Monday morning coronavirus quarterbacking

The day began in NC with a Gov. Roy Cooper press conference and will end with yet another off-the-cuff address from our president, with a message from the Guilford County Schools superintendent tacked on at 7 p.m. Details in the list.

Forget the White House briefings, which seem an awful lot like Trump rallies and don’t seem to jibe with what’s happening on the ground in NC. Pay attention to what’s coming from our governor and other local leaders. I’ll include links to source documents when I can. And as always, zone defense is in effect.

  • Gov. Cooper announced new restrictions for the state in Executive Order 120 (PDF). Group gatherings must now number fewer than 50, down from 100. Airports, bus and train stations, shopping centers, offices, factories and childcare centers are exempt, as are medical facilities.
  • A new list of businesses must close by 5 p.m. on Wednesday including: Bingo parlors, bowling alleys, skating rinks, gyms and exercise facilities, indoor pools, movie and performance theaters, spas, sweepstakes lounges and video arcades, tattoo shops, beauty and hair salons, nail salons, massage therapy studios and barbershops.
  • Public schools are officially closed until May 15 for in-person learning; classes will continue online, and the Class of 2020 will graduate on time.
  • All state parks, including Hanging Rock, are also closed.
  • The states of Ohio, Louisiana, Delaware, New York, California, Illinois, Connecticut and New Jersey, as well as the city of Philadelphia, are under state orders to stay home except in certain cases.
  • Old Salem is converting its plots into Victory Gardens this planting spring, the fruits of which will go to help the food insecure.
  • Greensboro banjoist and TCB friend Andy Eversole got some ink in the News & Observer for his, ahem, viral video for a song called “Wuarantined With You.”
  • Costco, Publix, Fresh Market, Target, Whole Foods, Triad Goodwill and a slew of others have begun early shopping hours for seniors, usually from 8-9 a.m.

Today’s numbers

  • The state DHHS website is reporting 297 cases in NC tonight, but the teenager’s bot has us at 307 and the CDC page has us at 255. I’m going with the teenager’s bot. That’s up from 271 yesterday. But the News & Observer is scraping information at the county level, and their number at the end of the day is 353.
  • Of those new cases, none seem to have come from Forsyth or Guilford, which remain at 12 and 11 cases, respectively.
  • All lists agree that no one in North Carolina has died from the virus.

A diversion

  • Art feeds the soul, both in its creation and appreciation. Sayaka Matsuoka makes a menu of local offerings.

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