Mike - that's what we need. More people on the front line who can say it like it is.
Being in the emergency services world, I've been privy to some recent trends and patterns. One being the "anticipate this" emails from the higher ups. The ongoing pattern has been 3 to 5 days and the "anticipate this" has come to "this is happening". That being said, there has been some breaks in the pattern but I would anticipate a required documentation of why you are out in the following week (s) in Wa state. I hope I'm wrong but looking at NY and LA, I think this won't be limited to a couple states. Get your shit in order now why you can. I have not idea how this will be enforced so no need to argue with me but looking at the traffic around here, I think it will come to it.
In today's, maybe it was yesterday's, local news paper web page, it said that the Kitsap County confirmed cases are 41, and that was an increase of DOUBLE THIS WEEK!
This is nowhere near the beginning of a flatter curve! This is EXPONENTIAL!
Just did a drive around the area to see what the traffic was like and it is light ... that is good. Well, it is cold, rainy, and windy, not nice to be out. The nearby grocery store did not have many cars in the parking lot. When I was there last Wednesday, at the checkout they had installed a tall and wide clear plastic sheet screen where the conveyor belt and checker is (to protect the checker), and they put tape lines on the floor that indicated how many feet there is between each line. They did this all on their own with absolutely no input from the County Health Department.
What this tells me is that the County Commissioners are not telling the County Health Department what they should be doing in order to provide support for those business that are authorized, or required, to be open. The businesses and their employees are pretty much on their own to figure this out. Not good.
The County has the staff with the education and licenses to provide support, and if they don't, then the State (WA) has health staff, access to health-related contractors, hospitals, colleges and universities, not to mention other resources. The County inspects restaurants, hair salons, bars, and who knows what else so why aren't they supporting or directing what the authorized businesses should be doing, as a minimum.
The plastic shield, or divider, was an excellent idea. The person doing the bagging, however, didn't have the same protection. Speaking of bags, plastic bags were not permitted as of, I think, Dec 31; however, that's what they're using now, along with paper bags. Customers are not allowed to use their own bags (good thinking). So the prohibition of plastic bags lasted ... two months!
Okay, back to the news today. There are 41 CONFIRMED cases in the County as of yesterday, and that is DOUBLE what is was at the beginning of the week (Sunday), that's only 6 days for doubling. and at the beginning of the month there was only ONE.
March 1 = 1
March 27 = 41
Does that mean there are 41 NEW individuals with the virus in the County? NO. It takes about 5 days for symptoms to show up (or, so I've read). How long does it take for someone who has symptoms to get a test? How long does it take for the test results? How long does it take for an infected person to become a contagious? Need a health expert here 'cuz I don't know.
Depending on how many people have contracted the virus from the, now Confirmed case (typically several), we're looking at a snowballing situation. Unless the County Councilmen (-persons?) get a handle on this, things will go out of control.
Let's see what happens next week.