The Third Wave: A Tale of Two Cities

The news media should take more note of the contrast between quotdown Eastquot and quotdown Southquot With COVID39s second wave the differences have implications for how the pandemic39s story needs to be told As in the past news stories continue to feature what must be done to stop the variant39s spread In fact the pandemic is still blanketing the national news Logic suggests the coverage should influence regions in crisis The headlines alone rising infection rates more sick teenagers rather than senior citizensamp160and soldout intensive care beds are ample warning to queue for shots and mask upFor too many Americans however reporting the facts simply isn39t enough Despite the headlines pleas from celebrity public health expertsamp160and social media posts saturating the Web their reaction to the country39s risks as well as their own conjures the words of Josef Stalin The Soviet Union39s dictator liquidated tens of millions of Russians in purges famines and repression making him a mass casualty expert In 1947 Stalin reportedly reflected on his experience A single death is a tragedy he said a million a statistic News editors today ought to ponder the thoughtIt39s one reason why reporting on Gainesville and Gloucester rather than national numbers can convey the pandemic39s story better than the big picture or marquee name talking heads Government officials health care workers and community leaders who are pushing vaccinations appear to have reached a similar conclusion As they describe it vaccine skeptics as well as opponents listen up when local doctors nurses pharmacists clergy and community leaders as well as barbers and best friends deliver the message whatever malarky their own political charlatans are sending their wayFor policy wonks the news media39s reporting on the nature of the national public health battle has painted the political tableau well New books describing the Trump administration39s chaos are getting airtime as is bizarre Republican opposition to common sense measures like wearing masks on Capitol Hill Still around the country the opposition to vaccinations from those who ignore science facts and reality is formidable So is the volume of disinformation and the stomachturning behavior of aspiring GOP demagogues whose attacks on public health experts are aping the former president From Florida to Texas their pandering to religious right wing and assorted extremist constituencies is filling hospitals as well as cemetery plotsAs of midJuly one fifth of Americans said they were uncertain or unwilling to be vaccinated Overlaying 202039s voting patterns identifies the party affiliation of many who hold such views In May 41 percent of Republicans said they did not plan to get vaccinated with Dixie hosting a major share who see needles and say quotno wayquotamp160To be sure with vaccine rates rising lately a growing number of skeptics are reacting rationally to the Delta variant39s spread But that good news will confront a growing political obstacle the 2022 midterm electionsRepublican jeremiads already are attacking the Biden administration39s public health overreach Only Pollyanna would assume the vaccination campaign won39t be collateral damage particularly in red states where COVID is taking the highest toll But the likely discord over vaccinations and the push to get them isn39t the only challenge ahead Epidemiologists are warning that other variants are likely and in recalcitrant regions where vaccination rates already lag skepticism about public health precautions isn39t going away For that the governors in Florida Texas South Carolina and Iowa among others can take a bow Their knownothing antimask orders and dithering have not only amplified disinformation They39ve also eroded trust in the country39s formidable public health community increasing its burdens when the next COVID variant arrivesThe trouble ahead represents one more reason why national news editors should think locally in telling the pandemic39s story Take Hall County Georgia and Essex County Massachusetts where the cities of Gainesville and Gloucester populations of 39000 and 32000 respectively reside Both cities are centers of a national food industry Gloucester39s claim to fame is its historic seaport and fishing fleets With major chicken processing plants Gainesville bills itself as the poultry capital of the world Both Hall and Essex countiesamp160face a serious and growing COVID threat But when it comes to coping with the risks posed by the Delta variant that39s where similarities endAs of last week 400 percent of Hall County39s population was vaccinated with at least one dose the positivity rate in COVID testing was 12 percent and the county had 39 new COVID cases for every 100000 residents Hall39s health care leaders also see rising numbers ahead Local medical officials expect infections to peak in late September exceeding highs in January when the county was hit by the first COVID wave Last week in Essex County Statistics differ significantly Sixtyseven percent of its population was vaccinated with at least one dose the positivity rate in COVID testing was three percent and Essex had 14 new cases of COVID for every 100000 residentsThe numbers speak for themselves as do the contrasts in leadership in the two states as their governors congressional representatives and local officials faced the pandemic While the national media may dwell on the politics of their positions the consequences that matter are not about their political futures Rather the stories that matter are in Gainesville and Gloucester They are playing out daily in their emergency rooms intensive care units and ultimately homes where husbands wives and children worry about their loved ones and in too many cases grieve for lives needlessly lostquotIt was the best of times it was the worst of timesquot Charles Dickens wrote in A Tale of Two Citiesamp160quotIt was the age of wisdom it was the age of foolishness it was the epoch of belief it was the epoch of incredulity it was the season of light it was the season of darkness it was the spring of hope it was the winter of despairquot Gainesville and Gloucester bear no resemblance to the London and Paris in Dickens39 story although his lines seem more than appropriate todayClick the social buttons to share this story with colleagues and friendsThe opinions expressed here are the author39s views and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNetamp160

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Kent M. Harrington

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