My neighbors contracted Covid. Not a huge deal—they were sick, but they recovered without much difficulty.

The rest of our development kept their distance and *knock on wood,* that’s been the extent of Covid’s impact in our little patch of Suburbia.

*But therein is the point*

My neighbor doesn’t live in the same house as 3 other generations of his family.

He doesn’t have to share a kitchen or drive to work in a van with 6 other neighbors, concealing symptoms with Tylenol+cough medicine, lest a day away from work mean a day without food on the table.

Our housing development doesn’t rely on each other for groceries, medications, childcare, or other household essentials. When my neighbor got sick, he and his family hadn’t been in close contact with the rest of the neighborhood.

For so much of the country—of the world—these inherent protections simply aren’t possible.

For so many, the spread of Covid is accelerated by structural determinants. By lifestyle and socioeconomic forces that are inequitable but nearly immovable.

The voices who cry out about hoaxes

—those who insist on comparisons to influenza and who would gladly barter with the lives of the Unseen—

aren’t the ones for whom a diagnosis means almost-certain rampage of disease through their home and community.

Covid is real.

Working in some of the hardest-hit hospitals at the peak of the pandemic, never before have I witnessed such death and devastation...such...chaos..as this virus tore through so many.

This Memorial Day, allow the occasion to take on an extra task.

Remember the soldiers, sailors, airmen, and marines who have fought and died for our nation.

Remember those who have fallen to the virus...

And remember that our situations and perspectives are different from one another. Remember that my neighbors had the ability and privilege to protect each other and themselves—-but for too many, that’s a privilege unobtainable.

Thanks for all you’re doing to #flattenthecurve.