A News Update for Anyone Who Isn't Hooked In

Instead of a major opinion blast from me, I'm just relaying some news I get in the mail from the New York Times.  (I know, fake news, etc, etc.  But it is good to know this stuff.)

Most of you know that the number of jobless claims last week exceeded 3 million (or was it this week?) and is expected to go beyond 5 million today.  If you've lost your source of income due to staying home, make a claim; this is no time for pride.

The ventilators in a government stockpile (most probably a Federal stockpile) are now unusable, because a maintenance contract had lapsed.  Well, I don't know whom to blame, but we sure need a law that says that essential maintenance contracts have a long grace period.  Also, if the Feds intend to cancel a contract, they should jolly well say so, instead of quietly letting it lapse.

The economic crisis has led the Government to reconsider a trillion-dollar infrastructure plan, that everybody had been talking about during the 2016 election, but never went anywhere.  I wonder who is to blame for that?  If implemented, it could put millions of people to work.

People who get Social Security, who typically do not file tax returns, will get their $1200 now.  Apparently the IRS has reconsidered; which suggests that they balked at doing this at first.

Apparently France has been paying businesses not to lay off their workers.  The workers still stay at home, but the businesses are given a check to prevent them from throwing workers off the payroll.  In various parts of the US, businesses have been very quick to lay off workers as soon as the business cannot operate.  This is what is considered being a good business owner.

The mayor of LA urged all LA residents to wear face coverings in public.  (A good move, though home-made face coverings aren't enough to protect health professionals, ambulance drivers, etc.)

Joe Biden has asked the DNC to move the national convention to August.  (This sounds like Biden is more concerned about the nomination than the epidemic, but in fact he has been sending out a stream of suggestions that Trump and the Administration can take.  This move is just campaign-related news, not all the Biden news.)

The drug Hydroxychloroquine, a Malaria drug, is said to have helped a small number of COVID cases in China.  (The results are not statistically significant, but you can be sure that they're looking into it.)

Wimbledon has been cancelled for the first time since WWII.

Doctor Anthony Fauci, the epidemiologist whose reliable statements are a welcome relief from the uninformed guessing of the White House, has been threatened by who are called conspiracy theorists on Facebook.  He now has armed guards protecting him.

People in the South East of the US---and other places---have continued to travel, in defiance of local and regional advice to stay home, and are observed to be spreading the virus.  About 70 students from the University of Texas at Austin celebrated Spring Break in Mexico.  Now dozens of them have tested positive for the Corona virus.  (sigh)

About two million firearms were sold in the US in March.  This is the largest number since 2013.

Idaho became the first state to ban transgender females from sports.  This could mean that student athletes will have to be sex tested.  (Obviously this has nothing to do with the virus spread.)

That's it for the news.  The rest of this post is to document some shenanigans that are taking place, about which we have heard first hand.

My wife works for the largely rural county of Clinton, Pennsylvania.  Firstly, because it is rural, there are two things that are true: populations are small, and medical facilities are tiny, such as a 66-bed hospital, which does not have any ventilators, very few doctors, and which was on the brink of closing down, for instance.

Secondly, it is a tourist destination, especially for the hunting, boating and fishing crowd from nearby population centers, such as Philadelphia, State College, Harrisburg, and so on.  Many of these folks own vacation properties in the woods, in which they camp in the summers.

Well, guess what.  When they began Stay at Home orders in these urban areas, many of these folks packed their SUVs, and hightailed it to their campgrounds, sometimes bringing with them their buddies from the cities.  Pretty soon, the little medical centers found COVID cases showing up at their---poorly-equipped and staffed---Emergency Rooms.

My wife was told about one case where the patient was brought in to the ER in an ambulance, where the ambulance team were not wearing face masks of any sort.  The patient was admitted, was rushed by Life Flight to the closest big hospital, where I believe the patient died.  The ambulance driver is now a known source of infection.

This is a tragic story, made worse by foolishness and ignorance.  (There may be excellent reasons for that ambulance driver to not have had a mask, but it is a sad story nevertheless.)

The Governor's office in Harrisburg is being informed about this phenomenon of city dwellers withdrawing to their vacation camps to last out the epidemic, but we have to understand that he is a Democrat governor in a largely conservative state.  It is very difficult to tell the Don't Step On Me types what to do.  Here again is the conflict between Big Government, which can be efficient at clamping down on dangerous behavior, and the libertarian population that feels that it knows enough to make its own decisions.

Anywhoo, my wife and I took our constitutional this afternoon, trying our best to steer clear of everybody we met, and not even look hard at them.  But there were a few cars, being driven at very high speeds, that were forcing us to hop off the roads with alacrity.  Where are these people going, in such a hurry?  They could not be racing to the convenience stores to pick up toilet paper, could they?  Rushing to be at the deathbed of a loved one?  Speeding to their usual workplace, to admire the empty parking lots?  Running home with an open beer bottle, before it loses its fizz?

Anyway, that's the state of the virus in our neck of the woods!  Thank goodness for our fuzzies, who keep us entertained!

Archimedes, hoping you stay home, and keep yourself entertained.  I have hundreds of DVDs, which I would love to lend anyone, but someone has borrowed some of my favorites, and not returned them . . .