Getting Covid-19 Is Different Now

And more people are treating it that way.

It sure seems like everyone right now either knows someone who has Covid-19, has Covid-19 themselves, or both. Seriously, look at this cases graph:

Considering how much panic and fear there was about Covid-19 during, oh, every other spot on that graph, it sure would seem like we’d all be freaking out right now. And sure, there are a fair share of people who are freaking out right now — they seem to make up a disproportionate percentage of Twitter, which makes sense; those addicted to the endorphin rush of that platform seem the most likely to feel as if their hair is constantly on fire — though one could make an argument these people never stopped freaking out in the first place.

But on the whole: I don’t sense much panic in the streets. Day-to-day activity is roughly what it always is this time of year. The number of masks I see on a daily basis has increased, but not dramatically. Our schools are desperately trying to stay open, but, on the whole, they seem to be succeeding. There were 70,000 screaming people at a football game on Monday night; there will be six more of them this weekend. (The NBA…