The novel coronavirus has affected so many lives not only throughout the United States but so many places all over the globe. There may be an end in sight though for the people here in the United States. Plans are being put in place, numbers are going down. There is hope for so many people. Now that doesnt mean this is completely over. There are many factors that could lead to an end or even a spike in the number of cases. There is still a way to go before everyone is completely out of the woods. 

There might be some hope of this life altering virus in the coming weeks. The numbers in both cases and deaths have decreased in recent weeks. As of May 6th, the current number of cases in the United States is at 1,193,813. That is a much lower jump this past week than the week before. From April 20th to April 29th there was about a 300,000 case jump. This past week, there was only about a 195,000 case jump. That must bring excitement to many people. With such a decrease in the number of cases, it raises questions throughout many minds of the possibility normal life might be on it’s way back. The number of deaths have slightly decreased in the past week. The current number of deaths is 70,802. The jump this week was about 13,000. That is a slight decrease from the 14,000 jump from the week prior. Just like with the number of cases, that provides hope of normality to many Americans. To follow these decreasing numbers daily, continue to visit CDC for more details. 

In Maryland though, the number of cases have seen a slight increase but the number of deaths are on the downward side of the slope. As of May 6th, there are 28,163 confirmed cases in Maryland. That is about a 750 jump this past week. The week before there was only a 700 case jump. Even though a 50 case jump between weeks isn’t a lot, it still isn’t what anyone wants to hear. The number of deaths though have seen a decrease. Currently, there are 1,338 deaths in the state. That is about a 350 death jump from April 29th. That is 100 less than what it was on April 20th. That is great news for everyone living in Maryland. With this new information, it looks like the end is on the horizon. In Frederick county, there are 1,108 cases and a total of 61 deaths. Frederick is the 6th highest county in the number of cases if you include Baltimore city. Anyone can follow the state and county numbers by visiting Maryland.gov for daily updates. 

Most people reading this already know, but Maryland schools were officially closed for the rest of the school year. This was inevitable and most people expected this to happen. As this was being announced, Governor Hogan has stated that the state plans to allow/reopen parks, golfing, fishing, and boating. Now this announcement might make many people smile, the question also rises that maybe this is too early? The number of hospitalizations went down this week but the number of cases still saw a slight increase. That means people are still getting infected but most are not suffering bad enough that they need to be admitted into the hospital. Still though, a lot of people are still contracting this virus. That part is what raises the question of whether or not Hogan should have waited to start his plan. Everyone will find out the answer to that question in the weeks to come. 

A lot of changes are going to start happening. Changes that will bring everyone back to normal life. Some people are going to act like this is over. Those same people are not going to be as careful and safe as they were when everything was closed. There are also going to be people who will still participate in social distancing. All americans need to be more like the second part. Social distancing still needs to occur or cases might rise again. If too many people go away from this, those reopening won’t last long. Everybody just neds to continue practicing the same as if everyone still had to stay home all the time. That is how normal life will return the quickest.