The death toll from COVID-19 is soon to pass 100K

in the United States, which is tragic.  However, when that artificial milestone is passed, it is important to recognize the source of the majority of those deaths.  Twelve states, either on the east coast or the high population "four-corners" of Florida, Texas, Illinois/Michigan, and California, are contributing 75% to the count.  Thirty-eight states contribute the remaining 25%, and six of these states - Montana, Alaska, Hawaii, Wyoming, and North and South Dakota, contribute less than 0.2%.  The virus circulating in all these states is the same, barring some inconsequential nucleotide changes, but the impact is vastly different, largely, if not entirely, because of: (1) lower population densities, thus keeping SARS-CoV-2 smoldering instead of blazing into wildfire infernos, and (2) ability to keep outsiders out, and keep insiders from going out and bringing SARS-CoV-2 back.  So every state and every community should approach reopening differently, and Estes Park should approach reopening knowing their hospital still hasn't really caught up to the reality of an outbreak, and the hospital's front-line workers likely have little stomach to face 23 bedsfull of COVID-19 positive patients the entire summer.  We are a hospital in name only, and thank gosh the gift shop will be able to expand now that rehab is moving to Urgent Care, which will be open in February, no March, no April, no, May 14, no 27 at the latest, no, May 28 soft opening, with everything mostly open in June, except for the traffic light will arrive later, unless we turn all of Highway 34 into a pedestrian mall starting from Drake.

The world data suggests one other mitigating factor, which is either (3) exposure to other micro-organisms from a young age, providing a kind of combat-ready state (see, for example, Haiti) or lack of testing or inability to tell the truth about test results/mortality (see, for example, China or Russia, the two largest state-run governments).  This factor probably doesn't have much play in America, although the conspiracy theorists among us would argue we all need to be out bathing in coronavirus baths and drinking coronavirus soup, and then not telling anyone when we test positive, just sucking it up and getting back out there to contribute to the economy.

I am shocked at how many folks in Estes Park stated in a meaningless survey they will not be utilizing our wonderful free public transportation this summer, and how the Transportation Advisory Board is finally admitting the experiment of downtown shuttle buses is not working and never has worked.  Funny when extra work and extra money is required to disinfect empty buses, the people in charge are suddenly ready to face facts.  Estes Park doesn't need to provide another breeding ground for coronavirus.  And Estes Park's elderly population is about ready to exert maximum voting bloc power.  Fair enough.  The octogenarians have been running Estes Park for the past two decades, and refusing to yield to a younger leadership even when it makes sense.  They want Estes to become Shangri La, except for here, you don't remain permanently young, you remain permanently old, with old ideas and an inability to leave because endless opinions on artificial hips and Fixodent mean nothing out in the real world.  Here, it gets you elected to every board in town, and three additional boards you form because you can only go two hours at night before having to pee again.