Exponential functions are routinely underestimated, and coronavirus seems poised to instruct. She appears to have found another gear. Rather, she, like all exponential functions, does not operate based on gears at all. They grow larger based upon their current size. The larger the size, the faster the growth. There is no intrinsic upper limit. That sentence bears a second reading, because we seem not to have learned it.

The difficult part about watching this is that we actually could do something about it. It does not have to play out in this way. Most countries have done better, and some have done far better. But in America, we are experiencing a tyranny of the incompetent. The daily care exercised by many is nulled out by the indiscretions of the witless.

Growth functions like this one are conditional. Its movement reflects our decisions. The history of coronavirus in America is a measurement of collective action, not inexorable fate. Coronavirus is not an asteroid. We cannot chalk it up as a no-fault collision. Rather, this is the tale of a soccer team repeatedly kicking the ball into their own goal.

https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/country/us/