The New York Times this morning marks roughly 100,000 Americans dead from the novel coronavirus pandemic as states reopen for business.
From just west of the Mississippi comes this news from Missouri:
A hairstylist from Missouri potentially exposed more than 90 customers and colleagues to coronavirus after going to work for a week with symptoms of the disease, officials have warned.
Health officials in Springfield, 200 miles southwest of St Louis, issued a warning advising people that they may been exposed to Covid19 if they visited Great Clips salon between 12 May and last Wednesday.
They said the stylist, who has not been named, had tested positive for coronavirus and was thought to have become infected while travelling.
“The individual and their clients were wearing face coverings. The 84 clients potentially directly exposed will be notified by the health department and be offered testing, as will seven coworkers,” the Springfield-Greene County health department said in a statement.
Elsewhere in Missouri this Memorial Day weekend, it’s PAR-TAY time:
Hey, it is party time in Texas, too:
And on the Gulf coast:
Even as the number of deaths in North Carolina trends down, the head of the state’s Department of Health and Human Services on Saturday reported “a notable and concerning increase” in novel coronavirus cases. The state recorded the “highest one-day COVID-19 cases reported with 1,107 additional cases” just as the state opened its restaurants to indoor dining under Phase 2 of the governor’s plan. Masks are not required.
Here in the Cesspool of Sin, the tourists are back:
And so, this bit from “Waiting for the Electrician or Someone Like Him,” a comedy album by Firesign Theater (1968), keeps replaying in my head. “Beat the Reaper” is a game show in which contestants must diagnose diseases with which they’ve been injected. Our protagonist has lost after contracting “the plague.” As the plague sweeps the city, a cab radio plays:
… in a massive traffic tie-up as the death rate continues to soar. And now let’s go to the river’s edge and Charles B. Smith.
Ed, it’s an amazing scene here. Like lemmings, the crowds are waiting on the shore, torches blazing, as the long line of shrouded funeral rafts drift lazily into view, great black candles flickering at helm and stern. The excitement is contagious … and so are the Black Cross volunteers as they pass from family to family, pausing now and again to touch a child’s head. I wish I could … but I can’t. So long, Ed.
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For The Win, 3rd Edition is ready for download. Request a copy of my free countywide GOTV mechanics guide at ForTheWin.us. This is what winning looks like.
Note: The pandemic will upend standard field tactics in 2020. If enough promising “improvisations” come my way by June, perhaps I can issue a COVID-19 supplement.