Coronavirus Part I - What's Going On?

    

Strange and unsettling times are here.  

On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization declared the Coronavirus a pandemic.  Since then - many things have begun to change, like a snowball slowly rolling down a hill and picking up speed as it goes.  On Sunday, March 15th the Governor of Vermont ordered all schools closed by March 18th.  Most people kept their kids home from school on the 16th and 17th.  My boys stayed home, and I didn't go in either.   We asked my mom's caregivers not to stop coming, as a way to keep down the in and out traffic and her risk of exposure.  Essentially, aside from going to the grocery store, we have all been home, sequestered here together.  My sister comes to care for my mom in the mornings from 10-2 and I care for her from then on.  We've worked it out so it is painless really.   

The boys have been doing online learning and I have been working on preparing my students for         online learning set to begin next week. Anna continues to work from home.  Restaurants, bars, bakeries, etc. are all closed for business other than take out. I hear rumors that soon interstate highways might close.  Curfews are in place in many large cities. International travel has been suspended.  It's hard for people who are in other countries to get back home.  Italy has reported almost 800 deaths in one day.  

There are 22 cases of the disease here in Vermont, up from 1 last week.  Two deaths as of today.   In    NYC there are thousand of cases.  I think it all feels surreal.  Certainly things are bound to get worse, but it feels and seems like everything is normal when you go out for a walk with the dog.  It's hard to  believe that life as we've known it is so radically different.  These are strange and unsettling times.