Our county has now 108 people dead, of covid or related causes. While this is very sad, there is comic relief about the likely inflated death counts:
"3 fatalities occured yesterday when a four story scaffold collapsed, and 2 men were killed by the fall. One evidently contracted covid-19 on the way down, as that was listed as the cause of death."
BUT, This is no joke. Us old geezers are at risk. The papers had a big story about a small convent of nuns, that was completely wiped out by Covid-19. The sisters ranged in age from 69 to 99 years, and all perished within 2 weeks of contracting a fever. One held out longer and was thought recovering, but also died after 4 weeks.
NOW, What we're not hearing is that families with 9 kids were wiped out when one of them brought a virus home from the beach.
I've been wishing for "distance learning" since I was a 6 year old walking through the Washington snow. It eventually came to me with the internet, about 1994, and it's been wonderful. I haven't had to go to a library in decades. But I spent my life behind a desk from the age of 6 'til 61, so it's easy for me.
For kids unused to doing regular schoolwork at a desk, it's gotta be nigh impossible. My daughter teaching 5th grade gave out 40% of the students an Incomplete or failing grade. 60% were capable of doing the (somewhat reduced) work online and will matriculate. She teaches in a farm town that is 90% latino workers. Farmers, ranchers, truckers, tractor mechanics, and lots of orchardists there. She said the kids were either there or they weren't. 4 in ten just weren't willing or able to participate at all. This is probably as most were sent out to aging and techno-challenged Spanish-speaking grandparents, as the parents still had to prune and plow and milk every day. The kids all got tablet computers from the school, but not everyone was close enough to the available wifi or cell service.
