Flyover country
Folks, we’re getting a flyover. That’s right, empty gestures that solve nothing are no longer strictly the province of big cities like New York and New Orleans. North Carolina gets a military-style flyover tomorrow — although it’s sort of a B-list affair. While NYC and New Orleans get the Blue Angels, we get the North Carolina Air National Guard — which, I should say, is a fine organization of men and women dedicated to serving their country. And they say it’s not going to cost any extra money because this was just a tweak of an originally scheduled exercise. They will be flying over the Triad beginning in Winston-Salem at about 11:20 am, hitting Greensboro around 11:30.
Can you stand any more exciting news?
Rudd Farm is back in business! After an outbreak of COVID-19 last month, Rudd Farm has undergone a quarantine period and sanitizing, and is once again offering homegrown vegetables and the best strawberries in the Triad as a drive-through service. Check the Facebook page for details.
Cone Health celebrated 100 COVID-19 recoveries in its Triad facilities.
And on Friday, we are launching into Phase 1 — which is almost exactly the same thing as we have been doing, except some retail may open at 50 percent capacity; we can gather (responsibly) in groups of no more than 10; and you can go to work if you must, but it’s better to telecommute. Masks? Yes. Social distancing? Yes. Church? Yes.
No bars or restaurants. That happens in Phase 2, which if all goes well could be in three or four weeks.
Check Executive Order 138 for details.
One more thing: The Washingtonian has an interesting item: an “Avoiding COVID-19 Scale,” where it quantifies your response to public life in the coronavirus era. I’m about an 80-percenter. Speaking of which….
The numbers
- We’ve got 502 new diagnoses of COVID-19 in North Carolina today. Our 7-day rolling average jumps to 401.
- But hey! Let’s veer over to NC DHHS for some more good news! Today’s test-count total — 164,482 — means that we’ve added 12,682 implemented tests in the last 24 hours, which is four times our heretofore average rate of 3,000 a day. This is real progress. DHHS says 477 total deaths, but really it’s 485, according to most recent numbers.
- Forsyth County Public Health page is back up, reporting 33 new cases, with a new metric: age/race breakdown.
- Takeaways: 23.2 percent in the 25-34 age bracket, 21.3 percent 35-44, 20.2 percent 45-54.
- Guilford County has 527 diagnoses. That’s also 33 new ones. But Guilford has added 10 more recoveries, for 216. But also three more deaths, for 35.
A diversion
Have you ever heard the old saw about The Wizard of Oz, and its eerie parallels with Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon? Back in the day, it was just an urban legend and, given the technology, a near-impossible feat to pull off. A lot of people my age have always wanted to try this. Well, today’s the day, my friends! Some bored YouTuber synched them up and, upon cursory inspection, it checks out.
Program notes
- I found a new source for public-domain art: The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. We just call it “the Met.” And I’m kicking it off with a Vincent van Gogh — “Sunflowers,” which if you saw in real life would make your heart stop.
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I’ll be back on the job as my store opens Friday. And I’m scared to death. As we have not met the federal guidelines for reopening, the governor’s decision to go on with this premature and haphazard discontinuation of the stay at home policy, I do not see the actual reasoning. My guess is that the political pressure was significant. I am 70 and must work so I don’t have the means to follow my own nest judgment and stay home another several weeks. So tell me: how many dead tarheals equal a saved small business? I suppose we’ll find out.
I agree with you… It’s all about political.