Home Is Where the Health Is (Pandemic Part II)

Believe it or not, when I wrote the first post about COVID-19, I thought there may be two installments. It's obvious now that more will be needed, as the crisis could continue into June. Here's what's happened the last couple of weeks:

Mon., Mar. 23

• Gov. Baker announced all non-essential businesses would be closed effective noon tomorrow.
• The New York Stock Exchange shut down its floor and went to electronic trading only.
• There were 42,600 cases in the U.S. and 777 in Massachusetts.
• Trump was eager to re-open businesses.
• I started writing posts about stay-at-home science activities for the Fish and Wildlife Service's regional blog.

Tues., Mar. 24

• We had 6" of snow overnight, which is always uplifting.
• Outdoor spaces (national parks and refuges, local rec spots) were getting overcrowded, and people weren't maintaining 6-foot distancing. MassAudubon and the Trustees of Reservations closed their properties.
• George and Brian started teleworking, while Chelsey was deemed essential staff and continued to go to work.
• The Summer Olympics in Tokyo was postponed to 2021.
• India declared a a nationwide lockdown of 1.3 billion people.

Wed., Mar. 25

• Gov. Baker closed schools until May 4.
• Prince Charles was diagnosed with COVID-19.
• Sarah painted the entryway closet and had her first Zoom meeting with her friend Molly.

• I had my first work Zoom meeting.
• Stores in Massachusetts stopped allowing reusable bags due to danger to baggers.
• Trump, still holding daily news conferences, announced he wants the country back open for Easter.
• Although we were all healthy and getting along as well as can be expected, we had our moments. 

Thurs., Mar. 26

• Sarah had her first class meeting on Zoom. Abby loved it.

• Deaths nationwide passed 1,000.
• The U.S. became the global epicenter of the pandemic.
• Don cancelled his trip to Minnesota to see his parents April 2-5.

Fri., Mar. 27

• The mayor of Northampton announced he had the virus.
• Boris Johnson, prime minister of England, was diagnosed with the virus.
• Congress passed a $2.2-trillion rescue package for businesses and individuals, which includes $1,200 for each adult and $500 for each child in households earning less than $75,000/year. Trump signed it with only Republican lawmakers present.
• At his press conference, Trump badmouthed the Democratic governors of Washington and Michigan.
• The number of cases in the U.S. topped 100,000, more than any other country. There had been more than 1,500 deaths. New York City was an epicenter, and Gov. Andrew Cuomo was in the spotlight.
• The local paper stopped publishing the weekly insert "Hampshire Life" because the events calendar is empty. This means no crossword puzzle for me!

Sat., Mar. 28

• We tried to maintain some normalcy with our Saturday night custom of homemade pizza, salad, and wine (for me) for dinner.

Sun., Mar. 29

• Trump extended social distancing guidance to April 30 and says models show 2.2 million Americans could have died if he hadn't acted.
• Dr. Anthony Fauci said 100,000-200,000 deaths are possible in the country.

Mon., Mar. 30

• Trump was still holding daily press briefings that last up to two hours and include his ramblings and acts of spite.

Tues., Mar. 31

• I went to CVS to pick up prescriptions (at the drive-through) and Big Y for groceries. Big Y was nerveracking -- much worse than two weeks ago. There were more people, and the produce area was pretty crowded. Lots of empty shelves, although some things had been replenished -- I scored a jumbo pack of toilet paper. No flour, little cheese and frozen foods. Having people line up 6' apart to check out makes it hard for other shoppers to get by. I don't plan to go for another two weeks and hope things are better by then, although I'm expecting worse. The staff was cheery and courteous, though!

• MassDems chairman called for cancelling the state convention and putting both Markey and Kennedy on the primary ballot.
• Gov. Baker extended non-essential business closings to 5/4.
• Sarah has been videochatting with Sophia and Omarcito every day at 3:00. Sometimes even outside while she does gymnastics or swings!

• CNN host Chris Cuomo was diagnosed with the virus; he quarantined at home and did the show from his basement.

• There were more than 3,000 deaths in the U.S., more than than died on 9/11.
• There were 69 cases in our county; 6,620 in Massachusetts, with 89 deaths.
• My jigsaw puzzle was coming along.

Wed., Apr. 1

• Sarah did her best to prank us for April Fool's Day, including drawing a spider on the toilet paper roll.

• Don made a math worksheet for Sarah.

• Peak infections predicted to be in 2-3 weeks in hotspots like New York City.
• There were more than 4,000 deaths nationally.
• Florida's governor finally issued a stay-at-home order.
• Fifteen veterans have died of COVID at the Holyoke Soldiers Home.
• Wimbledon was cancelled for the first time since World War II.
• An article in the morning paper captured my feelings well.

• Our well pump broke and had to be replaced. Remarkably, we were without water for only four hours. Blessed!

Thurs., Apr. 2

• Abby should have been groomed yesterday, but the groomer is shut down as non-essential. She's a shaggy beast. The clippers and scissors I ordered from Ebay arrived. Now I just have to work up the courage to use them.

• The New England Patriots private plane landed in Boston with more than a million N95 masks (the kind needed by healthcare workers) from China.
• Ten million Americans filed for unemployment in March, 6.6 million in the last week alone. Economists estimate the unemployment rate to be 10 percent. Four in 10 Americans have been laid off or lost income due to COVID-19.
• Don's 97-year-old dad, who had fallen a couple of days before, went to the emergency room because of pain in his lower back. X-rays showed a broken tailbone, and he went home that afternoon.

Fri., Apr. 3

• Some of the teachers at Sarah's school started a food bank for people who are out of work. We brought some donations.

• President Trump announced that the Centers for Disease Control recommends wearing simple cloth masks in public, then said he would not wear a mask himself.
• Trump ordered 3M to direct all of its production of N95 masks to the U.S. and not to export any made here.
• Don discovered an N95 mask in the workroom.
• Melissa at Elbow Room Coffee offered to order 500 lbs. of all-purpose flour and re-bag it to sell 10 lbs. for $10. I signed up, and she sold out overnight.
• Anderson Cooper and Dr. Sanjay Gupta check in with Chris Cuomo every night at 9:00, when his show usually airs. It's must-see TV for me.

Sat. Apr. 4

• Don's dad went back to the hospital by ambulance due to unbearable pain and was admitted.
• There has been a shortage of personal protective equipment for healthcare workers since things got serious. People are sewing masks for them. I brought what cloth scraps I had to Holly so she could make masks.
• People were posting videos showing how to make masks out of bandanas and hair ties. I made one to wear to the post office. It's hard to breathe!

• Northampton closed Look Park completely.
• The town closed the playground at Sarah's school due to risk of spreading the virus through the equipment.

• We ordered dinner from the Snack Shack to support local business. I brought a fried clam dinner to Mom.
• There were: 277,205 cases in the U.S., with 6,593 deaths; 11,736 cases in Massachusetts, with 216 deaths; 125 cases in our county.

After going to Big Y on Tuesday, I was anxious for the next few days, having trouble going to sleep and waking around 4 a.m. A couple of weeks ago, I started taking sleep aids on Friday and Saturday nights to catch up on rest. It sure helps my outlook.

I'm relatively sure that my family will make it through this, but my heart breaks for those who won't. This is exactly the kind of thing I worried about when Trump was elected, a national crisis and no leadership -- or worse, negative leadership. Thank goodness for the governors, like New York's Andrew Cuomo, California's Gavin Newsom, and our own Charlie Baker.

It's hard to believe that Easter is only a week away....