Covid Chronicles. Chapter 30: Life on Pause

Read chapter 29 here

Saturday, April 25, 2020 

My mind keeps cycling back to the term Eddie used to describe his adjustment to the coronavirus pandemic. 

Life on pause. 

In his case, it serves as a specific reference to his university classes and related activities. Empty classrooms empty. Closed offices. Inaccessible library shelves inaccessible. Contacts limited to phone, text, and email. 

In my case — and JoAnna’s, too — it’s related to our retirement status. Now that I’m no longer a member of the Dane County Board, my schedule is free of meetings and phone calls. And since the end of March, JoAnna’s weekdays no longer have a regular structure. She doesn’t have to be at work, remotely or in person, at 8 a.m. and remain on the clock until at least 4:30. We were looking forward to opportunities to travel — day trips at first. Birthday parties and a baby shower in Wheaton. Lunch with Mim and Tom. Exploring downtown Milwaukee. Heading up to Oshkosh to reconnect with friends we haven’t seen in years. 

All of which now on pause. 

I still hold out some hope that we’ll be able to visit Warren in late May. Wisconsin’s safer-in-place order was extended until May 24th, and I just read that Pennsylvania’s governor is planning to ease restrictions in the northwestern and north- central parts of the state starting on May 8th. We’ll see how that plays out. Pennsylvania is still experiencing big daily increases in new coronavirus cases — 1600 yesterday, 1300 Tuesday. Wisconsin didn’t have a 200-day until Wednesday this week (225), due to more than 100 cases confirmed in Brown County at a Green Bay meatpacking plant. Brown County's numbers have increased more than 500% during the past 10 days. From 90 to 605. Dane County, on the other hand, has added just 51 cases to its tally during the same period. And more than a quarter of those are the result of a small outbreak at the Dane County Jail. (Dane currently has 395 cases.) 

Andy’s life is certainly on pause right now. Fortunately, the county’s disc golf courses open on May 1, and he has already purchased a $40 season pass. He’ll get plenty of fresh air and exercise starting next Friday. Not to mention an activity he loves that will keep his mind off his pandemic lifestyle. At least for a portion of the day. 

Researchers at the University of Washington’s Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation used a modeling process to answer the question: When can states begin to relax social distancing? 

They estimated the point in time when COVID-19 infections fall below one case per 1 million people. The easing of social distance must be done in conjunction with containment strategies such as testing, contact tracing, isolation, and limiting the size of gatherings. In other words, there is no ability to flip the switch back to normal, the lives we lived just two months ago here in the U.S. 

According to these calculations, Wisconsin can start the process on May 21, Pennsylvania on May 27. I’m not convinced that Wisconsin can get down to just 6 new cases on that date. At least not how the numbers are currently trending.