It used to be rare, when one heard about someone who thought they had COVID. A friend got tested back in April for something that was so rare it was almost impossible to find a test. This week I learned of a friend whose husband brought it home from work to her; they are recuperating. My next door neighbor [foolishly] went to church on xmas eve and learned a couple of days later that the pastor had COVID, so they're laying low. No symptoms, and they're an older couple so it needs to stay that way. I've seen her twice briefly on the porch to hand over something (a gift, and later baked goods). Such a brief encounter and only one time on the porch neither of us had a mask. She has several relatives who have reported it, one was on a ventilator.

This news is going to continue to be grim as we wait out the 14 days period after New Year's Eve when people still foolishly got together indoors for extended periods of time. Texas hospitals are full and patients with other problems are being sent out of state to hospitals with room for them.