Subj : Covid-19 was: Miss.RvrDam To : Nancy Backus From : Barry Martin Date : Fri Apr 24 2020 12:30:00 Subject: Covid-19 was: Miss.RvrDamBreach-Davenpt Hi Nancy! NB> Continuing.... "Welcome back to the Nancy and Barry Show! Go ahead caller!" BM> NB>>> Very few if any places are totally unaffected now.... BM>> Unfortunately yes. The Iowa Governor extended school closures through BM>> April 30th; locally the school boards are trying to keep high school BM>> seniors' graduations on schedule ==> won't have the ceremony but at BM>> least the diploma. NB>> Our schools are closed at least until April 29th, too... kids are NB>> doing distance learning and being home-schooled, too... And the NB>> colleges are doing things all online, too... BM> I'm half-expecting another extension until mid-May -- at least here in BM> the Midwest; New York/East Coast might be able to start reopening BM> around the first of May just because that area had it earlier than here. NB> At this point there still is no decision on whether or not NB> schools will reopen before the end of the school year... Although NB> we do seem to be coming on the downward side of the curve now, NB> there's no way to know whether it will be a quick drop or a NB> flatter/longer one... and the last thing we want is for things to NB> suddenly spike upwards again... The experts are mixed, though I think some are trying not to be Doomsday Prophets. I'm thinking the curve will be long in tapering off with multiple rises and falls as people 'are released' and forget the social distancing, cleanliness, etc., and so contract COVID-19. This reminds people and so they go back to protective measures (social distancing and cleanliness), and so back and forth. More people will have developed an immunity (probabyl to varying degrees) and so that will also help reduce the curve. BM> The news has a chart of number of instances by county. Scott, Clinton BM> and Muscatine counties (me, north of here, south of here) are the BM> highest -- yeah, we're also the most populous (in this part of Iowa) BM> -- of course we're going to have the most COVID-19 cases! To me would BM> make more sense if also showed percentage. NB> That could be a useful tool... especially for an informed NB> comparison... IMO yes. Lots of little factors not being presented, or maybe better to say overlooked. Italy had a very high death rate; later reported because they have an older population, not something 'Italian'. Though is helpful to know the virus is harder on an older population. One the opposite end was I think Zambia had no reported cases: they also had no test kits so unable to report. Had sort of something similar here: Louisa County (IA) had a sudden spike: they get a bunch of test kits and so they were able to do more tests and so all of a sudden a landslide of new cases. Louisa County is in Iowa, so that cased the Iowa report to have an increase, not as much of a spike because the other 98 counties' reporting format was constant. And probably also caused a mild bump in the U.S. reporting. ....Not that I'm scooping out these details, just are there and I'll sometimes do a quick alternative analysis. BM>> Nothing's been said but I wonder about what's going on with upcoming BM>> freshman college classes: the colleges and universities are closed. NB>> Maybe the colleges just don't know what to plan for the fall... NB>> it's so much a wait-and-see now.... BM> That and the summer sessions! As you indicated, too early to tell. NB> And just last night, when I was talking on the phone with a NB> friend, she looked up what the status of colleges opening in the NB> fall in our area was... generally they all were still in the wait NB> and see mode... Which at this point makes sense. Currently just about all schools are shut down and no one knows for sure when able to open. Hard to make plans. At this point I'm guessing plan to continue with the on-line learning, and if things get cleared go back to in-person learning, though the on-line will probably continue as a popular alternative. There's also a percentage of students who will take off the semester or maybe even year -- always have been some but I'm thinking even more than usual. Combination of protective measure and building up some finances. BM> And when in-person classes do begin will cause a mixing of people, not BM> only locally but the U.S. and internationally -- we have three colleges BM> / universities with a significant international student body. I'd BM> guess a cursory medical check for flights but for those travelling by BM> car.... NB> Our major ones also have a significant international student body NB> as well... I don't know if all the international students went NB> home, or if they stayed put here... most are in apartments, not NB> in the dorms... Of course, distance learning can be done from NB> anywhere in the world now pretty much.... Right. Lots of international students here also; I'm guessing about two-thirds of the colleges/universities have on-campus housing. I have not heard anything on what's happened to the students - domestic or international. My guess is a few have returned to where they originally were from; perhaps a lot just staying where they are because would eventually return and moving is exensive. Also percentage who have no place to return: their plans were to move to someplace new. BM>> True.... Grocery stores becoming the new 'in' spot to gather and see BM>> people! I'm thinking it's national but here the Target (Super Target, BM>> with grocery) is limiting to 60 people inside at a time, Home Depot BM>> limiting to 100. What's sort of funny is here the Target is much BM>> larger than the Home Depot (excluding Garden Center) so the numbers BM>> should be reversed. NB>> Not sure if the big box stores here are limiting how many inside the NB>> store at a time, as I've not been anywhere near them, but so far NB>> Wegmans hasn't limited, though they have now posted signs saying that NB>> they reserve the right to do so if they feel it necessary... It's more NB>> just encouraging the 6' away from each other and otherwise maintaining NB>> distance from anyone... I'm not seeing so much of the stores being a NB>> place for gathering, but then it is being actively discouraged... BM> Here also more encouragement to stay in place, only going out when BM> necessary. I've been told Schnuck's grocery store (chain BM> headquartered in St. Louis) is restricting to 60 customers at a time. BM> I haven't heard of restictions at the other grocery stores (including BM> Hy-Vee). Hy-Vee did put directional arrows on the(ir brand new!) floor BM> to sort of direct a flow of traffic to help keep people 6' apart. NB> No one-way aisles here, at least not yet... just the one-way in NB> and out of the store.... and a lot of the "stuff in the aisles" NB> to catch your attention has been moved out of the aisles to make NB> them wider... They expect the carts to help maintain the NB> distancing... "Come near me and I'll crash my cart into you!!" The one-way aisles might be more of a psychological thing: it is a lot easier to stay six feet from the other customer wandering down the aisle but when they stop to get or contemplate an item one still has to pass them. I did skip going to Hy-Vee yesterday: nothing advertised I really needed. I remember was two items but not recalling what they were. Definitely not worth a special trip. BM> ...Another thing to add a bit of confusion to my shopping while the BM> store is remodelling! Now I need to go down the Baby Food and Pet Food BM> aisles!! (Um, that's plural: they're two distinct areas!) NB> I'd think so... At least the baby food/baby items has a NB> separate section of the store here that I can just ignore... ;) And helps you can 'legally' skip as no one-way aisle routing! BM>> Back to the hoarders. I'm thinking they've calmed down some also, BM>> though Hy-Vee did have quarts of orange juice at 99› (limit two) in the BM>> Wednesday ads (print, TV, digital) and they were out Thursday morning. NB>> Maybe they weren't able to get all the stock in that they'd ordered.... BM> A strong possibility too. LIS, I wasn't going to make a big deal out BM> of it; maybe in regular times see about getting a raincheck but BM> currently all rainchecks are suspended. Also I'm not going to make a BM> special trip if told "we're expecting a truck tomorrow". NB> I wouldn't make a special trip, either... some things can be NB> foregone for a while if necessary... ;) We tend to buy ahead anyway: buy on sale/with coupon makes mor sense than buying at full price. Not always possible and sometimes need now. The 99› orange juice isn't a need but a desire -- a glass of orange juice would be nice but I don't require it. BM>>> Then off to get gas before my points expired. No coffee-flavoured BM>>> M&Ms yet but the lady who is more in charge and originally said she'd BM>>> try to order said she and the supplier were still looking. :) NB>>> It does make me wonder if they were indeed a test-market item... ;) NB>>> But even if they were, they could be back, as a NEW item, introduced NB>>> more widely.... ;) BM>> Possibly! Or another limited version in conjuction with Starbucks! NB>> That would likely only be available at Starbucks... or as a NB>> mail-in premium.... :) BM> Hy-Vee now has an in-store Starbucks. NB> In that case, it definitely would be a mail-in premium... have to NB> drink x cups of special Starbucks drinks to get the coffee NB> M&Ms... oh, and probably you have to upload a picture of your NB> receipts to some website in order to qualify.... ;) Coffee! Coffee! Coffee! Coffee! M&Ms! Cap-a-cheen-o!! ¯ ® ¯ Barry_Martin_3@ ® ¯ @Q.COM ® ¯ ® .... Where do birds meet for coffee? In a nest-cafe. --- MultiMail/Win32 v0.47 þ wcECHO 4.2 ÷ ILink: The Safe BBS þ Bettendorf, IA --- QScan/PCB v1.20a / 01-0462 * Origin: ILink: CFBBS | cfbbs.no-ip.com | 856-933-7096 (454:1/1) .