Things Change

Spent part of today on the phone with a friend in Delaware. There are four confirmed cases of the virus at the University of Delaware where she is getting her MA, and the campus is essentially closed for the duration. She was thinking of coming home to New Mexico, but it's difficult. She'd have to drive. She doesn't want to fly. And she's afraid if she did drive, she'd run into travel restrictions and barriers on the highways because things are changing so fast. She saw people panicking at the grocery store this morning, hoarders piling up all the meat  they could cram into their carts, pushing, yelling, scaring the old people, just crazy. This is what we're descending to?

So after some long talk, she thought she'd take a break and go to the beach, maybe go stay with a friend in North Carolina. Or just tough it out in Wilmington. She finally said she was afraid to come to New Mexico because she might be a carrier and she didn't want to bring any harm back home.

Jeeze that sucks.

We told her that things are still relatively calm here, but there are changes. Gatherings of 100 or more are prohibited. All K-12 schools are closed. "Social distancing" is the rule. Reduce travel. Drive thru testing facilities are open in Gallup and Albuquerque and will expand statewide. Coronavirus tests are still in short supply, but more are "coming." You don't need a doctor's referral to use the drive thrus. But if you don't have symptoms, they'll turn you away. 24 to 36 hours for results.

There are officially ten positive patients in New Mexico, all of whom are either self-isolating or in the hospital. But it is believed there are probably many more people with COVID-19 in the state.

Services are being arranged to provide food and supplies to those who aren't able to get their own. Schools in Albuquerque are closed, but many will provide take away breakfast and lunch for students at no charge, and some even provide three meals a day and will provide adult meals for $4.00.

Stores continue to be picked pretty clean. Most are limiting purchases of supplies like toilet paper and bottled water. There are no wet wipes, hand sanitizer and in some places no hand soap to be had.

Ms. Ché and I are OK and not out and about much in any case. We have pretty good neighbors, but they're not well off, and we'll be doing the best we can to look after one another. It's still hard to believe, though. We're living in interesting times.