After 18 months of debate and discussion, the 2020 Olympic Games has officially begun. Whether this will be viewed as a welcome step toward normal life or an ill-considered decision that prolongs the pandemic is anybody’s guess right now.

The day after tomorrow happens to be “Freedom Day,” which, in this week’s headlines, refers to Monday, July 19–the day England moves to Step 4 in its stages of COVID-19 restrictions. Apparently it was the press, not Boris Johnson, who first used the term “Freedom Day” for the move to lift restrictions, but the term has caught on

With headlines that emphasize the numbers of variants, vaccinations, and cases, sometimes we forget that COVID-19 is first and foremost a disease. But behind the scenes investigators are learning more and more about how this new coronavirus affects the body. Here are three sources I’ve found for news that goes beyond numbers:

This morning we woke up to a headline heralding “California’s dominant coronavirus strain.” It sounds as though Delta is now in the majority of strains statewide. It’s not, but it just surged ahead of Alpha, the previous frontrunner. Does it matter?

Last weekend I picked up a copy of the Portland Tribune with the headline “COVID Silver Linings.” It made me think: Have you found any silver linings? Have I? Here are a few of Portland’s:

California is opening up and we are so ready. Smiles, hugs, and singing feel so good!. But I can’t help asking, as Cole Porter once wrote: “Is it for all time or simply a lark? Is it Granada I see or only Asbury Park?” Whether this is at long last the end or simply a breathing space, I’ll take it for as long as it’s here.

In just two days, on June 15, 2021, things are going to be different, according to the governor of California. Those pesky rules that have kept us apart and hidden our smiles are going to be gone. Well, not all of them, but most of them. Some of them, anyway.