‘Unforgiving Virus’: Chicago Man Says Haircut Cost Parents’ Lives

ACROSS AMERICA — If Joe Bruno could go back in time, he would never have gotten a haircut. The way the Chicago man figures it, the trim cost his parents their lives.

“Had I made that sacrifice and, you know, didn’t spend 30 to 40 minutes with my mom, they would still be here,” Bruno told news station WLS, the ABC affiliate in Chicago.

About a week before Thanksgiving, Bruno’s sister, a stylist in a salon, offered to come by his apartment and cut his hair. She had tested negative for the virus and spent a few days in quarantine just to be safe.

The siblings’ mother, Carol, came along. No one hugged. Everyone wore masks. They opened the windows in Bruno’s apartment. They thought they’d taken enough precautions that no one would get sick.

“This virus is really unforgiving,” Bruno told WLS.

A few days after the visit, Bruno’s sister began developing symptoms of COVID-19. So did her husband. Bruno and another brother got sick as well. They’re all recovering. But Carol Bruno and her husband, Mike, weren’t as fortunate.

The couple, married for nearly 60 years, died within 10 days of one another. They’re among more than 345,000 people in the United States who have lost their lives to COVID-19, the illness caused by the coronavirus.

Their grieving son told People magazine he’s baffled by social media feeds filled with chatter about house parties and New Year’s Eve plans.

“They think they’re immune,” Bruno told the magazine. “I couldn’t get out of bed for 10 days, and I am an extremely healthy, active human being. This virus just doesn’t discriminate at all, and can really attack in vicious ways.”

• Haircut Led To The COVID-19 Deaths Of Chicago Couple, Children Say

The Latest

Those large gatherings that have Bruno and his family twisted up are also a concern to public health officials, who are dealing with a slow and sloppy vaccine rollout just as a new variant of the coronavirus takes hold in the United States.

The new coronavirus strain, first seen in Great Britain and now confirmed in at least three U.S. states, spreads quickly, but doesn’t appear to be more deadly than the strain that has killed more than 1.8 million people worldwide. It was confirmed in Florida Thursday, after California and Colorado reported cases earlier in the week.

Scientists say the new variant is cause for concern but not alarm. Viruses often mutate, or develop small changes, as they reproduce and move through a population. Most changes are trivial.

“It's the change of one or two letters in the genetic alphabet that doesn't make much difference in the ability to cause disease,” Dr. Philip Landrigan, a former Centers for Disease Control and Prevention scientist who directs a global health program at Boston College, told The Associated Press.

• Scientists Try To Understand New Virus Variant: Explainer

The new variant appears to respond well to vaccines — not that they’re getting into the arms of Americans with any speed.

Overworked, underfunded state public health departments are scrambling to patch together plans for administering vaccines. Counties and hospitals have taken different approaches, leading to long lines, confusion, frustration and jammed phone lines. A multitude of logistical concerns have complicated the process of trying to beat back the scourge that has killed more than 345,000 Americans.

Terry Beth Hadler, a 69-year-old piano teacher stood in line overnight with hundreds of other senior citizens outside a library in Bonita Springs, Florida, waiting to get her shot. They were offered on a first-come, first-served basis to people over 65.

She wouldn’t do it again. A brawl nearly broke out just before dawn when someone cut in the line. She also worried that she was in the middle of a superspreader event.

“I was petrified,” she told The AP.

• Race To Vaccinate Americans Off To Slow, Messy Start

All of this is happening as public health officials worry about a post-Christmas and New Year’s Eve surge of new coronavirus infections.

A new set of death toll forecasts by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention paints a grim picture for the next three weeks. The CDC's "ensemble forecast" predicts up to 80,000 more COVID-19 deaths — for a total of 424,000 — will be reported by the week ending Jan. 23.

As the new year begins, many hospitals are overwhelmed by a crush of COVID-19 cases and the prospect of more in the weeks after the holidays. Some are considering the previously unthinkable: the prospect of rationing care.

Officials at Huntington Hospital in Pasadena, California, made their plan public. But they’re not alone. Every U.S. hospital has what’s called a “scarce resource policy.”

“If we reach a point where our hospital faces a shortage that will affect our ability to care for all patients, a team including doctors, a community member, a bioethicist (who has expertise in the ethics surrounding health care) will review the cases of all patients who are critically ill," the hospital said in a statement. "This team will make necessary decisions about allocating limited medical resources based on the best medical information possible and will use the same decision criteria that is being used nationally and throughout California on all patient cases."

Many other Americans are looking to 2021 with dread. A $900 billion coronavirus relief package recently approved by Congress provides $25 billion in rental assistance for states and local governments and extends the national eviction moratorium — but only through the end of January.

Millions of U.S. renters are bracing for the possibility of having to show up in housing court to avoid getting evicted. But unlike their landlords, only a small fraction of them will do so flanked by an attorney.

Fewer than 10 cities and counties nationwide guarantee tenants the right to a lawyer in housing-related disputes, and for people struggling to make ends meet, an attorney is beyond their means, leaving many to skip their court hearings or walk in knowing they have little chance. Unlike criminal cases, an attorney won't be assigned if someone can't afford one. Legal aid organizations and pro bono lawyers represent many renters every year, but the need outpaces what they can handle.

While housing advocates have primarily pushed for rent relief from the government, experts also expect more cities to join the movement to give tenants the right to an attorney.

"The push for right to counsel preceded the pandemic, but it's particularly acute and particularly urgent in light of the pandemic, given just the overall precarity that renters are facing," Gretchen Purser, an associate professor of sociology at Syracuse University who specializes in housing, homelessness and urban poverty, told The AP.

She said legal representation "is going to be one of the most important things that groups around the country can be pushing for."

• Cities Help Renters Get Right To Lawyers In Housing Court

Newest Numbers

At least 2,620 deaths and 184,210 new cases of coronavirus were reported in the United States on Friday, according to a Washington Post database. The Post's reporting shows over the past week new daily cases increased by 4.3 percent, new daily deaths rose by 2.2 percent and new coronavirus-related hospitalizations increased by 5.3 percent.

As of Saturday, 46 states and Puerto Rico remained above the positive testing rate recommended by the World Health Organization to safely reopen. To safely reopen, the WHO recommends states remain at 5 percent or lower for at least 14 days.

As of Saturday morning afternoon, the United States had reported more than 20.1 million cases and more than 347,800 deaths from COVID-19-related illnesses, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University.

Stay up to date on the latest coronavirus news via The New York Times or Washington Post.

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