The 88 pages of the Jan. 4-Jan.11 issue of The New Yorker contain one feature article, a 39-page chronicle of how Covid-19 went from obscure coronavirus to the colossus of death that has killed 2 million human beings as of mid-January, including close to 400,000 Americans.
It’s my Sunday read.
I know, I know. You’ve had enough of reading about Covid. I’ve certainly had enough of posting about it. But — and this means no disrespect to the Atlantic’s Ed Yong or the diligent folks at Stat — this piece was written by Lawrence Wright, a terrific writer who wrote the best book on the lead-up to 9/11, the Pulitzer Prize-winning “The Looming Tower,” and an excellent work on the Camp David accords, “Thirteen Days in September.” (In an eerie coincidence, “The End of October,” his novel published in May but written earlier, concerns a worldwide pandemic.)
Wright is not a flashy writer, but he is a powerful one. He lays out details matter-of-factly, highlighting key personalities who grasp the significance of slow-building historical events before the leaders who usually get the credit.
In the case of 9/11, those people included FBI counterterrorism chief John O’Neill, who was aware of al-Qaeda’s threat in the 1990s, and agent Ali Soufan, who was stymied by intelligence battles with the CIA. In the case of Covid, it’s figures like Matthew Pottinger, perhaps one of the few Trump administration appointees who actually put country above party and science above faith; Dr. Barney Graham, who helped create the Covid vaccine; and Dr. Ebony Hilton, a professor and anesthesiologist in Charlottesville, Va. (Deborah Birx, also in the article, ends up somewhat rehabilitated.)
Too many times, I had to stop reading. Wright’s piece ends with the election and its promise of a new start (I’ll refrain from talking about events since the new year, because I don’t want to depress myself or anyone else further), but its compendium of poor decision making and administrative scoffing was often more than I could bear.
- On the Trump administration’s kneecapping of governors attempting to get PPE after throwing the responsibility to the states: “Price is always a component,” Trump replied coldly.
- On the promotion of hydroxychloroquine, which turned out to be ineffective, and even harmful, when it came to Covid: The President glowered and stepped toward the mike. “I’m a big fan [of hydroxychloroquine],” he said.
- On missed opportunities: I asked Dr. Fauci about the global-preparedness study calling America the nation best prepared for a pandemic. What happened? He emitted a despairing laugh and said, “We never got back to baseline. … It could be our own culture right now, of people not wanting to be told what to do.”
There are countless examples, ad infinitum, ad nauseum.
Yes, I know. It’s not like Canada and Western Europe have done much better, right? Well, they’ve done somewhat better. The UK, Belgium and Italy are ahead of us in the dubious honor of death rate per 100,000 population, but the others are farther down the list. And South Korea, Japan and Taiwan have done substantially better, though they’re still dealing with shocks.
Anyway, I know this article is probably the definition of TL;DR. (Who reads 39-page stories anymore?) But it’s well worth your while. Just take your time. You probably don’t want to read it all in one go, anyway.
You can read “The Plague Year” here.
Ephemereality 