Isolation

April 8, 2020













Isolation

The new reality of self-isolation is really starting to settle in as we go through our strange new daily life. The Coronovirus continues to dominate our existence and the news and life worldwide. As of today, we are still in the grips of the terrible virus and ever increasing bad and frightening news each day. Currently in the US, there are 405,129 confirmed cases and there have been to date 13,020 people who have dies as a result of becoming infected.  Locally there have been 49 confirmed cases, 24 in Key West with 7 needing hospitalization. Most troubling is that there have now been 3 confirmed deaths due to the virus in Monroe County.











The city has continued to tighten restrictions as now it is required that you wear a mask or face covering when out in public. Some stores such as Home Depot have literally started posting staff outside to stop anyone not wearing a mask from entering the store. The county has continued to maintain two checkpoints at the upper end of the Keys to stop all non-residents from being able to drive into the Keys and now all arriving passengers at KW airport must undergo screening and a 14 day quarantine. Apparently counterfeit Hurricane Reentry stickers are being given out in Miami and the checkpoints have been confiscating and turning back those who attempt to use them.



Hemingway House







Day to day life has been strange to say the least. Kathy has been continuing to go into to do the books at the Chevron stations as gas stations are essential businesses and have remained open. I have continued working, mostly from home, only going into the office rarely to check the mail and messages. I spent much of the past few days working to apply for the small business association loans and other benefits for my employer, it has been a frustrating and difficult experience.











We continue to take daily walks, walking anywhere from 2- 5 miles each day using various routes around town. It has gotten increasingly strange and lonely each day, which I suppose it a good thing. We certainly take great precautions to give everyone we encounter a wide berth. Each day more people seem to be wearing masks and not gathering in groups, though we do occasionally see a few violators. For the most part it seems that Key West at least is maintaining the social distancing guidelines and avoiding each other.

* photo by Nan Klingener









We have tried to maintain contacts with friends and family using social media and software like Zoom group meetings, facetime, skype and even the old reliable telephone. Our families to date seem to be coping pretty well, my sister Michele has been using her sewing skills to make much needed masks. We were able to get masks here locally from friends who are making them for people such as our friend Sushi, the famous Drag Queen who drops from a shoe every New Year’s eve, and from our young friend Caya who dropped off a pair of masks earlier this week, less than a day after we asked for them.

Jack









The situation has brought out the best in a lot of people, in the midst of fear and isolation, people continue to do things to help each other out. Our friend Paul has changed his operation at his distillery to make hand sanitizer rather than Rum. Our friend Landon does a positive facebook broadcast each day at noon, that attracts a large number of local viewers and that we try to watch regularly. Our musician friends and even more famous musicians continue to do live broadcasts, playing music from their living rooms or basements to entertain and uplift us through the seemingly continuous stream of bad news.

Paul







One thing we try to avoid is spending too much time watching the news, a quick update a couple of times a day is enough, but we certainly avoid the daily White House press briefings. They have become nothing but mostly useless collection of lies, misinformation and false self-congratulatory, sickening sycophants and increasingly toothless members of the media who seem afraid to challenge anything. The fact that a large percentage of the country still supports the President’s handling of the crisis is at once shocking and horrifying.









I continue to see posts on social media that suggest that the current situation is a bunch of media generated hype, those people must be living under a rock or just be stupid of ideologically blinded. I now have four friends who have tested positive and people continue to die in unacceptable numbers. The passing last night of iconic singer/songwriter John Prine was just the latest example of how freaking awful this virus is. People are sick and dying and I fear we are still in the earlier stages of this pandemic.