Are We Ready To Peak Next Tuesday?

Just for the record, here’s my crude eyeball guess about the growth of COVID-19 in America:

This suggests a total death toll through summer of about 60,000. I have a hard time believing this, but both my own projections and the expert modelers seem to have converged right around here. It would leave us with a final death toll of about 0.2 per thousand by the end of summer, which would be extraordinary. I admit that I can’t account for this considering the clear evidence that our response to COVID-19 was messy and chaotic. Maybe God really does watch over fools and children.

POSTSCRIPT: Different states and cities will peak at different times, so there will still be some areas that are growing even when the country reaches its overall peak. By the end of the week, however, pretty much every state should have peaked and should start declining.

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DECEMBER IS MAKE OR BREAK

A full one-third of our annual fundraising comes in this month alone. That’s risky, because a strong December means our newsroom is on the beat and reporting at full strength—but a weak one means budget cuts and hard choices ahead.

With only days left until December 31, we've raised about half of our $400,000 goal—but we need a huge surge in reader support to close the remaining gap. Whether you've given before or this is your first time, your contribution right now matters.

Managing an independent, nonprofit newsroom is staggeringly hard. There’s no cushion in our budget—no backup revenue, no corporate safety net. We can’t afford to fall short, and we can’t rely on corporations or deep-pocketed interests to fund the fierce, investigative journalism Mother Jones exists to do. That’s why we need you right now. Please chip in to help close the gap.

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