Hunker Down

[Crosley.In.AZ]

Arizona governor has opened up more areas of business. We still have people on both sides screaming for more open and to stay closed.

Last week I  ate at a Mexican Restaurant. They had all waiters in mask. Tables closed off for the social distance program. Waiters did not touch the menus.. other staff picked up menus, cleaned them. Cleaning the tables and area after each customer

Today we had breakfast at a local place : Hen House Cafe ..  No tables were closed off.  Wait staff did not have masks on. We were the first 5 customers inside.  I dont know if there was a limit on customers, no signs were in place.

At both places , you had to ask for condiments per the Governors rules for safety from the Chinese virus.

[Crosley.In.AZ]

Visit to our local Costco by my wife..  Costco had toilet paper in stock , on pallets.  First time since late february 2020 that we have actually been able to buy TP from them.  Costco still requires masks, have mask on hand to provide to customers. The direction controls in each isle are gone. there was no line to wait in about 10:30am today.

Walmart does not require customers to have face mask on. The store near us has opened up the entrances that were closed to control enter and exiting the store.

Taking inventory a little bit on places out of business. We have noticed a  Couple restaurants are closed up for good.  A Firestone Automotive store is closed. Couple of Gyms are closed, buildings are empty.  I do not know if these businesses were struggling before the lock down or not.  The Firestone store always seemed busy. It was located near a Jack in the Box that we visit.

[kb426]

The 1st person to succumb to covid in my area happened 2 days ago. He was 71 and appeared to be "normal". I've spent some time thinking about Pueblo and Salina in the next couple of months. Is it a fool's choice to go? Most of us have the age factor. What do you  think about the risk factor?

[58 Yeoman]

We're not taking any chances just yet. We wear our masks when we go anywhere like shopping, etc. We like going to estate/garage sales, and some are opening up, but we'll wait for a while yet.

[Crosley.In.AZ]

My wife noticed wednesday there is a banner on the local Outback Steak House that announces the dining room is now open.  Since we did not eat a steak dinner for our anniversary in May...  guess what?  LOL

Local Jack in the Box we visit, the inside eating area is still closed.  Take out only

[Crosley.In.AZ]

Arizona is making the national news a little bit.  The positive test results for chinese virus are going up in numbers.

The folks in charge tell us this has nothing to do with the increased testing?  That is weird as a few weeks ago the folks in charge were all giddy with a big push on weekends for increased testing for the chinese virus.  

The hope was for state wide to test up to 20k people on each weekend.  I do not know what numbers were for the increased testing drive, but it seems like that would increase positive test results?

I read the % of people tested that are positive is up and that is what we need to look at.

[Bruce Dorsi]

Arizona is making the national news a little bit.  The positive test results for chinese virus are going up in numbers.

The folks in charge tell us this has nothing to do with the increased testing?  That is weird as a few weeks ago the folks in charge were all giddy with a big push on weekends for increased testing for the chinese virus.  

The hope was for state wide to test up to 20k people on each weekend.  I do not know what numbers were for the increased testing drive, but it seems like that would increase positive test results?

I read the % of people tested that are positive is up and that is what we need to look at.

I agree with your assessment that as more people are tested, more positive cases will be discovered. ...However, many of those positives may be asymptomatic.

I don't know if you've seen this site Tony.  

https://covidtracking.com/data/state/arizona#historical

Disregard the "invalid date & time" labels.  ....The site is updated daily, usually at the same time each day.

The statistic which I feel is important is the ratio of RESOLVED cases comparing deaths to recoveries.  ...For example, in NJ, 30.5% of the resolved cases resulted in death, while 69.5% recovered.  ...In NY State, 26.4% died - 73.6% recovered.  ...In PA, 10% died while 90% recovered.

[jaybee]

The statistic which I feel is important is the ratio of RESOLVED cases comparing deaths to recoveries.  ...For example, in NJ, 30.5% of the resolved cases resulted in death, while 69.5% recovered.  ...In NY State, 26.4% died - 73.6% recovered.  ...In PA, 10% died while 90% recovered.

Those aren't particularly comforting numbers. My employer still has us working from home. It's not ideal but it's going well enough. I don't know anything which encourages me to be in a hurry to go anywhere.

[Crosley.In.AZ]

The AZ Governor had a press conference thursday as usual. He did not announce any new lock down orders.  We are staying the course.  Although the "officials" are suggesting people wear face covering when out in public.

Of course people are complaining the Gov did not wear a mask at the news presser...  He has been photographed with out a mask at other recent events.  He claims he wears a mask as needed in public.  LOL  Standard stuff for politicians.

We were told the hospitals are near full, but there are back up plans that can be in place quickly.  One hospital that was closed in 2019 is at the ready to open ICU beds if needed.  Of course we need staff to make these new beds function.

My wife is still working at home.  I do not go out much.  When I am out & about, I try to maintain the distance from other people.  I do not wear a mask.

[WZ JUNK]

This morning the virus map of the US, by the New York Times, shows the county where I live as a new hot spot for the virus.  My wife and I will go to test and tune tonight at the drag strip.  We can park and unload out in the field and have minimal contact with others and have social distancing.

Sunday Hooley will race the Nostalgia race there,  but I will not go.  It would be difficult for me to be there and not be close to all the people I know.

[phat46]

Our local numbers have been very good the last ten days or so. It's been several days since the last reported new case and only about 6 new cases the last couple weeks. The county health department issues the latest numbers every day, here's today's numbers. This is in a county of approx 160,000 people, we got lumped in with Detroit when the governor divided the state into reagions even thought their numbers were many times higher than ours.

[Crosley.In.AZ]

I've been looking at numbers for the states.  Thanks Bruce for that link.  Another site I watch now.

I see New York &  Jersey up high on the list in numbers.  Arizona is low on the list for positive test results per  100k people.

On a Goldwing motorcycle forum a fellow in Montana mentioned he was in a store without a mask.  A woman called him a killer.  He said the area / county he lives in has Zero virus cases reported.

We visited a sit down restaurant this morning. My wife has a weakness for their french toast. LOL ..  They have tables blocked off for the social distance deal.  We received salt and pepper on the table.. had to ask for it 2 weeks ago.

[Bruce Dorsi]

Two of the most informative and reliable sites I have found for Covid statistics are:

https://www.bing.com/covid/local/unitedstates  ...You can scroll down to any state and see stats for individual counties.

https://covidtracking.com/data  ...Hospital stats and recovered stats for individual states.

[WZ JUNK]

This last week there has been a big change here where I live.  We went from hardly any active cases to a red box on the national map in just 7 days.  My wife and I were just beginning to get out some, but we were still being very cautious and trying to follow all the guidelines.  I must confess that I did not adhere to the rules 100% lately, but there were few exceptions.  Now I am going back into my shell.

[Charlie Chops 1940]

Still being cautious but hopeful. Barbershops are opening this week...think I'll call for an appointment if I can't get through to my barberette. That's probably politically incorrect but I'm too old to care any more.. Saw a tee-shirt advertised that said something like...don't mess with old people because a life sentence isn't much of a deterrent any more.