COVID UPDATE

It's been over 4 months since this all started. 4 long months. Stores and restaurants have slowly re-opened, all with social distancing in place. Lines at the door to get in, servers in masks, tables spaced apart, dressings rooms closed, temperatures taken-all in an effort to slow and stop the spread. Unfortunately, it's not working as best as they hoped. Guidelines have been revisited, new steps put into place but it still seems like there is no end. We wear masks whenever we are out in public, stores have now made masks mandatory (Walmart, Publix, Kroger...) all in an effort once again to decrease the rising positive results. It's disheartening and frustrating hearing people complain about having their rights taken away because they are being  "forced" to wear a mask. Stay home. That's my answer. Stay home. We all want this over. We want to go back to normal although I believe many of the things we have seen implemented will remain in place. 

When they first released the plan for the '20-'21 school year, it allowed for parents to have the option of starting the school year with all digital learning or classroom instruction. We went back and forth, and ultimately decided to send the kids back with masks (at that point, the district did not make it mandatory). Ryan wanted to go back and Kate does much better with face-to-face learning. A week later, they implemented mandatory masks in school and on bus along with  lunch in the classroom and social distancing as able. This week, as predicted, Gwinnett County opted to go all digital for the safety of staff and students for at least the first 9 weeks of school. They have plans in place to be as effective as possible with teaching digitally which I hope is an improvement from the end of the year.

On a positive note (sorta), some sports have resumed and this makes for a very happy Ryan. The Yankees began their season this week and all MLB teams will have a shortened season. No fans are allowed, however, for a fee, you can have a cardboard cutout of yourself in the stands. Crowd noises and cheers are piped in and players are wearing masks when off the field.

Currently, total cases in the US are at 3,952,273 with 142,755 deaths. We can't snap our fingers and make it vanish. We don't have a vaccine. We don't know when it will end. All we can do is be as safe as we can.  Wishing, hoping, and saying a little prayer can't hurt either.