We are going to see a new normal after the first burst of COVID-19 runs its first round. Physical distancing is going to be something that stays with us in various forms for the foreseeable future. While there is talk of reaching the apex and coming down, the reality is the apex will be unclear. Seattle will have its apex, NYC will have its own, as will New Orleans, Detroit, LA and then every city and region of the country, so it will be a rolling virus. No region of the country will escape. Physical distancing now is essential everywhere as is building our healthcare capacity.
There's likely to be returns of the virus in places that have gone through it already. We are going to have to learn to live with some form of physical distancing until this virus is not just flattened but defeated and that could take many months or even years. When you look at it from that perspective, a large part of the personnel engaged in in an activity at Bonneville are the ones most susceptible (me included) to a detrimental outcome from the virus.
Tom
Ladies and gentlemen, we're walking a fine line here and I want to point it back towards racing and away from - away from ... away from stuff that ain't racing. I understand that we're all farkled by the new virus, and I understand that these are unprecedented times in lots of other aspects of our lives. Dang few of us know anything about what is going to happen.
To be honest: There's not a danged thing I (and most of you) can do that will make racing more likely this year.
I'm going to prepare in every way and hope that the season gets going soonest. And I'm going to go back to my "mantra" that has kept my stress level pretty low for most of my life:
Well, it should be no problem for me, I'm an engineer, I've been socially (and physically) "distancing" for decades . . . . . My only concern at this moment in time precludes things such as racing. I have 2 children working on the front lines of this pandemic, 1 in Seattle, and 1 in Chicago.
Thankfully Seattle seems to have "peaked" with respect to new infections, but Chicago continues to climb up the roller coaster ramp of infection . . . . .
I need to ask a big favor friends. Both of my children report to me daily about the
serious shortages of PPE available for the protection of health care workers.
Please, please, please, call your Representatives and Senators, both State and Federal, and insist that something be done to resolve this. HOW, exactly can this be happening in the USA?
We can not knowingly "sacrifice" our health care workers, who are working the "front lines" of this "war".
"Dad, I always had enough ammo and supplies in Afghanistan. Here in Seattle, there are not enough gowns, gloves and masks to go around. We are all at risk." Matt Balinski, former 68Whiskey and Certified Medical Technician at the University of Washington Clinic, Seattle
I understand how adverse some are speak out about politics or religion. But, somewhere along the line I believe we all need to speak up for what is right and just.
As for myself, I simply would find it impossible to "look in the mirror" if I did not speak up.
WorriedDad