In this late stage of 2020, the coronavirus pandemic appears to be worsening here in the United States.

A number of factors have contributed to the recent uptick in cases.  First, cooler temperatures throughout the country have driven Americans indoors, where social distancing is more difficult, and where mask-wearing isn’t seen as necessary in most situations.

Secondly, there is a general fatigue hanging over the entire affair after nearly 9 months of sorrow and solitude throughout the nation.  Many Americans simply don’t wish to comply with the precautions anymore out of sheer annoyance.

The recent rise in cases is severe, however, and a number of states have issued new lockdown orders on account of it.

The governors of Oregon and New Mexico ordered near-lockdowns Friday in the most aggressive response yet to the latest wave of coronavirus infections shattering records across the U.S., even as many of their counterparts in other states show little appetite for reimposing the hard-line restrictions of last spring.

“We are in a life-or-death situation, and if we don’t act right now, we cannot preserve the lives, we can’t keep saving lives, and we will absolutely crush our current health care system and infrastructure,” Democratic Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham of New Mexico said in imposing a two-week stay-at-home order.

Oregon Gov. Kate Brown ordered a two-week “freeze” starting Wednesday, under which all businesses will be required to close their offices to the public and mandate work-from-home “to the greatest extent possible.”

The orders comes just days after Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot imposed similar restrictions in The Windy City, and just over a week after the CDC suggested that families have either virtual or outdoor Thanksgiving dinners.

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