My Coronavirus Diary Part 44

Sometime this weekend or soon after, the United States will hit the 1 million infected mark. There are nearly 3 million cases worldwide and we make up 1/3 of that number. And we've only had just over 5 million tests done here. What is wrong with this picture?

More than 202,000 people have died from the virus, more than 53,000 have died here.

Yet despite the still elevating numbers, Georgia is in the process of re-opening. One video interview I saw spoke to a salon owner that chose to re-open and another was with a theater owner, who decided to stay shuttered. Another hair stylist details how she plans to run her business while it re-opens. But others are urging residents to continue to shelter in place.

Utah had 166 new cases reported on Saturday. Sacramento had a big outbreak that seems to emanate from one zip code. New Jersey says it is "still at war" with the virus. 

The CDC refined their list of symptoms of COVID 19. The World Health Organization says that having had COVID 19 does not prevent someone from being re-infected with the virus. Abbott Labs has been churning out 50,000 test kits a day and has shipped a million of them out to all 50 states.

World leaders have launched an $8 billion collaboration to find a vaccine against the virus. Guess what country is NOT participating?

Dr. Anthony Fauci has been noticeably absent from the daily virus updates and the White House is said to be scaling back appearances of Donald Trump in the daily press conferences about the virus after his spectacular disinfectant blunder (among many others).

SESAME STREET and CNN got together for a town hall on the coronavirus. It is a great way for children to learn about COVID 19. (Hopefully the president is watching...)

New York governor Andrew Cuomo received a letter from a retired farmer in Kansas. Included with the letter was an N95 mask the farmer asked the governor to pass on to a doctor or a nurse. If you have the time, give the link a look.

A 100-year-old man died from complications of COVID 19. His twin brother died,ironically, during the Spanish Flu outbreak.

The woman, who died from the virus in Santa Clara and is now believed to be the first victim in the US, had an autopsy that showed her heart literally burst due to the virus.

Brazil is flaring up. Belgium has become Europe's death toll leader. Europe's number of deaths has started to fall, but the UK is still in the midst of it.

In Spain, some people are trying to get around stay at home orders by walking, uh....interesting pets.

A nurse shared what it was like to counter-protest those protesting for the re-opening of Arizona. How can those protesting be so ignorant? Geez!

The army is still planning on holding a graduation ceremony at West Point, despite the outbreak.

People are starting to have quarantine dreams. Have you?

My mom forwarded me an article about what economy classes in airlines might look like in a post-virus world. It was a pretty interesting idea.



Using the time you have while you self-isolate can lead to new things. Some people use their creativity, such as the band  New Kids on the Block, along with Boyz II Men, Big Freedia, Naughty by Nature and Jordan Sparks. They have spent some quarantine time writing, producing and making a remotely shot video single about the virus called HOUSE PARTY. Other people are using this time to punch up their marketability for the day the virus ends and the job market is more intense. Investor Barbara Corcoran (along with entrepreneur Grant Sabitier) are encouraging people to get ready now for that eventual day.



Locally, one hospital has been furloughing employees due to the COVID 19 crisis, the lack of elective surgeries and a decline in emergency room visits. On the flip side of that, my co-worker friend Sandy said that she heard on the radio yesterday that hospitals will soon begin to have elective procedures again. Maybe I can get my muscle biopsy done sooner than later.

A P.E. teacher is keeping her students moving...in the kitchen. She decided to give them cooking lessons via Zoom since one student said she had never used an oven before.



Linda, my friend in Castro Valley, sent me a note. She told me several things. She told me about what her cousin in Mendocino told her:

"My neighbor is so paranoid that she is having her groceries delivered," she says her cousin relayed to her.  "She then handles them with pliers, lays things out in the garage and removes packaging there...with the pliers."

Linda also told me that price-gouging opportunists are taking advantage of gamers in this trying time.

"My son says the gaming world is very upset about the Nintendo Switch video game console," she said.  It seems that 'scalpers' (not sure if that's the word)  bought up much of the available inventory, and then jacked up the price by hundreds of dollars.  The Switch is a very in-demand item right now, because you can play against (or with) people in other locations.  The price-gouging is going on at a time when people have less money but more time to play and they're isolated and looking for things to do. It's not as bad as those guys who bought mass quantities of hand sanitizer to jack up the price, but it just shows you that there are jerks ready to take advantage of every situation.

Linda also asked me something else...that i really had no answer for her--yet.

"Is anyone else cleaning their cash?," she asked  "If I have to use actual money, I bring the change (including paper) into the kitchen and spray it with Lysol.  Is this going overboard?"


My friend Eric in Costa Mesa sent me a quick email:

"My parents are finally taking it seriously," he said. "I think they are both down from it. My mom likes going to the grocery store on her bike. My dad loves Home Depot.

"My eBay sales have really come back. The first week of April, I thought was going to be the worst ever. I thought people would not want to order anything, if the mail might have virus on the package. However, it is now on track for one my best months ever."



Today was supposed to have been TikiLand Day at Disneyland. I had scheduled it off from work (way before my legs went hooey) and was really looking forward to going. It was going to be my first-ever tiki event. It was canceled due to the outbreak and rescheduled for next year.  Waaagh.

Although it may not have been nearly as exciting as a day at Disneyland with a bunch of tiki enthusiasts would have been, I had my first-ever pre-order grocery pick up yesterday. I got the email letting me know me my order was ready 15 minutes earlier than I was told it would be. I sent a response, saying I was on my way. When I got to the store, there was a guy roaming the parking lot looking for me. I had my phone in my pocket and it somehow showed I was parked in a certain parking spot...when I wasn't even there yet. Oops. The store boy put the order in my trunk. It was quick and easy---and I got everything I asked for. I forgot to take pictures, so I snapped a picture of another customer getting her order.

The neighbors across the street had a small birthday party of some sort yesterday evening. I don't know if it was family or friends or what...but it was eyebrow raising.

There was some happy news during all of this virus mess yesterday evening. Louis, the son of my friends, the Kerner Family, got married. He was supposed to get married in August, but with the coronavirus going on, the future is up in the air. So, he and his fiancee decided to just get hitched now--in the midst of everything--and do it in a way that all of their friends and family could join in--and still be safe doing so.

There were a few technical glitches to iron out before the wedding took place, such as turning the phone camera so we didn't have to watch the ceremony sideways.

But soon they had things worked out and the ceremony began...

I had not yet met Kayla, Louis' then-fiancee, when the wedding started.

The wedding went well. It was over quickly. Amazingly, Kayla said "I do." (Just teasing, Louis...)

It was a great way to end the day. The best part about attending this wedding remotely? I watched it from the couch and I didn't have to bother wearing pants.

Congratulations and mazel tov Louis and Kayla!

Stay SAFE! Stay SHELTERED! Stay ALIVE!



Cheers!





Continue to the next part HERE.