In late December, the coronavirus erupted in Wuhan, China, wreaking havoc on that city and spreading quickly to other countries. It’s a respiratory disease, extremely contagious and easily transmitted. The good news is most people have mild symptoms and recover with no medical treatment. The bad news? It’s a health pandemic that has evoked fear and panic, tumbled the economy and popularized phrases like “social distancing,” “flatten the curve” and “quarantine.” Hospitals are overloaded, there aren’t enough tests or rooms, and protective gear and equipment is scarce.
People are hoarding food, hand sanitizer, toilet paper and disinfectant wipes.
This is the start of the strangest time I can remember, and people are comparing it to the 1918 Spanish flu which killed more people than the Korean War, World War I, World War II and Vietnam combined.
Monday – Thursday (March 9-12)
There are 560 cases in the U.S. Kansas has one case*. Health officials say closing cities is not out of the question.
We are supposed to leave Saturday for our 11th annual Dyer Spring Break Ski Trip. By midweek, we’re beginning to feel uneasy about going skiing.
Officials are encouraging “social distancing” to help reduce the spread. Skiing is probably the most “social distancing” activity you can do, with helmets, masks, gloves, coats and ski pants.
We told the boys they can’t “hang out” with their friends.
Friday, March 13
I called my friend who we stay with every year when we go skiing. She said the ski slopes are still open, but their county has the most concentration of cases in Colorado.
Colleges and University’s have started cancelling in-person classes and activities, including graduations.
We’ve cancelled our ski trip.
Saturday, March 14
I was at the grocery store at 6 a.m. Since we were supposed to be on Spring Break the next seven days, we had not been buying food. Normally, a 6 a.m. trip to the store is uneventful and I’m about the only one in the store. Today? The parking lot was full and I saw two people I knew…at 6 a.m.
This is what the shelves looked like.
We were supposed to be driving to Denver today. Instead, we cleaned out the garage. Enjoy your first day of Spring Break, boys!
We rented Adam’s tux for prom, and made sure we could get our money back if we had to cancel. Adam got a haircut and we went back to the store to see if there was food this time. Nope.
Ok – there was some whole milk.
And lots of shredded cheese…which is a #win for us because one of Adam’s favorite foods is shredded cheese.
By 5 p.m., all the ski slopes closed. The YMCA closed, along with most attractions in our city.
Sunday, March 15
Sunday, we practiced social distancing and visited the Old Oxford Mill in Oxford, KS.
There are 3,613 cases in the U.S. Kansas has nine cases*.
*these numbers may not be completely accurate
One Kansas Girl 