COVID-19-Wednesday, September 30th

WHO test distribution, and college-aged cases - it's a short news day.

1. The WHO reported they are going to distribute 120 million COVID tests to lower- and middle-income countries around the world this coming month.

2. A college student from Appalachian State University has died from COVID. A 19-year-old male who was majoring in exercise science and taking his class online while living off-campus. He apparently tested positive, followed isolation guidelines, and was cleared to return to classes when he took a turn for the worse. The university has seen a sudden spike in cases with 36 new cases in just 2 days and 159 cases overall. Their test positivity rare also jumped from 9% to 27% in a week.

3. In related news, cases among your adults (18-22) rose 55% from August to September. The Northeast has seen a 144% increase among that age group and the Midwest has seen a 123% increase. Cases among 18-22 years old is directly tied to increased cases in the 40+ population.

FINAL THOUGHTS: There is a house near mine that is empty. It is a huge house that is absolutely amazing. We drive by it every day and the children have asked me many times if we could go look at it. They have wondered about the inside and the types of people who have lived there in the past. We know a hint of its history but not much. So this week, I pulled into the driveway for a bit of a modified adventure in these uncertain times. Much to our shock, the house was in horrid condition. Windows had rotted out, the floor inside appears to have collapsed into the basement, in fact, what appeared to be a glorious mansion as we drive by each day really is quite treacherous and should be condemned. How often in life do we find that is the case – something looks great from a distance, beautiful, enticing even. But then, when you get closer you see that it is not. We can’t always know what is going on in the inside from a quick encounter or just by passing by. We have to be invested, interested even to discover the pain and suffering that is beneath the beautiful exterior. Today, remember that just because something or someone appears to be holding things together, it doesn’t mean they really are. Inside, they may be falling apart.