Covid Chronicles. Chapter 76: This Just In From Manitowoc

Read chapter 75 here

From Retiring Guy's postcard collection

Monday, October 19 , 2020

And now let’s take a side trip to Manitowoc. 

JoAnna’s sister Cindy currently works for Manitowoc County’s Aging and Disabilities Resource Center as coordinator of its Meals on Wheels program. Her territory includes a neighboring county to the north, Kewaunee, which apparently doesn’t have the staffing resources or political wherewithal to support its own program. 

Cindy’s responsibilities includes the supervision of a small number of staff and a large contingent of volunteers — packagers and drivers, for the most part. When the state’s safer-at-home order went into effect in March, it greatly changed the way she managed her operation. Many of her volunteers are older adults, including her 85-year-old Aunt Shirley (who wisely chose not to continue to volunteer), and a significant number who no longer felt comfortable delivering meals. Some became fearful of even leaving their homes. Her partner Jen, a teacher in the Ashwaubenon School District in suburban Green Bay, helped out during the summer, filling in wherever help was needed. As much as Cindy enjoys this job, the stress occasionally became overwhelming. 

About a month ago, Cindy informed us that one of her volunteers, a packager with whom she regularly works, tested positive. 

“I need to quarantine for 14 days,” she announced to us during a video call. 

She got tested, of course, waiting three days for the results. It came back negative, much to everyone’s relief. 

During this time, JoAnna and Cindy talked on a daily basis. Cindy provided updates on the various household projects she worked on to help pass the time, from the mundane (reorganizing a junk drawer) to more ambitious (painting the dining room). By the second week of her exile, boredom had set in. 

“I can’t wait to get back to work!” she exclaimed. 

I imagine it was quite a struggle for Cindy’s supervisor and other staff to keep the Meals on Wheels program running at its usual level, but I was never within earshot when these conversations took place. 

Less than two weeks back on the job, Cindy and Jen learned that a friend in their Covid bubble had been exposed to someone — her father, actually — who caught the virus. She immediately got tested herself, early last week, but hasn’t yet received then results. Probably good news, Cindy and Jen assume, as positive cases are quickly turned around. Hope so! (We talked with them earlier this evening. Their friend hasn’t received her test results, and Cindy and Jen exhibited no undue anxiety.) But that wasn’t all she was concerned about. 

“It’s crazy, it’s out of control here,” Cindy groused. “I’m losing drivers left and right. And yet people are still hanging out at the bars.” 

And the numbers prove it. 

From April 5, the day its first case was reported, through August 31, Manitowoc County reported a total of 578 Covid cases, an average of nearly 4 new cases per day. As of September 1, the county reported an additional 1,573 new cases, an increase of 270%. The daily average during this period is 32. 

Kewaunee County shows a similar trajectory. From April 6 through August 31, the county reported 187 new cases, an average of a little more than 1 per day. As of September, it reported an additional 738 new cases, an increase of nearly 400%. The daily average during this period is 15. With a population of 20,434, Kewaunee County currently ranks 5th among the state’s 72 counties in having the highest Covid positive test rate per 100,000 people – 4248, or more than 4 out of every 100 residents. By comparison, Dane County’s rate is 2369. 

And there’s no indication that things will get better anytime soon. Meanwhile, the Ashwaubenon school district went virtual in late September as a result of Brown County’s skyrocketing Covid numbers. The school board, however, recently voted to reopen school on Monday, November 2. I suspect the political affiliation of this group’s members lean to the red side. Just another example of the dithering and chaos at the local level due to a lack of any leadership at the federal level. Our president keeps insisting that the virus will go away, just disappear. Very troubling. What makes it even more disturbing is that millions of Americans are drinking this Kool-Aid every day.