Well, it took only 170 days for the United States crossed the 3 million cases threshold.
Even more alarming:
Here's a quick timeline of how quickly the virus spread in the US:
Jan. 21: The US reports its first reported case.
99 days later: At least 1 million Americans have been infected
43 days later: The US reports more than 2 million cases
28 days later: The US reached 3 million cases
Florida saw another 10,000 cases (that nobody seems to bat an eye at), and 50 some of our hospitals have zero ICU beds available. We're even making it on CNN these days
All of this and I feel like it's Coronavirus: the tale of two pandemics. It has just been crazy lately. Yesterday half my Twitter was full of reports that hospital capacity in metro areas in Florida was dangerously low. We're seeing more cases per capita than any other country in the world... and the only state that tops us is Arizona. But meanwhile, all the Disney/Attraction bloggers I followed were at Disney for preview days, being totally excited about how Disney is back. (And don't even get me started on Disney- I used to feel like Disney wouldn't reopen if it wasn't safe- but I'm sorry, Disney Land isn't opening because California said they couldn't yet. Disneyland Paris is opening a few days after Disney World, and France is in a WAY better spot than Florida. So I kind of feel like they're opening in spite of safety- though, I do recognize Seaworld, Legoland, Busch Gardens and Universal have all been open for a month)
Ron DeSantis yesterday was talking about how Florida is protecting their most vulnerable (that's his favorite talking point these days), and goes on and on about how the "young people are driving this" and they'll be fine. Meanwhile, the mean age is creeping back up and so is the fatalities. He also said that the whole point of restrictions was not to overwhelm the hospitals. He claims were still fine there, but now they're sending extra nurses to Miami Dade to help with the influx of cases. Most experts say we're in more danger of running out of doctors and nurses before beds in Florida. And most experts say just requiring masks to be worn won't be enough to stop the spread of what's going on here (which the big metro areas are doing- though there isn't a statewide order). Also, apparently, the virus is so widespread here, contact tracing is no longer plausible. Cool.
The press conference today was bananas. Dr. Birx gets up there (because Fauci is missing... where is Fauci?!) and says states seeing a surge should go back to phase 1. There should be no indoor dining, no bars, no gathering in homes. Facemasks should be worn by everyone. The CDC is saying to avoid close contact, crowds and closed spaces. Yet, at the SAME press conference they're saying students must go back to school in a month.
And not just some kids on some days. Not with a mask requirement. No, all kids should be in school every day come August. Florida actually said schools are required to be fully functionally at least 5 days a week. Ok, so then what is the PLAN then to open them safely? Well, Secretary of Education and all around terrible person, Betsy DeVos says they'll leave that up to the states to decide... which is leaving it up to the districts to decide... which in some places are leaving it up to the principles to decide (I know this, because my sister in law is a principle who gets to make that fun decision).
Trump then tweeted (because he's not actually AT the Coronavirus task force press conference), that the CDC guidelines for social distancing are "impractical" and "expensive" and he'll pull funding from schools if they don't reopen in full capacity. I'm pretty sure school funding is a state and local responsibility. Which also means he can't actually open or close anything. But, hey, whatever gets the most retweets, am I right? Pence, at the same time is up there saying the administration will be "respectful" of states that can't open schools.
I mean, Miami is rolling back to phase 1. They are closing indoor restraint spaces. But, lets say that continues for the next month. You can't eat indoors at a restaurant, but you can eat in a school cafeteria?
I don't know what the answer is on schools. But, a nice cohesive plan other than "you have to open" would be nice. Some guidelines? Something. Lucky for us, it doesn't have any impact on our lives. But, I can't even imagine. I just picture the last time my kids were in public school- and half the time they had classes in "portables" because the schools were so crowded they'd spilled over into overflow trailers.
And those trailers are about as poorly circulated air as you can get. They'd have like a couple window air conditioners and 25-30 kids crammed in there for hours at a time. That seems to me like a recipe for disaster: for students, for teachers. For everyone.
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So, I wrote the above paragraphs yesterday. Today? Not much has changed. We had 8,000 case today, I think (we float somewhere between 7,000 and 10,000 every day and nobody even takes note anymore). But, our positivity rate is creeping up, as well as the deaths. 120 people reported today, the most of any day here in Florida. The positivity rate is also at an all time high. And, the mean age is creeping up as well. Meanwhile, today our governor said if you can go to Walmart and Taco Bell, you can go to school. And then said he doesn't want kids missing out on football. So, wait. Not only is school a go, but so are sports?
And Disney opened today to passholders. I even got an email letting me know resort stays are up to 40% off for Florida residents until September. It's just such a weird state of things. Fauci again told everyone that states seeing the sharp increases should shut down again, and yet, Disney is opening. Bananas.
Our hospitals are nearing capacity. Pasco county had two ICU beds available this morning. And locally everyone is talking about hiring more contact tracers and to pick up the phone if a contact tracer calls you, but then some people are saying we're way beyond that.
Meanwhile, we're not all handling everything that well. Two days ago we all moved to Fight Club. Calib was the only one lacking in an outburst, but he was still a grumpy pants.
And without the pool, we're bored. I feel like all my creative juices have turned to mush. I've got no ideas for anything fun. So mostly, my pictures from the last few days are just with the dogs.
Etta gets real concerned when Asa gets his ear drops.
And Ellie gets real demanding when she wants a rawhide.
We did celebrate Ellie's 8th Birthday (I made her pupcakes topped with whipped cream). We don't actually know her birthday, but the shelter would always approximate their age and then list their intake date at the shelter as her birthday. Since Ellie had is pretty rough, and was taken from her previous environment, her intake day was kind of her first rescue. Then, six months later, we were her next rescue.
Calib and Asa were working on Calib's Stats homework, and Etta got shut out of Calib's room. She was real upset and needed some consoling.
We also zoomed with my mom last night for awhile, Wednesdays are turning into zoom night.
And we did a little frog hunting last night as well. We only found like four though.
Today we started on our next puzzle. This one is 1000 piece Pixar one. But, it's made my Ravensburger. And I'm telling you, they know what they are doing with puzzle making. We can all just not stop raving about the quality of the pieces.
Asa's ear and Hayden's eye are doing better, but we're still working with the drops. They get them at the same time so they can lay down together while the drops set in.
We did get a delivery today: 16 boxes of elbow macaroni. A couple of days ago, I went to make Mac and Cheese for dinner only to discover we had no elbows. That's like the third time that's happened during quarantine, so I got mad and ordered a big pack of them from Amazon. We have elbows forever now!
We did have an uber eats coupon for dinner, so we ordered Blaze. Look, a rare Peyton sighting!
This evening we played some Moving Out, although I am super excited about the Overcooked DLC 'Suns out, Buns out' coming soon!! And, Etta and Ellie played with the big rope together. They don't often do that just the two of them, but it's kind of fun when they do.
Asa and I also decided it'd been awhile since we took a walk, so heat or not, we walked the loop once tonight. (It was 7pm and still 90 degrees, but the sun was on its way down, so it wasn't as bad.
And we did see one baby-ish gator.
Most popular "hurricane snacks": Reese's Big Cups were bogo
Current binge watching obsession: Westworld, the Floor is Lava, Bachelor Greatest Seasons Ever.
Most popular game: Asa's playing some new game on the Switch like all the time these days. But, I don't know what it's called.
Boredness scale 1 to 10: Calib is still a 9, I fluctuate. Sometimes I fall to the floor and groan about how bored I am, sometimes I'm like "I'm so lucky I don't HAVE to go out"
Frozen II Watchthroughs: 49. BUT, I bought a mini ice cream cake to celebrate the 50th watchthru. (We also did curbside Publix for the first time today and it was awesome. They do it really well).
How many times we've walked the loop: 69. Don't want to gain the quarantine 20, so I better start walking even if it's ass hot.
Days Down: 118
Days Remaining: Undetermined
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