, stores and businesses were closed. Roads and streets in the area were deserted.
Martin Richard, age 8, one of the 3 people killed in the Boston Marathon bombing, holding a poster he made reading, “No more hurting people. Peace.”
It was a bold and brave move, and it worked. At the time, it seemed almost unthinkable to even propose: virtually shutting down an entire city, a major city at that. From today’s perspective, Boston’s one-day shutdown seems trivial. We have seen the entire world grind to a halt, and it has stayed locked down for weeks. Are we almost at the end of our own shelter in place orders? Or not even halfway there yet? No one knows. But it seems to be working. Isolation makes disease transmission much more difficult. It’s vitally important — potentially life and death important — to cooperate. When it’s all over, will there be Monday morning quarterbacking and second-guessing? Like never before in world history. Count on it. For now, however, the best any of us can do is obey the directives that medical experts in public health and epidemiology have offered. As survivors on the other side of this we can put our own name in the phrase: Jason Strong, Suzanne Strong, Mike Strong, Erica Strong... +
Praying for our friends on the front lines Stay Stay Strong! Safe! We are here for you
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