COVID-19 Affecting Your Plans?

We had nothing concrete planned for this spring, just some ideas, but we hadn’t made any reservations or anything like that. We’re keeping our hikes close to home, and usually we don’t see anyone when we’re out there, and if we do, they are usually off in the distance and so we don’t run into them. We are hopeful that we can go forward with our summer (July/August) plans.
 
I came across a new tracker from Columbia University that incorporates community risk factors, in addition to confirmed cases. It does a decent job of illustrating how little it takes to overwhelm the healthcare infrastructure in rural communities. You can add/subtract layers. For example, this shows the number of available ICU beds under normal conditions, with number of confirmed cases in blue. I do wish they had stratified the >20 beds further since 21-804 beds is a huge range.

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This is awesome. Thank you for sharing the link @fossana
I noticed that if you actually click on the county, a window comes up stating the "actual ICU beds" under normal conditions with the actual number. Does that answer your question about the color key ranges, or is there more data regarding beds that I am missing? Clicking on the blue circles gives the actual number of cases and deaths to date which is cool, too

It's crazy to see that King County, WA with its excellent health care apparatus only has 178 ICU beds and 2300+ cases. My county, Kittitas, has 9 cases and 2 ICU beds.
 
slc_dan said:
Shout out to my wife!
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@slc_dan - your wife and her colleagues should be paid like executives, get stock options, a big fat bonus and a private chauffeur to drive them back and forth to work every day. Since that's unlikely to happen, they will all be our heroes of 2020 (as @Reef&Ruins mentioned).


After 3 weeks of of hibernation at home we took our backcountry vehicle and followed our neighbor's van to pick up 700 lbs of canned and frozen food plus a Jeep load of produce at the big Food Pantry distribution center in town. We drove it across town to a small local Food Pantry, where my neighbor volunteers weekly. Usually the elderly volunteer for this, but that's obviously not a good idea now.

We 3 newbies quickly got a slap on the wrist for driving across the grass (aka the strip of dirt in the photo with all the tire marks). o_O
The canned food pick-up had to happen in a designated time slot at the right bay. The left bay was meant for pick up of produce.
We quickly loaded up the 700 lbs in her van and used the Jeep to load the produce. The produce we had to select inside, trying to pick through it all, trying to select the best looking and get the weight of it all measured (they pay per pound, except bread, per loaf of bread)

Notice the no-driving "grass" strip in the foreground.
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Selection of produce and bread
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Neighbor's van full of canned food, some frozen, some refrigerated food
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The Jeep, we could have taken more produce. Next time we will take more potatoes and less mangoes :rolleyes:
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That's not organic bananas.... it's a box with bread, rolls, etc and we took lots of Idaho potatoes.
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Everything had to go into the basement, using a small elevator and some not so useful carts.... In the basement they have a food pantry, 2 super sized refrigerators and a huge chest freezer.
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Pick up is tonight, the Food Pantry already had 7 new families last week, very unusual under normal circumstances.
The local food pantry expects the number to quickly increase now.
Good use of the backcountry vehicle now, even though the Jeep couldn't resist crossing the 3 ft strip of "grass".
 
Third week of hibernation here. Sound of silence. No outside playing kids, no noise of the traffic. Looks like a ghost town sometimes…

But we’re happy - We can go to work. We’re not “jailed” in our apartment.

Social distancing is a problem in the local passenger transportation. The trains are overcrowded.
Heike is sewing masks for herself, colleagues, friends and others.

During the weekend we hiking in a local nature conservation area. Only a loop of six miles. That’s all we can do in the moment.

All plans are canceled for the springtime. No visiting the family on the Easter weekend and no hiking in the Dolomites early June.

We wish all members of BCP and their families all the best!
Stays healthy!
 
Hopeful that this will change the Zion situation: https://www.sltrib.com/news/2020/03/31/springdale-ask-that-zion/

Springdale’s leaders agreed Tuesday it’s time to ask that Zion National Park — one of the most popular natural attractions in the United States — be closed until the coronavirus pandemic resides.
Mayor Stan Smith, in a Town Council meeting held online, said he has drafted a letter to the park’s superintendent asking for the closure and would deliver the message Tuesday or Wednesday. The National Park Service has said it closes parks only in consultation with local governments.
...Smith said he had spoken with the park’s superintendent and been told that staffers are noticing that 70% or 80% of cars entering the park recently had license plates from out of state.
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cc: @Yvonne
 
OwenM said:
They're actually advertising, and encouraging people to come enjoy the parks, and there are already news stories about some of them being packed during the daytime(which is why the "bad" weather is the only reason I'm going up there).
But they have all the dispersed backcountry sites, that only backpackers use, closed "in an effort to flatten the curve of COVID-19".
Idiots.
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Now they get it. Fortunately, but unfortunately, that means TN state parks are shut down April 4-14.
Glad I seized the opportunity to go while it was raining!
 
New Kane and Garfield Co recreation restrictions (e.g. Swell, Escalante, Hanksville area):

Kane (entire county)
On Tuesday April 7, 2020, Kane County enacted an ordinance
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  • Imposing temporary and emergency restrictions on NON-COUNTY RESIDENT’S use of Public lands for recreation.
  • COUNTY RESIDENT’S restrictions on camping.
  • Imposing self-isolation at home for part year residents returning to Kane County due to the threat of coronavirus disease.
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Garfield (affects specific areas)
PANGUITCH, Utah (April 7, 2020) — Garfield County, in cooperation with the Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument, the BLM, and Southwest Utah Public Health, are working together to issue an Emergency Recreation Order. This order will temporarily close multiple public land locations throughout Garfield County due to impacts related to COVID-19. This order applies to all recreationists, but does not impact ranchers and miners operating under authorized permits. The order is in effect immediately in the following locations:
• Upper and Lower Calf Creek Falls
• Deer Creek Campground
• All Escalante Canyons
• Devil’s Rock Garden
• Zebra Slot Canyon
• Burr Trail (Long Canyon Slots, Big Pines Camp Area, etc.)
• Irish Canyons including Sandthrax Camping Area
• Hog Springs Canyon
• Star Springs Campground
• North Wash • Ticaboo/Bullfrog Area
• And all other recreation sites where proper social distancing practices cannot be achieved
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fossana said:
New Kane and Garfield Co recreation restrictions (e.g. Swell, Escalante, Hanksville area):

Kane (entire county)


Garfield (affects specific areas)
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I wish Washington County would do the same. The amount of campers having Spring Break vacation down here is ridiculous. Places are paced with huge groups, they are all out of state like Quebec, Colorado, Michigan, Alaska. It really pisses me off. Everyone stays at home but it doesn't apply to these idiots. They need to shut down all the camping on BLM around here and make it day use only

And people purposely cough into your face when you wear a face mask at stores!!! It happened to me and to a friend a few days later. What is wrong with people!!! I wear a mask because I'm at high risk, not for fun
 
@Yvonne I completely agree; the SW UT Health Dept needs to issue a district-wide recreation restriction emergency order instead of relying on counties to piecemeal it.
 
Yvonne said:
And people purposely cough into your face when you wear a face mask at stores!!! It happened to me and to a friend a few days later. What is wrong with people!!! I wear a mask because I'm at high risk, not for fun
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People intentionally coughing on other people are asking for trouble. I have read several articles about people doing that being arrested. Of course they also risk coughing on the wrong person and receiving a beating.

Fortunately I just get looked at like a weirdo when I go to the local grocery store wearing a mask. I definitely live in an area where the majority of people still think it is all an overblown hoax.
 
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