2020 Pandemic

January 2020 - China reported an increase of pneumonia cases all linked from a wholesale fish and live animal market in Wuhan City. The market was shut down and the China CDC reported that a novel coronavirus (later named SARS-CoV-2, the virus causing COVID-19) had been detected as the cause. By January 20th there were reports of confirmed cases in 3 countries outside China: Thailand, Japan and South Korea - all had been exported from China. On January 23rd, Wuhan City was locked down with all travel in and out of Wuhan prohibited and movement inside the city was restricted. By the end of January, cases were also reported in France and Germany, all related with travel history to China.
https://www.ecdc.europa.eu/en/novel-coronavirus/event-background-2019

January 21, 2020 - the 1st case was reported in the US. The patient is from Washington and had returned from traveling to Wuhan, China on the 15th.


January 30, 2020 -  the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the outbreak a public health emergency of international concern. The next few weeks several countries implemented entry screening measures (taking temperatures and asking a series of questions) for arriving passengers from China, then soon after ALL passengers required screenings. Over the past week, there has been nearly 7000 new cases reported internationally. This includes 696 cases identified on board the Diamond Princess cruise ship docked in the port of Yokohama, Japan. The entire ship was put in quarantine and of these cases, seven died.


February 14, 2020 - The total number of COVID-19 cases in the United States is 15. In the past couple weeks, the President had issued a ban on any travel to/from China (he gave current Americans in China a couple days to return). Upon their return, they were to be quarantined for a period of 14 days to prevent any spread of the disease if they had it. As of this date, there were approx. 600 people in quarantine. Testing kits were now available but in limited supply. The question at this time was when is the proper time to test as they weren't sure when the virus was strong enough to show a positive result when it was indeed present.


February 26, 2020 - The CDC reported "as more and more countries experience community spread, successful containment at our borders becomes harder and harder. Ultimately, we expect we will see community spread in this country. It's not so much a question of if this will happen anymore but rather more a question of exactly when this will happen and how many people in this country will have severe illness."


February 29, 2020 - Washington State reported the first COVID-19 death in the U.S. They also found 3 positive cases from a long-term care facility in WA - 2 patients and 1 health care worker. This brought the total number in the U.S. to 22.

March 8, 2020 - Italy installed strict public health measures including social distancing, along with the closing of businesses except for grocery stores, pharmacies and gas stations to prevent the spread of the virus. This was the topic among family & friends here, noting how crazy this would be if it happened in the U.S. Little did we know...

March 10, 2020 - The CDC reported "As of today, there are more than 110,000 cases of COVID-19 worldwide. In the U.S., as of Sunday evening, 34 states plus New York City and D.C. have reported more than 500 cases of COVID-19 to CDC and 19 deaths. Nearly half of reported cases are in California and Washington. 18 of the deaths are in Washington. The remaining one is in CA. The report of the World Health Organization mission to China describes the virus as being highly contagious. And there's essentially no immunity against this virus in the population because it's a new virus. Based on this, it's fair to say that as the trajectory of the outbreak continued, many people in the United States will at some point in time either this year or next be exposed to this virus and there's a good chance many will become sick. But again, based on what we know about this virus, we do not expect most people develop serious illness. Let's talk about who those people are. So far it seems like it's not children. Of the 70,000 cases, only about 2% were in people younger than 19. This seems to be a disease that affects adults. And most seriously older adults. Starting at age 60, there is an increasing risk of disease and the risk increases with age. The highest risk of serious illness and death is in people older than 80 years. People with serious underlying health conditions also are more likely to develop serious outcomes including death. The people who are at greatest risk are those older and who also have serious long-term health conditions like diabetes, heart disease, or lung disease,"
https://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2020/t0309-covid-19-update.html

March 11, 2020 - The World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a global pandemic. This was the 2nd day of parent/teacher conferences this week. During this, everything still seemed normal, going about our activities. 
In national news, the NBA suspended their season after a player tested positive. 

March 12, 2020 - It was an early release day at school due to conferences. We received notification that morning that electronic devices would be going home with all students. Once school let out, Brian and the kids went to the grocery store to stock up on food as it seemed that we would be hunkering down at home for a long period of time, whenever that announcement would be made. 

March 13, 2020 - Work seemed like a normal day until early afternoon when we heard that the president would be making a big announcement. As we were listening to President Trump declare a national emergency to deal with the coronavirus crisis, we were dismissed early and told to pack up in case the office does close due to COVID-19. It was a weird feeling...more due to the 'not knowing' what is going to come and how work is going to be handled.

In the sports world, MLB has ceased all operations, including spring training and delayed its season at least 2 weeks, shortly after the NHL hit pause on its season. The NCAA called off its men's and women's annual March Madness tournaments after initially ruling they would be played with no fans in the audience. All other conference basketball tournaments were cancelled. Major League Soccer suspended it season as well as ATP tennis, the PGA Tour, NASCAR, the Kentucky Derby and the Boston Marathon. The big question in our house is what will we watch if there's no live sports on TV??? 

March 16, 2020 - Missouri announced it's 6th positive case.
There were many changes today...the situation is very fluid and announcements are constantly being made. It's sometimes hard to keep up with them. The CDC is recommending no public events with more than 50 people. Hospitals are beginning 'no visitation' policies, restaurants are closing their dining areas and doing drive-thru and take-out only, movie theaters are limiting their theaters with a max of 50 people and colleges are moving all classes to remote learning for the remainder of the year and asking students to move out of dorms. By the evening we received an announcement from Liberty Public Schools that they will not be returning from Spring break and doing remote learning through April 3rd. Most all school districts followed the same guidelines. I started the day going to work just like the start of any other work week. Halfway there, my teammate let me know that they would be shutting down the office sometime that day and that I might as well just turn around & work from home. So home I went and set up my new office space at our desk area off the kitchen.

March 17, 2020 - New CDC recommendations came out limiting public gatherings of more than 10 people. More cancellations ensued including school events, concerts and sporting events as well as closures of community centers and museums, churches, retailers, casinos, movie theaters, zoos and more.

March 18, 2020 - The first 2 positive cases in the Kansas City metro were announced. Missouri now has 24 confirmed cases.

March 19, 2020 - The borders have closed to all non-essential travel to and from Canada and Mexico. The advisory also included all U.S. citizens who do not wish to return at this time "should be prepared to remain abroad for an indefinite period." All schools in Missouri have officially voluntarily closed.

March 21, 2020 - The mayor of KC has issued a stay-at-home order effective Monday, March 23rd, through April 24th. Under the order, residents are directed to stay at home except for essential needs such as grocery stores, pharmacies, gas stations and health care facilities. Due to this, Liberty Public Schools followed suit and will not return to school until April 26th.

March 23, 2020 - The first 3 positive cases have been confirmed in Clay County. The State of Missouri has now jumped to 183 positive cases. Today was the 1st day of homeschooling. We created a schedule so the kids would know what to expect and have some consistency every day. 

 
This is what they think about having their Dad for a home school teacher.

The city lockdown is to happen at midnight, so schools organized teacher parades through the neighborhoods. This was one of the biggest highlights as many were sad they were not going to see each other for a long time. Families made posters for their teachers. It was amazing to see the way the students, parents and teachers faces lit up just by seeing each other! Our kids loved how they were 'in' the parade so they could see all their friends they will miss so dearly.
 
 


March 24, 2020 - There are now more than 50,000 cases of COVID-19 in the United States, according to data kept by Johns Hopkins University. More than 600 deaths have been reported in the country. The U.S. has the 3rd highest number of cases in the world, behind China and Italy. The President announced today that he wants to open the U.S. back up for business as soon as possible, maybe even by Easter (April 12th). The move would be made to keep Americans employed and the economy strong. He is facing backlash for this statement, including from us in the Midwest where the amount of positive cases are just starting to increase, thus not reaching the peak or near flattening the curve at this point. The 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo have officially been postponed to 2021. Locally, all KC,MO parks & rec areas were closed to prevent the spread of the virus.

March 27, 2020 - President Trump signed a $2.2 trillion economic stimulus package aimed at warning off further damage caused by the coronavirus. The devastating news at our house is that Beckett's bike has a flat tire. This was his 'thing-to-do' during their outside time every day. Bike repair shops are closed because they are not an essential business. Now having to share 1 bike with 2 kids who don't want to share is getting real fun.

The nation's biggest obstacles we've watched thus far:
  • Not enough tests being made & distributed. The U.S. has been real slow at getting a jump start on this. The fear is that more people have the virus than we know because the hospitals and doctors offices can't get a hold of tests and people are running around not knowing they have it, thus infecting others.
  • Not enough personal protective equipment for healthcare workers. People at home started making masks to send to hospitals, ponchos are being worn in place of the gown shortages, etc. Apparel manufacturing facilities have changed their lines to accommodate making masks and gowns. Ford and many other manufacturers have changed from making cars to making ventilators for health care workers and hospitals.
  • Shortages of sanitizers. Breweries, whiskey & beer production facilities have all turned their factories into making sanitizer to help with the demand.
  • There are shortages of toilet paper...shelves are being emptied as people are hoarding - see pictures below.
  • People are not taking the quarantine seriously...they're going out & about like normal.




March 29, 2020 - President Trump extended social distancing guidelines through April 30th. the number of cases has now surpassed both Italy and China with over 100,000 cases, most of them in New York. Missouri has now accounted for 903 cases with 12 deaths; Clay county is at 29 cases. Prince Charles of England has announced that he has tested positive for coronavirus. We participated in 'virtual' church today, streaming it on our TV. Definitely not the same, but still gave some comfort of something familiar.

April 3, 2020 - Med students are being given special permits to graduate early so they can start working on the front line with patients in hospitals. The government is advising those living in high community transmission states that everyone wears a mask or some type of face covering when they go out in public. 

We had a company meeting today...due to a 56% drop in sales, they have no choice than to process furloughs throughout the company. All done in percentages based on position and workload - 20%, 31%, 50% & 100%. My position was put on a 20% furlough, meaning I work 80% of my hours, receive 80% of my pay, but my benefits and PTO remain as is. Though I am sad to hear this, I am a little secretly grateful I am able to spend some quality afternoon time with the kids.

This evening we had a virtual birthday party for Molly. Everyone got on Zoom and sang happy birthday to her. It was a fun way to all be together, even though we can't be in the same place.


April 7, 2020 - We're 2 weeks into virtual home schooling and parents around the world get to experience the "full moon" effect. Keeping their kids focused and on task seems to be the biggest daily challenge for most parents, creating a whole new respect for classroom teachers. At our house, we decided to take advantage of the 70 degree weather and get the sunscreen and sprinkler out. The kids had a blast, but I couldn't help but wonder if this is how our whole summer will be? With this being a respiratory virus, I can't imagine swimming pools being open anytime soon, if at all.

April 9, 2020 - The Labor Department said 16 million people in the U.S. have filed for unemployment in the last 3 weeks. The MO governor ordered that all schools be closed through the remainder of the school year. Virtual learning will continue through through May 22nd. We all knew it was coming, but the announcement was more shocking than we thought it would be. Beckett & Kalia were real sad that they weren't going back. Beckett got some nice mail from his teacher after this announcement:


April 10, 2020 - The word "Zoom" is no longer just a cool sound race cars make. By this time, 99% of the country has participated in some kind of video conferencing. Trouble shooting is taken care of by kids age 6-19 who have been tech savvy. 

April 12, 2020 - Today is Easter. To make it seem more normal for us, we showered and got ready as if we were actually going to church. It was the first time I fixed my hair & put on makeup in a month. We put on our best clothes and streamed our Easter church service on TV. We taught the kids about Jesus' rising and took communion with Ritz crackers and wine & apple juice. We had Easter get-togethers with both families on Zoom. As always, it wasn't the same but at least the Easter bunny made it to our house! 


Missouri counties have reported more than 4100 COVID-19 cases in the state and 110 deaths. Nationally, we have topped 600,000 positive cases and 25,000 deaths. Across the nation, rehab centers and nursing homes have been hot spots for positive cases of both patients and employees where it can be easily spread. One Wyandotte County facility alone has had 119 positive cases and 27 virus-related deaths. Most grocery stores and restaurants are closed today in observance of Easter, but also to give their hard-working employees a day off.

April 14, 2020 - The FDA approved a new saliva-based test for COVID-19. The International Monetary Fund predicts the U.S. will suffer it's worst economic year since the Great Depression this year. Major League Soccer says it's 'extremely unlikely' that the league will resume play in mid-May, when it had hoped to return. Meanwhile, we received notification from Beckett's baseball league that they are still planning on returning to the fields starting May 15th for a shortened season of play through July. Kalia's been keeping herself busy by writing letters to family. She gets super excited when she gets letters back. Her and Grandma on the lake have become pen pals. This week she sent Kalia some marigold seeds to plant and yeast (because we couldn't find any at the store) to make angel biscuits. She also made Uncle Justin a special picture. He's been working SUPER hard in the hospital taking care of patients and was excited to spend the weekend turkey hunting, so she made him a turkey.



April 16, 2020 - The KC mayor has extended the stay-at-home order until May 15th to prevent the spread. Clay county has reported 136 cases and 2 deaths, currently at 55 cases. The KCMO metro is at 1678 cases and the Missouri total is at 5421 cases. Nationally, the latest data from Johns Hopkins Hospital indicates 706,832 positive cases of COVID-19 with 37,084 deaths.

This certainly hasn't been an easy time for many of us, but there are definitely some positives:
TRAFFIC is gone,
GAS is affordable, 
BILLS have been extended.
KIDS are at home with their FAMILIES.
PARENTS are home taking care of their CHILDREN.
FAST FOOD replaced by HOME COOKED MEALS. 
Hectic SCHEDULES replaced by NAPS, REST, and RELAXATION.
The AIR seems CLEANER.
The WORLD quieter.
PEOPLE are conscious about HYGIENE and HEALTH.
MONEY doesn't seem to make the WORLD GO ROUND anymore. 
DOCTORS AND NURSES are being praised and recognized instead of athletes and celebrities.
And WE now have TIME, finally, to STOP and SMELL the ROSES.
...The positive side above all!!
PS. I'm pretty sure this was God's way of telling us to slow down and stop destroying his world.
-- author unknown

April 24, 2020 - President Trump has signed a $484 billion bill that aids employers and hospitals under stress from the coronavirus pandemic.  New hot spots are meat packing plants. Some have been forced to shut down for 2 weeks while employees quarantine and the facility is sanitized. As cases still continue to increase at a slower rate, cities and states are talking about reopening and what that would look like. The MO governor announced early details of how the state would start to reopen on May 4th - this includes salons, gyms and barbershops. In the sports world, we finally had something live to watch. The draft was aired this weekend, live from everyone's homes as they announced who each team selected.  It was weird and rather boring, but Beckett was thrilled to watch it. We have started getting antsy at the house. Twice now we have gone out for a drive, stopping by Dairy Queen for ice cream just to get out. I feel we've been a little more lenient about being around neighbors. Letting the kids play more with their friends across the street, still with some distance, but not as strict. We're ready to get out and see our friends again and get back to the office, though we're not sure when that will be and to what capacity. We've heard once restaurants open, most likely they'll only be seating every other table to keep some consistent social distancing. Classrooms may be that way in the Fall as well...only half the class that attends every other day. Who knows what will happen and when it will ever get back to normal... Also, Beckett's bike has been temporarily fixed until the new tires come in the mail...so now we're back to 2 bikes and all is good at our house.


June 1, 2020 - Nothing too shocking has happened in the last month with COVID-19. We had to take some time off and not watch the news every day as it was rather depressing and un-hopeful. We needed a break from everything coronavirus. Nationally, they're still doing lots of testing & opening up many free testing spots around the city. There are currently over 1 million cases in the U.S. with over 104,000 deaths. In the KC metro, there are 5,544 cases. The flattening of the curve seems to be happening but we don't really know for sure. The economy has started to re-open. Kansas City started on May 15th with their 10/10/10 plan. This consisted of: 1. Businesses may only reopen with 10 percent of their occupancy; 2. or with 10 people total inside. 3. Business must take down contact information for anyone in their building more than 10 minutes in order to conduct contact tracing if there were an outbreak. We've gone out a few times to get some necessities, but never with the whole family. The kids are always at home. We put masks on every time we get out of our car when we do go out. It's shocking the amount of people that are NOT wearing masks! We're probably 1 in 5 that do. 

Today, June 1st, started the 2nd phase of re-opening the city, which is up to 50% capacity. I'm not really sure what's open now and what is not as it's up to each business' discretion. Some businesses are having a hard time getting their employees to come back to work - they seem to be enjoying their unemployment check for doing nothing. It's best to just look up the business online and check before leaving the house. We have not eaten out at a restaurant yet, but we have gotten take-out & delivery many times. Cooking at home all the time is getting tiresome, especially when your kids are picky and won't try anything new. 

We spent the last month outside playing with friends, having BBQ's with the neighbors, and letting the kids just be kids. Lots of bike riding, scooters, water play, catching animals and more! We love that we've become so close with our neighbors! Brian created a 3-hold golf course in the backyard called The Whispering Ox. The 1st golf tournament was this past weekend. It was a good time and more are planned for the future! 

The school year ended quietly and the kids were glad to be done with homeschool. The school hosted a drive-thru parade to wave good-bye to their teachers & school staff. It was good closure for the year, but they are ready to get back to the classroom and see their friends & teachers next Fall! As for me, I'm still working remotely at home with no timeline on when we'll go back to the office. We received word today to expect it through the summer (up to Labor Day). This is a bit of a surprise as other neighbors have started returning to their workplace.

The best news so far is that Beckett's baseball has started up again. Practices started on May 15th and games start this week. Our first game is on Saturday. The bleacher area will be closed and we'll have to keep our 6 ft. distance, but they will be playing!! We are excited to have some of this normalcy back in our lives.





No comments:

Post a Comment