Coronavirus daily update: Thursday, Oct. 22

An early voter’s story

I voted today at the old courthouse in downtown Greensboro, right around 2 p.m.

First I checked the wait time using this site, I noted that wait time was less than 30 minutes. I parked right outside and purchased 45 on the meter just in case. I would only use 16 of them — and that was because I had to go back to my car to get my voter guide before I filled out my ballot.

Virtually no wait. No “poll watchers” nor protesters nor even glad-handing candidates around the building. No big deal.

But about one-third of registered North Carolina voters have already cast their ballots — 34.34 percent in Forsyth, 32.83 percent in Guilford, and those are yesterday’s numbers so mine has not yet been counted.

I always say: I am out of the election prognostication game. But I do know that, historically, large turnout does not favor Republicans.

We hit about 69 percent turnout in Barack Obama’s historic 2008 election, and half that many people have voted two weeks before the election. Just saying.

Some news

• Here’s more about the Guilford County bailiff with COVID-19 who died this week, shutting down the courthouse.
• Just as threatened, Trump posted the raw footage of his “60 Minutes” interview with Lesley Stahl. He walked out after 45 minutes.
• Wonder how he’ll handle tonight’s debate when they shut off his mic?

The numbers

• 2,400 new cases in NC — an upward trend for the last three days — making 243,923 molecular positives in the state.
  • Hospitalizations climb to 1,203
  • Positive test rate drops to 5.9 percent, indication a slowdown in the days to come.
  • 50 new deaths for 4,082
• Guilford County has 77 new cases makes 10,512. 6,103 recoveries, 194 deaths (+3). 4,215 active cases.
• Forsyth County adds 55 for 8,319. We’ve got 7,288 recoveries and 115 deaths (+1). 916 active cases.

A diversion

So we watched “Lovecraft Country” which necessitated a re-watch of “Watchmen” the series, which in turn has made it imperative that we watch Watchmen the movie again at some point. But for now, because Robert Redford is president in “Watchmen” the show, I dug up his first film, 1962’s War Hunt. The film.

Program notes

• For tonight’s featured image, we’ve got “Woman at a Balcony,” by Jean Léon Gérome, 1875. Taken from the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s public-domain collection.
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