It has been said that, in moments of historical significance, one should frequently notate their thoughts and observations. Herein this blog series, I will state my thoughts on what is happening as I experience, potentially adding in some helpful information in relation to my studies/research at Harvard. If you or someone you know is teleworking, please feel free to contribute to my research project: http://irsurveys.stjohns.edu/S11/WorkingRemotely20/
The “peak” of cases/deaths locally is only a few days off. Very little has changed as weeks and days blur into one stream of time passing. It has become difficult to remember many details, as days unfold in parody of the previous one. The city is nearly a ghost town; as the wind blows you can hear metal shop signs creaking and it is rather easy to cross through otherwise busy intersections as they are now devoid of traffic. My light stroll to the Potomac last night to catch some air could have been the set of an M. Night Shyamalan film.
A week ago, Hannah and I drove into DC and down the parkway to Mount Vernon just to safely see sunshine and get beyond our 10-block environment. While DC was baron beyond belief (I have never been able to see all the way down Constitution Ave and count the number of moving cars on one hand), it was warm and sunny and thus the trails were hoarded with hundred of people. Unfortunately, it did not appear “safe” distancing practices were in place. Park entrances and gates were closed with caution tape or chains, yet people parked their cars in front of the gates and persisted anyway. The US Park Police seemed to respond by bringing the cavalry in, literally, as we saw them transporting a horse to patrol along the Potomac.
At this point it is hard to report much that is new. Effective face masks are hard to come by, and largely only protect others. That said, we have used our most fashionable winter scarves to get by when walking around town. Today is Easter, and usually a dinner with my parents would be the norm, yet in this situation it is not even possible to give your parents a hug. The whole pandemic still seems surreal; like a strange dream or hallucination that I am going to snap out of soon. I am privileged enough to still have a job/home/etc, for which I am thankful. I have been doing may best to be a patron and donor to local small businesses to pay their furloughed workers.
The devil is in the details, so for this week I will use a modified version of a viral post of bullet points below:
- Gas price is $1.68 (regular, premium for my Audi is around $2.30)
- All physical schools are closed in the US (Liberty University tried to open, supposedly through divine guidance, only to close do to a COVID outbreak on-campus)
- Mandatory work from home implemented for non-essential workers (mostly, the orders are loosely worded and some firms are being less flexible with employees, something I believe will cause huge turnover rates once the market returns)
- Self-distancing measures on the rise (more people will stay out of your 6′ bubble, people will cross the street if they see someone on the sidewalk before them)
- Tape is on the floors at grocery stores and others to help distance shoppers (6ft) from each other.
- Limited number of people inside stores, therefore, lineups outside the store doors. (Standing inline for 40-mins at Trader Joe’s was made better by the staff dancing and playing uplifting pop music.)
- Non-essential stores and businesses mandated closed. (In a historic/tourist town of mostly independently owned boutiques this is VERY apparent.)
- Parks, trails, entire cities locked up. (Though observance of this has been iffy, as described above)
- Entire sports seasons are cancelled. (And the new XFL team/league locally may not recover)
- Concerts, tours, festivals, entertainment events are all cancelled. (Artists are doing free and paid live shows from their couches!)
- Weddings, family celebrations, holiday gatherings all cancelled.
- No masses allowed, churches are closed. (This has been a point of contention in the south. I met a gas station attendant who thinks this is all because the governor hates the church…)
- No gatherings of 50 or more, then 20 or more, now 10 or more. (Now it is basically just the people in your household you may be close with.)
- Don’t socialize (physically) with anyone outside of your home.
- Children’s outdoor play parks are closed. (We have seen parents taking kids to empty parking lots and playing games with them to get the energy out.)
- There is a shortage of masks, gowns, gloves for our front-line workers. (Some folks, my mother included, are sowing and donating masks, though these homemade masks are largely ineffective at disease prevention.)
- There is a shortage of ventilators for the critically ill in some areas. (Auto manufacturers have begun producing some, people have designed 3D printable parts to turn other machines into viable ventilators.)
- Panic buying set in a while ago and shelves are bare of toilet paper, disinfecting supplies, paper towel, laundry soap, and hand sanitizer. (Some local restaurants are selling $1 rolls with a meal purchase, which is helpful.)
- Manufacturers, distilleries and other businesses have switched their operations to help make visors, masks, hand sanitizer and PPE.
- The government has closed the border to all non-essential travel.
- Fines are established for breaking the rules. (In Maryland, you can get jail time and fines. In Virginia, State Police have already given warning to people traveling unnecessarily.)
- Stadiums and recreation facilities are modified to field hospitals for the overflow of Covid-19 patients. (The Redskin’s stadium has been set-up as such)
- Press conferences are delivered daily from the President. Daily updates on new cases, recoveries, and deaths. (Many folks do not watch anymore and wait to read the statements of health experts. Trump’s base seems at odds with some health experts and feel the harm of the economy outweighs that of the disease.)
- Barely anyone on the roads. (I walked 5 blocks in the middle of the street yesterday afternoon, not a single person or moving car in sight.)
- People wearing masks and gloves outside. (I can now say I have seen people running while wearing surgical masks. Observance of wearing masks is about 50% in our town it seems.)
- Essential service workers are terrified to go to work. Medical field workers are afraid to go home to their families.
- Those that are ill may not have visitors, some have to say last goodbyes over the phone. (This is the image people should have in their mind to understand the gravity of the situation.)
- The actual number of those unemployed is unknown, though likely MUCH higher than the 2008 recession. (Some investors and large banks are not terribly concerned because they believe the economy will “turn back on” as soon as there is a vaccine.)
- Bernie Sanders has dropped out of the Democratic primary, which is interesting considering the resent implementation of social democratic policies in the wake of this disaster.
- Wisconsin had a presidential primary vote, despite the COVID pandemic, but there was also race for a seat on the Wisconsin Supreme Court. The whole situation has gotten all levels of the court involved, including the US Supreme Court. This debacle may be a foreshadow to the Presidential Elections should this situation continue.