Last week one for history books

Last week was one for the history books.

On March 10, Joe Biden became the Democratic Party’s heir apparent with his big win in Michigan. The textbooks haven’t been written yet, but I think it’s safe to say it will go down in history as the primary election that put him over the top.

He won every county in Michigan, a state that went for Bernie Sanders in the 2016 primary and Donald Trump in the general election. It’s hard to see how Biden could lose his party’s nomination now.

Then, last Wednesday, Harvey Weinstein got 23 years in prison for his sexual assault conviction. When the annals of the #MeToo movement are written, he will be in the opening chapter, after waves of women accused him of a lot worse than he was convicted of. They exposed an open secret in Hollywood and gave legitimacy to the monumental women’s movement that followed.

Weinstein reacted to the sentencing by almost having a heart attack. Instead of going to jail, he went to the hospital. But that will just be a footnote in the history of this new kind of self-empowerment for women.

News about Biden and Weinstein, however, was quickly overshadowed by the rise of COVID-19, which is making a history of its own as the biggest national health crisis in modern history.

Last Wednesday started with the World Health Organization (WHO) declaring this latest coronavirus outbreak a pandemic (a global epidemic), followed by the president’s ban on most travel out of Europe into the U.S., along with Tom Hanks telling the world he and his wife Rita Wilson have the virus and the NBA shutting down its season.

By the end of the week, cancellations enveloped sports of all sorts, candidate rallies and hundreds if not thousands of other events, in addition to the closure of schools and universities all over the country.

The history of this health crisis is only beginning to be written. Its impact — on our health, our hospitals, the economy, politics and our very way of life — is a great and looming uncertainty, as it’s just getting started.

The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) says the U.S. is in the “initiation phase” although some individual states have already hit the “acceleration phase.” California, Washington and New York are the hardest hit so far.

Here in New Mexico, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham declared a public health emergency in an effort to get ahead of the virus’ spread — two full days before President Trump declared a national emergency. By Thursday, the state had closed all its public schools through April 6. At the time, we were one of six states to take such a drastic measure, but now there are at least 19 states that have closed their public schools as well.

This is a critical moment, when we can either take the steps necessary to contain the virus or watch as it gets the best of us. Experts tell us the numbers of infected Americans are going to rise exponentially in the coming weeks, but there are preventive measures we can take to mitigate the outbreak, from as big a deal as canceling all large gatherings to as basic as “social distancing” ourselves from one another in an effort not to contaminate each other.

Yep, this is one for the history books. But, first, we need to get through it. Stay safe, everyone, and preventive.

Tom McDonald is editor of the New Mexico Community News Exchange. Contact him at:

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