We don’t know how he caught it. Could have been on a flight, could have been on the street, could have been through a relative or a laundromat or a restaurant…. who knows? He lived in NYC and traveled to and from China fairly frequently. He was diagnosed in late March and immediately went into quarantine within his home, confined to the bedroom for three weeks with twice-daily video calls with his doctor. He was finally feeling about 90% better and decided it was time to clean up and take a short walk. He collapsed brushing his teeth and died in the ambulance on the way to the hospital from a blood clot. His body stayed in a refrigerator truck near the Brooklyn Bridge for nearly three weeks until they could find room for him at the morgue. He was a healthy, intelligent, empathetic and accomplished 47-year old who leaves behind a 7-year-old daughter, his wife of twenty years, and hundreds of loving friends, family and colleagues. It’s a tragedy, one of 191,627 in this country alone in little more than half a year.

It’s real.