Don't Ignore Your Mental Health During the Pandemic
I’d like to take this moment to check in with each of you, and to encourage each of you to check in with yourselves.
If you’re receiving this newsletter, you’re probably a lot like me: checking the latest numbers obsessively, reading the gut-wrenching stories of lives lost far too soon, and, maybe, feeling a general sense of hopelessness as the virus, which just a few weeks ago seemed beatable, is now consuming large swaths of the country. That we have a president who’s more interested in stoking racial divisions and spreading misinformation than in saving American lives only adds to the frustration of it all.
A bit about myself: I’ve struggled with varying degrees of depression, anxiety, and OCD more or less my entire life. I was suicidal for a time in college; a combination of talk therapy and truly caring friends pulled me out of that abyss. When the virus began killing hundreds to thousands of people daily, I slipped into a panic spiral familiar to many who share my particular cocktail of mental ailments: I started worrying that the situation would send me back into a depression, and that, in turn, triggered panic attacks (often a gateway into the very depression I was worried about in the first place). Knowing that older people are more vulnerable, I worried about my parents, grandparents and other loved ones. Later, I worried about myself and my wife. And—despite evidence that young children are largely immune to the virus’ worst effects—I worried about my newborn son.
As the situation in the New York metro area began to seem under control, my immediate worries subsided. So far, I’m one of the lucky U.S. residents who has not yet lost a loved one to COVID-19 (my grandfather died a few weeks ago, but of unrelated causes). Yet as I watch the virus take hold in Florida, Texas, Arizona and elsewhere, my sense of personal worry has been replaced by a pervasive sadness lurking in the background of nearly whatever I’m doing. Some days it feels like it would take only a gentle breeze to push me back into a place I never want to return. And so I saw myself in my colleague Sam Lansky’s beautiful words about his own struggles with mental illness and the virus: “Living in my brain never felt easy—like so many people who have struggled with mental illness, I had the sensation that crisis was always lapping at my feet like a rising tide, though I kept managing to avoid having to swim in it outright.”
Over the years, I’ve come to learn that there is a difference between sadness and depression: the former is a normal, even healthy part of the human range of emotions, the latter is a riptide that threatens to pull you under even when the ocean seems calm, but especially when it’s not. It is natural to be sad, or angry, or confused about any or all of this. But those of us susceptible to mental illness need to make sure we’re doing what we need to do to stay healthy—for me, that’s a combination of therapy, being open with close friends about how I’m feeling, and, now, spending time with my son, beautifully oblivious to the world as he is. And for now, I’m letting myself feel that sadness when it comes, while keeping a close eye to make sure it doesn’t consume me entirely.
All this is to say: as somebody whose job is to bring you lots of unpleasant information every day, it’s also my duty to remind you that, even if you haven’t been directly affected by the virus yet, it’s a good idea to check in with yourself from time to time, and make sure you’re doing alright (as alright as any of us can be right now, at least). It’s okay to take a break from the news sometimes, too. And check in with your friends and loved ones as often as you can. Like my colleague Sam, I’ve found that to be one of the best ways of staying afloat in stormy seas.
If you or someone you know may be contemplating suicide, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255 or text HOME to 741741 to reach the Crisis Text Line. In emergencies, call 911, or seek care from a local hospital or mental health provider.
TODAY'S CORONAVIRUS OUTLOOK
The Global Situation
More than 11.4 million people around the world had been sickened by COVID-19 as of 1 AM eastern time this morning, and more than 534,000 people had died.
Here is every country with over 200,000 confirmed cases:
India has surpassed Russia as the country with the third highest number of infections, according to data compiled by a team at John Hopkins University. It now has close to 700,000 cases, behind only the U.S. and Brazil. Unlike the leaders of some of the other most-infected countries, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi took the virus seriously early on, but he has been criticized for loosening restrictions too early.
A large-scale study of Spanish residents found that only 5% of the population had developed antibodies to the virus, despite its prevalence in the country. The results, published today in Lancet, are further evidence that “herd immunity”—the point at which enough people in a population are immune to a given disease—is likely unattainable with COVID-19 absent a vaccine.
Officials in the U.K. have approved a £1.57 billion ($1.97 billion) aid package for the country’s culture industries, the BBC reports. Theaters, galleries, music venues and similar businesses and organizations hard-hit by the coronavirus will be eligible for the funding. However, U.K. Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden is warning that the money won’t be enough to save every position in the arts.
Speaking of cultural institutions: Paris’ most famous museum, the Louvre, reopened today. It’s limiting the number of visitors allowed in at a given time via a reservation system, and masks will be required. But those able to secure tickets might have an easier time enjoying its most notable piece: da Vinci’s Mona Lisa.
The Situation in the U.S.
Nearly 2.9 million people in the U.S. had been infected with COVID-19 as of 1 AM eastern time this morning, and nearly 130,000 had died.
On July 5, there were 49,199 new cases and 271 new deaths confirmed in the U.S.
While the Fourth of July weekend may have given some Americans a chance to get their mind off the news for a few days, they now return to a grim reality. The situation is worsening in many states, especially in Texas, Arizona and Florida. While leaders in some hard-hit cities and states are rolling back their reopening plans in response, it may be too late to avoid catastrophe, as hospitals deal with a crushing load of critical patients.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today granted emergency authorization for a COVID-19 antigen test that promises to provide results in as little in 15 minutes. While such tests are generally less accurate than other kinds of tests, their speedy results could make them useful in offices, schools and similar places as they open back up.
Airline travel hit a new pandemic-era high over the Fourth of July weekend, with the number of passengers screened by the Transportation Security Administration passing the 700,000 mark on Thursday, Friday and Sunday for the first time since March. That’s good news for the airlines, many of which are struggling to survive as people stay put or drive to nearby destinations rather than fly. But public health experts are worried that as cases spike across the country, travelers may serve as vectors spreading the disease from hotspots to areas where it’s more under control.
The odds that we’ll actually get a Major League Baseball season this year appear increasingly slim: The Washington Nationals this morning cancelled a team workout after players’ test results were delayed, suggesting the league is having trouble carrying out its own safety protocols. “Major League Baseball needs to work quickly to resolve issues with their process and their lab,” Nationals General Manager Mike Rizzo said in a statement. “Otherwise, Summer Camp and the 2020 Season are at risk.”
All numbers unless otherwise specified are from the Johns Hopkins University Center for Systems Science and Engineering, and are accurate as of July 6, 1 AM eastern time. To see larger, interactive versions of these maps and charts, click here.
WHAT ELSE YOU SHOULD KNOW
The Fullest Look Yet At The Racial Inequity of Coronavirus
It’s long been known that the virus is disproportionately infecting and killing non-white Americans compared to whites. But a lack of adequate data has made it difficult to fully understand just how pervasive that inequality has been. In an effort to get a more complete picture, the New York Times sued the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for better information, which revealed that “Black and Latino people have been disproportionately affected by the coronavirus in a widespread manner that spans the country, throughout hundreds of counties in urban, suburban and rural areas, and across all age groups.” Read more here.
239 Experts With One Big Claim: The Coronavirus Is Airborne
While the World Health Organization has maintained that airborne transmission is not a major factor in the spread of COVID-19, mounting evidence suggests otherwise. Now, dozens of scientists are calling for the WHO to acknowledge that evidence and revise its guidelines, the New York Times reports. Read more here.
Who Died For Your Dinner?
In a harrowing investigation into the virus’ effects on the U.S. food chain, BuzzFeed News traced the cost of a traditional backyard barbecue in terms of human suffering, as workers at meat processing plants, farms and so on put themselves at risk to keep our grocery store shelves stocked. Read more here.
The Three Weeks That Changed Everything
At The Atlantic, writer and amateur pilot James Fallows imagines what the U.S. response to the outbreak might look like if examined by aviation crash site investigators, who seek to understand calamities in order to avoid repeating deadly mistakes. Read more here.
Our Ghost-Kitchen Future
“Ghost Kitchens,” or restaurants that exist only to deliver to hungry Seamless and UberEats users, were once an odd quirk of our on-demand world, writes Anna Wiener for the New Yorker. But as in-person dining becomes increasingly dangerous, the business model may become a more permanent fixture. Read more here.
Correction: The July 5 edition of this newsletter misstated the number of incarcerated individuals who have contracted COVID-19 at San Quentin State Prison in California. It is 1,400, not 14,000. We regret the error.
Thanks for reading. We hope you find the Coronavirus Brief newsletter to be a helpful tool to navigate this very complex situation, and welcome feedback at coronavirus.brief@time.com.
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Today's newsletter was written by Alex Fitzpatrick and edited by Elijah Wolfson.
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