20200321 - Corona Virus Part 1

Wendy and I have been in self-quarantine inside our little tin can all week. We have tried to get out and see the sun for lunch, when we hit a drive-thru and an occasional pizza for dinner. My employer, Pricewaterhouse Coopers (PwC) has shut down our office buildings so we are all working-from-home for now. On Friday, I received a communication that said the remote work arrangement will continue until at least April 30th. My setup is quite nice - a desk in the room adjacent to the kitchen, bathrooms nearby, decent internet. Wendy is always so conscious of me working, so she tip-toes around trying not to disturb me. She is also very cognizant of my COPD and she tries not to use the cleaning chemicals while I'm in the house. With the extension of me working from home until April 30, I may need to take an afternoon off and go outside until the chemicals dissipate.

The total number of cases of COVID-19 in the US yesterday was 19,383. This was a 41% increase over the previous day. Currently, the total number of infections multiplies by a factor of ten every eight days. At that rate, we will be topping a million infections in the US before Easter. To try and combat this, the state of Florida has instituted some strong measures - all bars are closed, all beaches are closed, which interrupted the spring-breakers, and all restaurants are takeout or delivery only. This is going to really hurt small business, since they won't have the cash reserves to weather months of this. On another note, the stock market continues to crash, with the DOW wiping out four years of growth by free-falling -30%. Unemployment for March is expected to be around 20%, where it once was 3%. The only thing that I'm sure of is that it will get worse before it gets better.

I don't look forward to the social dynamic as this virus progresses. I can foresee the battle between those that want freedom and those that want martial law. It will be another line of segregation in this fractured society we ironically call the United States.

Nobody left to run with anymore.
Nobody wants to do the crazy things that we used to do before
Nobody left to run with anymore.
-- Dickey Betts, "Nobody to run with", Where It All Begins, The Allman Brothers Band, 1994