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COVID-19: New Wave

From Worldometer, new deaths yesterday:

           DAY USA  WORLD  Brazil     India   South Africa
June     9     1093    4732        1185       246         82
July    22     1205    7128         1293     1120        572
Aug    12     1504     6556       1242       835        130
Sept     3     1094     5886        830    1083        174
             9     1208     6222       1136     1168          82
Oct      8      957     6420          730      967        160
            9      909     5806          658      929       139
          10       723     5162            544      921        126   
          11       325     3874            270       813       107
          12       316     3757            203       710        83
          13       843    5006           354       723       165
          14       970    6075            716       694       123

Summary:  as predicted, a new wave is forming.  Cool weather will get colder for the next four months.  

From The New York Times:

Clearly, cooler weather has sparked a new wave.  The European Union is just a larger version of the United States (446 million versus 328 million).  We now have the same number of COVID-19 cases per day.  So maybe Donald Trump is not the only one to blame.

A related problem is that people are sick and tired of being quarantined.  A sweet sixteen party attended by 81 guests in Long Island, New York on September 25 is just now surfacing:

  • 28 students and 9 adults tested positive.
  • 270 people have been instructed to self-quarantine.
  • State regulations do not allow indoor gatherings over 49--Miller Place Inn got a $10,000 fine, plus another $2,000 for breaking a county code.
  • Dr. Anthony Fauci indicated that his kids won't be coming over for their traditional Thanksgiving meal.  He advises all families to take similar precautions this year.
  • He is now daily saying something that must be truly pissing off Donald Trump.
  • But there is nothing he can do so close to the election.
The following are World Bank projections for total COVID-19 deaths in the USA.  If you have any questions about the details, click on THIS:

                             Deaths     Universal Masks   Economic-easing   EE-UM

October 15           215,880          215,888              215,888                      0
January 1, 2021   323,334          277,127               351,637                74,510
February 1           394,693         315,827              502,853              187,026

Regarding deaths/day:

                            Deaths/     Universal Masks   Economic Easing   EE-UM
                                Day
October 15             721                  721                     721                             0
January 1, 2021    2198                1051                  3692                        2641            
February 1            2233                1403                  5819                        4416

Between today and February 1, the USA can save 187,026 lives with universal mask wearing (95%) and maintaining current quarantining.  I don't see a curve for both economic easing with universal mask wearing.

About this new wave, according to the World Bank:
  • From the average of 721/deaths/day to 2198 deaths/day projected for January 1, 2021.
  • Even WITH universal mask-wearing, the deaths per day will increase from 721 to 1403, or double, by the end of the year.
There is something about these projections that seem overly pessimistic.  But the World Bank is a neutral organization of eminence not reporting to the United Nations and headquartered in Washington, D.C.


Favorite song #76 takes me further back into the 1950's:

Growing up in Hawaii, I never heard the Teen Queens version.  The Chordettes and The Fontane Sisters were the popular ones.  Lillian Briggs also was in the mix.  However, none of the four from 1956 seemed recognizable as the one I remember.  This might have been the first doo-wop song.

One of the writers was Aaron Collins the brother of the Teen Queens, Betty and Rosie.  He was also a member of the Cadets of Stranded in the Jungle fame.  Will Jones of that group went on to sing bass for the Coasters.

Botch-a-me was originally recorded in Italy as Ba-Ba-Baciami Piccina, meaning kiss me, by Alberto Rabagliati.  Rosemary Clooney recorded it in 1952 and the song peaked at #2.  I still recall the setting when I was attending Central Intermediate School.  She had so many hits, but this one appealed to me most, with her first, Beautiful Brown Eyes.

Rosemary had a terrible life and passed away in 2002.  Her brother is Nick Clooney who you see a lot on PBS, while George Clooney is her nephew.  One of her sons, Gabriel Ferrer, married Debby Boone, who was #92 with You Light Up My Life.

Joan Weber, too, had an awful life.  She had the voice of a girl behind the counter of a five and dime store, said Mitch Miller.  In 1954 she was a 105-pound waif, pregnant and auditioning in new York City.  Through incredible circumstances she somehow recorded Let Me Go, Lover (which was a remake of a country and western song--Let Me Go, Devil, here by Tex Ritter).  It played for the first time on 15 November 1954 and overnight shot into becoming a national hit.  Was immediately covered by Theresa Brewer, Patti Page and Sunny Gale, but Joan's rendition was the the one that skyrocked to #1 in four weeks.  On that day, she prematurely gave birth.  A week later she sang Let Me Go, Lover on the Ed Sullivan Show.

A year and a half later this one-hit wonder lost her contract, did some entertainment, worked as a library clerk and later was confined to a mental hospital where she died of a heart attack at the age of 45.  There was a mystery to her life, as her royalty checks came back as return to sender with address unknown.

Why is this my #76?  It makes me sad.

- 

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