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At the time of Covid-19, California asserts itself as a “nation-state”


After the attacks of September 11, 2001, the United States experienced a period of extraordinary national unity. Candles in the streets, patriotic outbursts, an unprecedented collective fervor. Air traffic had been interrupted. The United States was cut off from the world, but had never been so close: we were “all Americans”.

Not so with the Covid-19 “attack”. Since the first case broke out on January 21 in Washington State, the epidemic has spread without causing collective sentiment or patriotic outbursts. Not even one of those “#strong” hashtags that now accompany natural disasters or shootings.

Read also The coronavirus in the world: Europe and the United States, enduring epicenters of the pandemic

An effect, of course, of the “social distancing” measures. Salvation will come from isolation, not from candlelit gatherings. We are wary, even those close to us, we make detours in the street so as not to meet anyone. The world before collapsed in less time than it takes to write it. The country is paralyzed. Almost half of domestic flights have already been canceled. As of Monday, there should only be 20 air links left from the United States to the whole of Europe. In shock, the Americans have not (yet) found a way to rekindle the collective spirit. And, unlike Europeans, few have balconies.

Each in their social “cluster”

Of course, social networks are teeming with individual initiatives. Old computers are being repaired for distribution to schoolchildren who are forced to take online courses. We sew surgical masks for nursing staff. Everywhere, volunteers offer the elderly to do their shopping and leave the provisions – disinfected – at their door. Between March 20 and March 24, the number of coronavirus-related calls on the GoFundMe fundraising platform rose to 35,000, a 60% increase in four days.

But everyone is confined to their social “cluster”, especially since the epidemic has its own calendar. In San Francisco, residents have been under house arrest since March 16. In Phoenix, they continue to shop at the Paradise Valley Mall. On March 26, the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington, a center for epidemiological studies funded by Bill Gates, estimated the death toll to be 81,000 in the next four months in the United States. . A total that could be “Significantly higher” if the shortage of beds in intensive care units is not corrected and if containment measures are not “Vigorously” maintained. The institute established state-by-state projections: 10,243 dead in New York, the most affected; 5,847 in Texas; 6,109 in California. With dates different from surge (“Influx”) sick: April 6 in New York, April 24 in California, May 14 in Florida …

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