Wahoo! Made it through another day. This morning kicked off with an official statement from work that we’re to stay home until further notice sooooo hello, new reality! Let’s recap (and I promise I’ll be short ‘n’ sweet going forward unlike the first day).
WFH in Action
Today was an end-of-sprint day so I was curious to see how our ceremonies e.g. demos would go via VPN and video conference. Fortunately, they went off without a hitch despite being our second day in this new reality. Everyone’s adapting really well to the situation and I’m fully confident we’ll regain our in-office momentum within a few days, if not already.
I love, love, love not wasting time on morning routines or driving, even though my commute is already ridiculously short. Still. Every minute I can save in the morning hours is priceless. I’m curious to see if this honeymoon phase wears off soon, but I’m soaking it up until then.
Tomorrow marks the newly-sparked idea of #OnesieWednesday, which I’m very excited to partake in given my options. Gotta keep things fun!
COVID-19 Latest
Somber news. Monroe County had its first COVID-19-related death, but I’m going to stay emphatic about the fact this individual, a 54-year-old man, had other complications. Doesn’t change the devastating reality at all, but headlines will run with this as if it’s only the virus for the clicks and added panic. This news comes with the three new confirmations, five hospitalizations, and 79 under mandatory quarantine in the county. Friends on the inside say the testing has increased and, subsequently, so have the pending cases (double-digit numbers). I’m sure we’ll see another spike soon.
Nationally, all 50 states are now reporting cases now that WV finally joined the ranks. We’re now seeing ~3,500 confirmed cases in the US. Meanwhile, Italy just surged past 2,500 deaths with WHO reporting 180,000 infections in at least 140 countries. I’m grateful for the ongoing effort from Governor Cuomo and NY state while we navigate these weird waters:
Hooray for pro-science leaders! Trump’s trying to soften the blow by talking big talk about a payout to help ease the financial burden in all of this, but ehhhhhhh. This leads me to my last section…
Lessons and Predictions
So Trump wants to send us a direct cash payment to help with the impact of the virus and the workforce. Yang is shaking his head somewhere (or maybe he’s happy to see it taken up!), but the money talks brought up important discussions about chronically-ill and disabled Americans and how these routines leave behind:
Other patterns to watch is how Amazon is handling the virus, as they’re looking to ramp up 100K more employees to help the business. Existing employees are sharing their concern for tempering the spread of the virus, but I’m sure they’ll get drowned out by the opportunities. Capitalism at work even when the economy is tanking. Don’t worry; a stimulus package is being floated with $1T to help boost things just like the $1.5T stock injection did! ::facepalm:: I can’t. Worse, Mnuchin predicts a 20% unemployment spike if we don’t pass it. We’re in for a wild ride, folks.
Oh, Kansas and (likely) California are already shutting down schools for the rest of the year. I’m keeping tabs on this trend, as I’m impressed by it, but I also recognize that the chance of a second, stronger wave of the virus in the fall/winter is high. I’ve read into the history of the 1918 flu pandemic in search of parallels or forecasting hints. Handy stuff. Well, aside from the active examples in other countries. I’m hoping we continue to channel the smart moves and learn from the missed opportunities. Just not holding my breath under this current administration. I promise I’m wishing Trump would take steps to help me ease up on the criticism, but he continues to call COVID-19 the “Chinese virus.” I will not step back from calling out this xenophobic, racist, aggressive pattern. He knows exactly what he’s saying especially when called on it. He means it. Ugh.
SO. Predictions. I’m going to stick with my gut that says the next four days will feature the exponential growth towards a shit-hit-the-fan moment. We’re slowly getting access to the testing kits and Cuomo said we will soon have the capacity for 6,000 tests a day. Until then, we’re going to see a small uptick of likely related cases much like the current 14. Fingers crossed that I’m wrong! I hope we’re all overreacting and that this is not a big deal in the end. I’ll be super, duper grateful if that’s the case. Too many signs are pointing the other way, though.
Onward to tomorrow! #OnesieWednesday! Stay safe, healthy, and HOME.
