When I went to visit my Grandma back in February I didn’t
realize how important this visit would become… I had a doctor’s appointment in
the area so I decided to swing by and spend time with her afterwards. I spent a couple hours with my Grandma since
I arrived just as she sat down to eat lunch.
She was in good spirits that day and I enjoyed watching her banter back
and forth with the people at her table… of course she was not too fond of the
food… she rarely is.
After lunch Grandma and I went back to her room, where she devoured
the chocolates I brought her… it is amazing how quickly her appetite came back
in the presence of chocolate 😊 We had a good visit while watching some of her
favorite tv shows (though she hates tv and never watches it if you ask
her).
I didn’t know that this would be the last time I could see my Grandma
for a while… I know that God is watching over her house and that He will take
her home when it is her time to go… but hopefully I will be able to see her
when this epidemic is over.
Grandma enjoying her chocolates...
She ate through half the box...
It was the following day that the first resident of Life Care
Center in Kirkland was transferred to a hospital and later diagnosed with Covid-19. Of course, know one knew for about a week or
so how widespread it had become at the Life Care Center and then beyond. The Life Care Center was known as ground Zero
in the United States as Washington was the first state to have known cases and
deaths started piling up. One of my
co-worker’s aunt was among one of the deaths from the Life Care Center…
Soon after, I found out that one of my student’s parents was
exposed to Covid-19 at the hospital where he works. Thankfully, they took the necessary precautions
and kept her home and isolated the family during this time… though there were
not enough tests to have him tested. He
never came down with symptoms but it was a comfort knowing that we were all
safe just in case. It did not take long
for my students to quit coming to school altogether. Parents were getting concerned
about the situation, especially since our program prepares students for
vocational and life skills and we spend half the day in the community.
I think we were all shocked when school was canceled for six
weeks on March 12th. I was expecting the
closure to be three weeks, long enough to get us to Spring Break, but six
weeks? We started off the week thinking
that it was going to be a crazy week having a daylight savings, a full-moon,
and Friday the 13th all in one week… never did we expect it school
to be closed and Covid-19 to spin out of control. To top it off, I woke up on Friday to snow…
Friday the 13th with Snow
Honestly, I wish I had been documenting my thoughts as time went
by instead of waiting until today… so many thoughts and feelings as I reflect
on how life has changed this past few months.
January 21 – First Coronavirus case confirmed in US (Washington
state) in a man who returned from Wuhan, China on January 15.
February 29th – First Coronovirus related death in
the United States – connected to the Life Care Center
March 4th – County bought EnconoLodge in Kent to quarantine
coronavirus patients – There was a lot of conflict around this so we quit going
to the bowling alley jobsite with our students.
Death toll rose to 10. It was
recommended anyone that was pregnant, over 60 or had underlying conditions
avoid crowds.
March 5th – Pence came to meet with Jay Inslee. Larger companies and tech companies started
having anyone that work remotely do so.
March 9th – Washington death toll increased to 22%. Stocks plunged 7%. It was the worst day since the 2008
recession.
March 11th – Covid-19 was declared a pandemic. Inslee banned gatherings of more than
250. NBA suspended games. Woodland Park Zoo closed
March 12 – Schools closed for 6 weeks (April 27th).
NHL suspended the season. Princess
Cruises halted for 60 days. Libraries
closed. A coronavirus patient at the
Econolodge left the premises (as originally predicted). President Trump declared
a national emergency. Washington count
went up to 37 deaths and 570 confirmed cases (many could not be tested). Disneyland
closed.
March 13 – Hospitals started canceling all elective surgeries to
conserve resources.
March 15 – Death toll reached 42 with 772 confirmed cases. Inslee closed all recreational facilities as
well as bars and restaurants (except for take-out).
March 16th – A Seattle woman became the first person
to receive an experimental coronavirus vaccine.
Canadian border was closed.
March 17th – Coronavirus cases were confirmed in all
50 states.
March 18th – Over 200,000 cases worldwide. Grocery stores limited the number of people
allowed in at a time. Trump enacted the
1950 Defense Production Act to ensure medical professional had essential
supplies.
March 20th – Social distancing was highly encouraged
or more measures would be taken. Washington
now had 81 deaths and 1512 cases. The
border with Mexico was closed except for essential travel. Student loans were suspended by Trump. Playgrounds in Washington were closed.
March 21st – Stores started having hours specially for
Senior citizens and people with compromised health.
March 22nd – Washington Campgrounds were closed until
the end of April.
March 23 – Inslee announced “Stay at Home Order” until April 6th. All non-essential business were closed. There were 110 reported deaths and 2221
cases.
March 25th – Federal officials reached a deal on a $2
trillion aid package. Home test kits
were launched. Prince Charles tested
positive.
March 26th – Inslee signed a proclamation that
allowed for doctor appointments to be handled over the phone – Insurances could
not deny payment. 133,000 people from Washington
filed for unemployment the previous week alone (3.3 million Americans nationwide). The United States overtook all other countries
in confirmed Coronavirus cases. New York
passed Washington in number of cases 519 deaths and 44,635 reported cases. Washington only has 147 deaths and 3207 cases
(still limited testing).
March 29 – Trump extended Social Distancing until April 30th.
March 30th – The 2020 Tokyo Olympics were rescheduled
for July 23-Aug 8, 2021.
March 31st – It was predicted that the US could have
between 100,000-240,000 deaths nationwide from coronavirus.
April 1st – Carnival cancelled all Alaska cruises
through June 30th.
April 2nd – Inslee extended the “Stay at Home” order
until May 4th. Life Care
Center is looking at over $600,000 in fines and losing its Medicare provider
agreement. The IRS warns people to be on
the lookout for scams related to the coronavirus.
April 3rd – CDC recommends wearing a face mask in
public. Western State plans to release
60 patients after patients and staff test positive. Over 1 million cases worldwide and 53,000
deaths.
April 4th – People are impersonating the police
checking for essential worker status in Spokane. Trump commended Washingtonians for slowing
the spread of Coronavirus through social distancing. IRS will be sending stimulus checks within the
next few weeks.
April 6th – It was announced that school was closed
for the remainder of the year. Education
will be online only. Confirmed Covid-19
cases in the US has reached 337,620 with 9,643 deaths (1/3 in New York alone). We have double the cases than any other
country. Stores will greatly limit the
number of people allowed in the store and implement one-way isles.
Who knows how much longer this will last… who knows what life will
look like in the months to come. I am
trying to wrap my brain around providing online services to my students with significant
disabilities. I have been doing some
online classes to keep me busy and continue learning during this time. This post has a lot of facts about what has
been going on… I will write another post about some thoughts and feelings I
have had in the midst of it all.
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