C19 Update

Update April 2 2020: Gosh, I was heartily heartened this morning when I checked the two sources that I've been following to track the C19 spread. In the past 12 hours the US cases hadn't increased at a tremendous rate, as they had been for days. Disappointing to check this afternoon and see a 25K rise in American cases. Oregon has held in the 700s for several days though, and that was after being in the 600s for almost a week. All that said, we know the number of cases being posted daily is rising due to higher rates of testing. Many more people are sick with C19 than know it because of the until-now dearth of tests.

Which brings up a thought: It seems to me that Oregon's cases have not skyrocketed as some states have. Could it be that the social distancing that we have been practicing for weeks has squelched some of this bug? Just today (or yesterday?) the governor of Georgia announced that he just found out that asymptomatic people can spread this thing, and therefore Georgians need to stay home. Seriously. Is it possible he's been up to his elbows at his hog farm or something, and didn't come up for air until today? So Georgia is bursting with cases because neither the gov nor his staff knew what we've all known for at least a month?? Sheesh.

I made a run to Costmore early this morning during the "senior hour." Now there's one advantage to having gray hair. Let's hear it for Costmore though--they have this thing down to a science, and what a difference since my last visit a month ago. A line monitor (formerly their auditory specialist--I kidded him about being repurposed) held up a neon yellow flag denoting the end of the line. My friend L and I were there 15 minutes before opening by which time the line was beginning to wrap around the lot. By the time we got into the store it had tripled in length. Of course, we're all distancing which stretched it like an elongated slinky. 

Exuberant Mr. Line Monitor let us line-ees know that today they have TP--two kinds! L and I raced around knocking off our list, and found the checkout lines not very long. The checker (protected by a plexiglass barrier) never touched our membership cards and those who had their own bags were asked to bag their own items. The door monitor who marks receipts was seated inside a plexiglass cubicle and never touched our receipts.

I hope that a year or two from now, or five or 10, the blurbs below will sound ridiculously absurd. The next generation will not believe there was a time when TP made the headlines. Put into today's context, it's just one more sign that we have a unique situation here, hopefully to fade into the distance soon.

FoxNews 2 Apr 2020: Police in California took a wipe out of crime Tuesday after pulling over a stolen SUV and finding 192 rolls of toilet paper -- a sought-after commodity as people hoard supplies amid the coronavirus pandemic. . .Earlier this week, a tractor-trailer carrying a load of toilet paper rolled over and burst into flames on a Texas highway. Neither the driver nor his dog was hurt. But countless rolls of toilet paper were scorched or strewn across the roadway.

www.thedailyworld.com 1 Apr 2020: A 39-year old Ocean Shores man is in custody for burglary after allegedly entering a vacant home and stealing several items, including cleaning supplies and toilet paper.

https://www.heraldnet.com/life/with-a-bidet-tp-shortages-no-longer-scare-the-crap-out-of-us/ Discusses the question: TP or bidet? Bidet of course!

Here are the two C19 trackers that give information in two varied ways:
Worldometers
New York Times