Staying alert, bringing meaning to numbers

Last week, I was scanning the headlines and found myself completely unfazed by the announcement of that day’s “61 deaths due to COVID-19” in Minnesota. Ugh! I don’t want to be numb to the number of people we are losing due to this pandemic and our country’s lack of leadership and accountability for allowing it to reach exponential levels. I don’t want to gloss over the way it’s been exacerbated by the outdated “rugged individualism” and “American dream” philosophy in our society, politics, and economic system. Each one of these dots is, was, a person in my state. Even if they would hate my commentary two sentences ago, even if they were 102, even if they had other risk factors, I don’t want to gloss over their death as I scan the headlines. So I have started keeping a daily log of the people we are losing in Minnesota. It is mostly to keep myself aware, you don’t have to love it, but you’re welcome to join me in this one little attempt to avoid being numb to the loss we are experiencing.

From December 5-12, 2020, 575 people died of complications of COVID-19, as reported by the Minnesota Department of Health.