Thursday, April 16, 2020

Hunkered down, somewhere in Wyoming, part 7

As of the end of the day on April 15, the U.S. had reported 639,628 COVID-19 cases. Confirmed deaths are 30,980. New York leads the list with more than 14,000 deaths. New York has been one of the nation's hot spots and the daily counts blow my mind.

Just to compare, last Wednesday, April 8, the U.S. led the pack with 432,132 confirmed cases and almost 15,000 deaths. Confirmed cases haven't doubled in a week but the deaths have. A sobering reminder of the pandemic's scope. Wyoming is showing 287 cases and two deaths with Laramie County in front with 64 cases. Just 6,329 have been tested which is woefully inadequate.

Our family remains hunkered down. No idea when we can get back to work. When I say "we," I mean "they" as I am retired, Chris has been laid-off and Annie is taking her two college classes online. The weather this week has been snowy and cold which has stymied our walks in the park. Last week I was barbecuing on the back porch.

I got a bit stir-crazy yesterday. As I was writing, it suddenly dawned on me how many days I've been doing this. Darkness descended. I turned to my writing which is the only task that keeps me away from Coronavirus stories and stats for hours at a time.

We keep checking our shrinking account for stimulus checks and unemployment deposits. The State of Wyoming made Chris's first unemployment payment overnight. It's not much but we are thankful to have resources.

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