December 31, 2019, while I was celebrating New Years Eve in Chicago, Illinois, a pneumonia of unknown cause is detected in Wuhan, China, and reported to the WHO China Country Office.
The World Health Organization (WHO) declares Novel Coronavirus (Covid-19) a Pandemic on March 11, 2020. Here's a snapshot of April 3, 2020:
Unleaded gas: $1.97 national average
Schools: closed
Day cares: closed
Self-distancing measures on the rise
Tape 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
Non-essential stores and businesses mandated closed
Parks, trails, entire cities locked up
Entire sports seasons canceled
Concerts, tours, festivals, entertainment events - canceled
Weddings, family celebrations, holiday gatherings, funerals - canceled
No masses, churches are closed with online services only
No gatherings of 50 or more, then 20 or more, now 10 or more (some states 5, now some states 2 non-family)
Children's outdoor play parks are closed
We are to distance from anyone we don't live with
Shortage of masks, gowns, gloves (Personal Protective Equipment aka PPE) for our front-line workers
Shortage of ventilators for the critically ill
Panic buying sets in and we have no toilet paper, no disinfecting supplies, no paper towels, no laundry soap, no hand sanitizer
Shelves are bare
Manufacturers, distilleries and other businesses switch their lines to help make visors, masks, hand sanitizer and PPE
The government closes borders to all non-essential travel
Fines are established for breaking the rules
Stadiums and recreation facilities open up for the overflow of Covid-19 patients - Chicago's McCormick Place opened up for 3000 hospital beds making it one of the largest temporary hospitals in the world
Trump daily press conferences declaring that he doesn't take responsibility, what a wonderful job he does with everything and anything that's wrong is somebody else's fault
Daily updates on new cases, recoveries, and deaths from our governors
USA Covid-19 daily death rate approaching 1000 (April 2 2020 968 deaths)
Government incentives to stay home
Barely anyone on the roads
People wearing masks and gloves outside
Essential service workers are terrified to go to work
Medical field workers are afraid to go home to their families
This is the Novel Coronavirus (Covid-19) Pandemic, declared March 11, 2020.
Why, you ask, do I write this status? It's a reminder that life is precious and not to take the things we dearly love for granted.
We have so much!
Be thankful. Be grateful.
Be kind to each other - love one another - support everyone.
We are all one! ❤️
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Blog post cover image Photo by Nijwam Swargiary on Unsplash
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