Opening Up, Locking Down

Photo by Anna Shvets from Pexels

Today my region moves into the state's "green" phase of reopening. It's still like a 75% capacity thing, and masks and all the social distancing measures are still required, but more things are open and I've gotten a bunch of e-mails so far from restaurants and places advertising that they're open for business.

Nobody I've talked to is planning on going anywhere anytime soon, either. The interesting thing is that higher income areas have increased their spending less than lower incomes; in other words, they have the privilege to continue working from home, staying home and having things delivered, etc. I don't consider myself a "high income" person, though I definitely recognize the privilege I enjoy, and I'm in that camp of not wanting or needing to go out right now.

Meanwhile, in the southern and western states... Texas hospitals are reaching their maximum capacity and accessing their surge capacity. They also announced they were shutting down bars and restaurants at noon today. Florida has also been experiencing record increases in cases, and as of today has prohibited serving alcohol for on-premises consumption (which I don't think goes far enough, but...)

I guess I had assumed that most of the country was following the same restrictions we were in my area, but apparently they never really did in most places, and now they're being impacted as the earlier "hotspots" continue to slowly reopen. (NYC has also recently moved to a phase where outdoor dining is allowed, and limited indoor dining will start soon.) A friend shared on Facebook that they are hosting a visitor from Texas, who is amazed at how seriously everyone is taking mask wearing and social distancing here. And I have a family member who's been on a camping road trip out west, and reports that masks are not only optional but frowned upon west of the Mississippi.