Rhea County Watches As COVID-19 Brings Suffering To The World
April 7, 2020
Rhea County, TN -- Rhea County residents isolate to save lives at the cost of schools, jobs and social interaction. As the COVID-19 virus has changed the landscape of the world and the United States, Rhea County like many smaller communites has made sacrifices in many areas to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Early in the process it was easier to second guess the changes in our community to stop the spread of the virus with lack of respect and lack of knowledge of the virus. To sacrifice so much, there must be a reward and sometimes the reward is not a tangible "what we get" but the intangible "what we don't get". The reward is to protect the ones we love from one another. There have been other health scares, but none recently of the scale of the COVID-19.
In Rhea County, we can meet our basic needs with a place to live, food to eat and though isolated, we can still reach out to friends. We proved for the most part we can withdraw from the world that we have known for our entire life. Going to school, going to work, going out to events(sports, entertainment, leisure, dinning, etc) are a part of what makes us who we are. Within just a few weeks, we have seen all that dissapear. Now as we sit in our houses, we have time to reconnect with families, learn to work from home, educate our children, keep our sanity, and watch much the world and cry. We have gone from fear and confusion of the unknown to fear of the known. We have gone from skeptical views to realistic views.
Now just over a month into the coronavirus COVID-19 making its presence known in the United States, we only see the sacrifices in Rhea County. We are blessed to only see empty streets, factories, schools, ballfields businesses. In Rhea County we do not see the pain and suffering that we can view every day on television, computer and phone with death and more.
In some ways we feel a little guilty that for the moment we are safe. COVID-19 is very real and still we have uncertainty about our future. While we first feared loss of sports, school memories and jobs, we now wonder, when will life return to normal and what will normal be. How will those without jobs get money to pay for their basic needs(housing, food, utilities, etc). Where will the next outbreak occur. Will we be spared from the invisible enemy, COVID-19. Will there be a vaccine soon. Will there be shortages of food, medicine and other essentials. With the future of our economy unclear and the timeline on the virus unclear, we must admit that we are where we(our generation) has never been.
Now past generations have seen tough times and survived to move on. Two world wars, aids and September 11, 2001 to name a few. Going farther back in history, we can hardly put our heads around the flu epidemic of 1918 that took the lives of so many world wide(50 million) during the first time that the whole world was at war and I am certain that then our great grandparents looked at a bleak future. I am sure that back then, people prayed and prayed some more. We survived and we have no reason to think it will be different this time. So reach out to extended family and old friends, write a letter, take up a new hobby, read the bible and other worthwhile activities.
We see great stories of heroism on the frontlines of essential services. Those heroes are neighbors and friends who are just doing their jobs but now they do so with risks. We must pray for their safety as they tend to the sick, provide food for the masses and do other essential services. We see many, many acts of kindness and heroism and that is what gives us hope for the future.
COVID-19 statistics(April 6) from United States and the World.
| USA
State |
Total
Cases |
New
Cases |
Total
Deaths |
New
Deaths |
Active
Cases |
Tot Cases/
1M pop |
Deaths/
1M pop |
Total
Tests |
Tests/
1M pop |
| USA Total |
394564 |
27560 |
12748 |
1877 |
360166 |
1192 |
39 |
2062831 |
6232 |
| New York |
138863 |
6947 |
5489 |
731 |
118794 |
7078 |
280 |
340058 |
17334 |
| New Jersey |
44416 |
3326 |
1232 |
229 |
43092 |
5001 |
139 |
94974 |
10693 |
| Michigan |
18970 |
1749 |
845 |
118 |
18056 |
1905 |
85 |
45748 |
4594 |
| California |
17165 |
1146 |
430 |
50 |
15835 |
438 |
11 |
143800 |
3673 |
| Louisiana |
16284 |
1417 |
582 |
70 |
15652 |
3492 |
125 |
74655 |
16008 |
| Massachusetts |
15202 |
1365 |
356 |
96 |
14836 |
2226 |
52 |
81344 |
11909 |
| Florida |
14747 |
1118 |
296 |
42 |
14351 |
716 |
14 |
139669 |
6781 |
| Pennsylvania |
14559 |
1432 |
240 |
61 |
14243 |
1138 |
19 |
91278 |
7136 |
| Illinois |
13549 |
1287 |
380 |
73 |
13119 |
1057 |
30 |
68732 |
5361 |
| Georgia |
8818 |
1504 |
329 |
100 |
8458 |
856 |
32 |
33713 |
3274 |
| Country,
Other |
Total
Cases |
New
Cases |
Total
Deaths |
New
Deaths |
Total
Recovered |
Active
Cases |
Serious,
Critical |
Tot Cases/
1M pop |
Deaths/
1M pop |
Total
Tests |
Tests/
1M pop |
| World |
1423738 |
77702 |
81858 |
7204 |
301707 |
1040173 |
47911 |
183 |
10.5 |
|
|
| USA |
394278 |
27274 |
12717 |
1846 |
21650 |
359911 |
9169 |
1191 |
38 |
2061612 |
6228 |
| Spain |
141942 |
5267 |
14045 |
704 |
43208 |
84689 |
7069 |
3036 |
300 |
355000 |
7593 |
| Italy |
135586 |
3039 |
17127 |
604 |
24392 |
94067 |
3792 |
2243 |
283 |
755445 |
12495 |
| France |
109069 |
11059 |
10328 |
1417 |
19337 |
79404 |
7131 |
1671 |
158 |
224254 |
3436 |
| Germany |
107663 |
4288 |
2016 |
206 |
36081 |
69566 |
4895 |
1285 |
24 |
918460 |
10962 |
| China |
81740 |
|
3331 |
|
77167 |
1242 |
211 |
57 |
2 |
|
|
| Iran |
62589 |
2089 |
3872 |
133 |
27039 |
31678 |
3987 |
745 |
46 |
211136 |
2514 |
| UK |
55242 |
3634 |
6159 |
786 |
135 |
48948 |
1559 |
814 |
91 |
266694 |
3929 |
| Turkey |
34109 |
3892 |
725 |
76 |
1582 |
31802 |
1474 |
404 |
9 |
228868 |
2714 |
| Switzerland |
22253 |
596 |
821 |
56 |
8704 |
12728 |
391 |
2571 |
95 |
167429 |
19346 |