Another day as the coronavirus surge accelerates

I was struck this morning by a quote from Dr. Jorge Salinas, lead epidemiologist for the University of Iowa Hospitals, in a Des Moines Register report. He was responding to a question about how medical personnel were responding to the current surge in coronavirus-related hospitalizations:

"... it crushes their souls to care for patient after patient with the same problem that we know how to prevent," he said.

Hospitalizations in Iowa are at record levels as the number of positive cases surges to record levels, surpassing those of early summer and wiping out gains made during the intervening months.

Lucas County Public Health reported eight new cases yesterday, a record I believe, bringing the total to 198.  That doesn't seem like many when looked at from urban locations, but for us --- that's a lot. Especially when you consider that we've been one of Iowa's most fortunate counties with totals in the single digits until just weeks ago.

Gov. Kim Reynold's response, when asked if she planned any response to the surge, was as you might expect, "no." Iowa has a sufficient number of hospital beds to care for the sick, she said.

While that may be true, it does not take into account --- as the University of Minnesota's Dr. Michael Osterholm pointed out the other day --- the fact we have only a limited number of medical personnel to care for the patients in those beds.

Some changes are being made locally. The city of Chariton yesterday made it mandatory that anyone who enters City Hall or the Chariton Free Public Library wear a mask and directed that in-person programming at the library be suspended.

We've been fortunate in St. Andrew's Parish for several weeks now as Bishop Alan Scarfe allowed us to be one of the few Episcopal parishes in Iowa where in-person services were held on Sunday mornings --- with social distancing, masks and muted singing. Because of the surge, however, he now has directed that those services cease for the time being.

I generally gauge the situation based on what I see at the grocery store --- my only regular venture out among large numbers of people I don't know. The staff always is masked, but during a visit yesterday afternoon, about as many customers weren't wearing masks as were; safety precautions in the entrance consisted of a roll of paper towels, an almost-empty spray bottle of sanitizer and a pile of masks. As I approached check-out, a woman --- without a mask --- was coughing loudly at the service counter.

And so it goes ....