NOTES, 3 FEBRUARY 2021
Greetings, blog reader, on Wednesday, February 3, 2021. It is time for our weekly check-in on the crises we have been covering for nearly a year now.
PANDEMIC. The bad news is that we are still in the worst surge of the COVID-19 pandemic. The good news is that we are on the down slope of that surge. Most signs indicate a gradual lessening of the effects of the pandemic. One bit of worrisome news is that three more virulent strains of COVID-19 have invaded America. One of these has been found in South Carolina. Another item of worrisome news is the chaotic application of vaccinations in the U.S. It is uneven to say the least. Dr. Fauci says that we will not have "herd immunity" until 70% of the population gets vaccinated. That is a tall order and will take months at the present rate.
Looking at the data from Worldometers, our usual source, we see that in most respects, there are encouraging signs. We have been looking at the figures from Monday to Monday. For the week of January 25 to February 1, 2021, we see that the disease is spreading at about the same rate, 4%. In this week, there were 3,761,247 new cases in the world, for a total of 103,601,201. January was the worst month for the spread of covid. There were 20m new cases in January, a rising rate of 20%. As for deaths in the world, there were app. 100,000, a rate of 5%, that same rate as the previous week. In the month of January, about 500,000 people in the world died of the disease, a jump of app. 30% (in one month). As of Feb. 1, 2.2m people have died in the pandemic, all within one year. Let us stop for a moment and reflect on that.
In the United States, the rates of infection, hospitalizations, and deaths all declined, if slightly, last week (Jan. 25-Feb. 1). The U.S. reported 1,065,104 new cases, a rising rate of 4%, down from the 5% of the earlier week. Even so, 26,767, 229 Americans have been infected by the virus. In the month of January infections went from app. 18m to 26m, by far the worst month so far. As for deaths, the rate has slowed a bit. Last week, 22,789 Americans died of COVID-19, a rate of 5%. As of now, 452,279 American have died in the pandemic, all in one year. In the month of January, 125,000 Americans died of the disease. This was about a 30% rate. Again, January was by far the worst month of the pandemic, at least so far.
The figures for South Carolina were mixed. New cases were down but deaths were up. Last week, SC reported 25,061 new cases, a rising rate of 6%, down from the 8% of the earlier week. In all, SC has reported 443,386 cases. This is approaching 10% of the state's population. As for deaths, SC listed 495 for last week, for a total of 7,042. This was a rising rate of 8%, well above the 5% of the previous week. Charleston County reported improving rates. Last week, it listed 1,840 new cases for a total of 32,837, a rising rate of 6%. In the month of January, the county added 8,000 new cases, app. a 30% rate.
As SC, Alabama is showing mixed numbers. Last week (Jan. 25-Feb. 1) it reported 18,469 new cases for a total of 459,639. This was a rising rate of 4%, the same as the earlier week. Deaths in AL, however, shot up last week. The state reported by far its worst casualties, 1,028, a 15% jump. In the month of January, AL listed app. 2,700 deaths, app. a third of its 7,688 total.
SCHISM. Nothing new on the litigation front. However, soon, in the month of February, we can expect two important movements in court. In the SC Supreme Court, we can expect the Anglican diocese of SC to present its brief in defense of Judge Dickson's ruling of last year. The Episcopal diocese of SC is appealing that ruling to the SCSC. We can also expect the justices of the U.S. Supreme Court to decide this month whether they will grant cert to the Episcopal Church in its petition to the U.S. Supreme Court. TEC is seeking to appeal the Texas Supreme Court decision of last year to SCOTUS.
The wonderful news coming from the Diocese of South Carolina was the announcement of the slate of five candidates for the office of bishop of the diocese. The Diocese of SC has been without a usual diocesan bishop since Mark Lawrence left the Episcopal Church and the Diocese of South Carolina in October of 2012. That's eight and a half years if you are counting. This is not to criticize the provisional and visiting bishops the DSC has had. Bps. vonRosenberg, Adams, and Parsley all went beyond the call of duty to help the struggling diocese and everyone should be grateful for their contributions. However, they were all "temporary" bishops. Now, the time has come for the diocese to get back to "regular order" under an established diocesan bishop. Surely, this is the hardest job in the entire Episcopal Church; and I am lost in admiration for the five candidates who have volunteered to take it on. Their résumés are all stellar, and the diocese would be fortunately to have any one of them.
POLITICAL. It is a new day in our political crisis too. And, let us hope and pray that things are getting better on this front too. We have the trial of the former president next week. We also have another sort of trial as the Republican Party is trying to sort out its identity and purpose in the aftermath of the Trump debacle. Right now it is badly split between the Trumpistas and the traditionalists. Trump is trying hard to keep control of the party. It is in the best interest of the nation to have a strong two party system. Let us hope the Republican Party finds its way forward and heals the terrible internal wounds the last president inflicted on it even though he had a lot of help from the aiding and abetting Republicans themselves. Under Trump, the Republicans lost control of the House of Representatives, the Senate and the White House. Why they would want to keep going down that road is beyond reason. So, the real story of the political crisis of the day is not what is going to happen to Trump. It is what is going to happen to the Republican Party. We all need it to be strong. No one should want a one-party nation-state.
And so, friend, we are still enduring a heavy set of crises in our lives as we have been for a long time now. We are all worn with fatigue. Yet, there are clear indications that conditions are improving on every front. There is good reason to believe that things are getting better in the pandemic, the church, and the state. As always, we are here for the living of this hour with whatever it may bring. Peace.
