Interesting fact I looked up just now.

[conuly]

Approximately .68 million people died of AIDS in 2020. Confirmed deaths of covid that same year were at 1.8 million, and total excess deaths reached over 3 million.

Unsurprisingly, people living with AIDS have a much higher covid fatality rate than the general population.

Merry second third pandemic Christmas! (Wait, is it the second or the third? Do we even count Christmas 2019?)

Comments

[sabotabby]

JFC.

We don't count Christmas 2019 unless we were in China, I think. I had spent Christmas 2019 on a plane, arrived in Seattle, and had a lovely week without any knowledge of what was happening elsewhere in the world.

[dewline]

You're correct on this point. It's a geopolitical as well as a temporal distinction here. I was in Ottawa, starting what I think I was still hoping would be just another job search, and that it would be a short one. By the time I finally got that sleep study done in February, I think I knew what was coming for us all.

[readerjane]

We weren’t trying to socially distance yet by Christmas 2019. I think this counts as the second Christmas.

[mtbc]

Agreed. For me, February 2020 is when things really started changing for many of us.

[gatheringrivers]

If *officially* hit our shores in early 2020.

That said, a few of my friends elsewhere reported they had what turned out to be COVID symptoms in the fall of 2019 (and survived!)

So, depends on whether you count the official or unofficial start.. :)

[siliconshaman]

I say the answer is in the year name, It's 2020 2. The sequel.

[silveradept]

You believe that's we've advanced past the year 2020, such that we can call it anniversaries of a thing.

(Second, for most of us.)

Trying to have a happy time means not thinking too hard about how previous pandemics have been handled and recognizing that this one isn't being handled any better.

[topaz_eyes]

Second. The WHO officially declared covid a pandemic on March 11, 2020 (a "Public Health Emergency of International Concern" on January 30, 2020).

[pauamma]

March 11, 2020 was when I saw a sign in my apartment building lobby saying risky areas (as in, "if you have (symptoms) and come from there, be sure to tell your physician") were China and Italy. Thanks I suppose to delays in planning, ordering, printing, and delivery to various locations, that hadn't been true for several days, maybe a week. That's also when I made my own sign saying "if you're quarantining for whatever reason and or need help with food or medication shopping, I can leave it at your door; just phone or email me" and taped it in the lobby.) First lockdown order came a week later.

[gwydion]

I think it should count.

[kulturschnepfe]

The second for me. In 2019 there were rumors of a kind of flu spreading in Asia, but no one paid much or any attention. I remember singing in the choir at the office's Christmas service in a packed hall (around 200 people) on Dec. 23rd and everything was what now counts as pre-pandemic "normal". I haven't seen most of these people in two years. We haven't lost anyone to COVID, as far as I know, although there have been a few people suffering from it. As an introvert, I'm very grateful to be allowed and able to work from home. But life is beginning to feel rather lonely even to me now.

Merry second or third pandemic Christmas, whichever you prefer.