Fort Collins Photo Works

Old Town Fort Collins during COVID19 Pandemic | 2020-05-03

DEFINITIONS
COVID-19 is the disease.
SARS-CoV-2 is the virus that causes the disease.
Pandemic is an epidemic (sudden increase of disease cases) that has spread over several countries.
Caronavirus is a family of viruses that cause the common cold, SARS, MERS and COVID-19.

COVID-19 SPREAD IN US
COVID-19 appears to have entered Seattle, San Francisco and Los Angeles from China, and then spread through the Western US.
COVID-19 appears to have entered New York from Europe, and then spread through the Eastern US.

MAINSTREAM MEDIA
Television and Newspapers have failed us.
Most sports and other events have been cancelled.
Mainstream media mostly covers the COVID-19 pandemic, without the ability to vet information they spread the most scary and often conflicting information in hopes of getting a larger market share.
Americans are confused by the conflicting opinions of "experts" in the media, causing conflicts and fear.
Experts recommend that people limit their exposure to mainstream media for their mental health.
The media politicizes the COVID-19 pandemic.
Liberal media blames President Trump and wants businesses to shut down to slow the spread of COVID-19.
Conservative media minimizes illness and deaths from COVID-19 and wants businesses to continue normally, expecting a good economy to help the re-election of President Trump.

SOCIAL MEDIA
Facebook and NextDoor provide important social interaction.
Unfortunately Facebook is forced to censor some posts that disagree with popular opinions.
NextDoor has always censored its posts, but now censors even more because of conficts.
Some people need to learn to be polite when posting online.

ONLINE WORK AND SOCIAL INTERACTION
ZOOM and similar online tools allow people to hold meetings without spreading COVID-19.
Many companies and social clubs and schools are using ZOOM.

GOVERNMENT LEADERSHIP
President Trump doesn't understand what is going on and provides confusing guidance, preferring to let state governors choose when to open for business, so it will be their fault not his.
The president encourages states to restart their businesses so the economy can recover before the election in November, he is most concerned with his re-election.
Colorado Governor Polis has to balance the danger from COVID-19 infection with economic damage to businesses and workers when deciding what parts of the economy will be closed and when they will open.
He seems to be striking the right balance.

TRANSMISSION
COVID-19 is transmitted from person to person through respiritory droplets in the air and on contaminated surfaces.
We are asked to wear masks to stop transferring virus to other people, but they are not expected to stop the virus from getting to us.

SYMPTOMS
COVID-19 symptoms are varied: cough, difficulty breathing, fever, chills, muscle pain, sore throat, loss of taste or smell, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea...

PREVENTING SPREAD OF COVID-19
Colorado Governor Polis issues "Stay-at-Home" order 3/26/2020 and it expires 4/26/2020.
We must stay home as much as possible, leaving home only for essential tasks (groceries, medicine, exercise...) and follow social distancing when out in public.
Critical businesses are open, but many people are forced out of work causing economic hardship for workers and businesses.
Colorado begins "Safer-at-Home" 4/27/2020.
We are advised to stay home as much as possible, but non-critical business are allowed to open with restrictions (masks and social distancing are required).
Retail and personal services can open with restrictions 5/1/2020.
Non-critical offices can open with restrictions 5/4/2020.
Colorado opens for business under pressure from businesses, workers, cities and counties that need money to survive.
People are urged to judge for themselves if it is more important to work for a living or stay safe in isolation.

VACCINES
President Trump promises a vaccine will be available in a few weeks.
Early during the pandemic we plan to social distance, quarantine, and stay home from work until a vaccine is developed and distributed.
When we realize that it may take 18 months to develop a COVID-19 vaccine (and we may never have a vaccine) we decide that we will take measures to limit spread of COVID-19 until our hospitals have acquired enough resources (PPEs, ventilators and staff) to take care of more victims.

MEDICINES TO STOP COVID-19
Many possible cures are recommended without evidence, including Hydroxychloroquine (Plaquenil), Remdesivir, and UV light and bleach. Nothing has been proven effective against COVID-19 and some of the suggested cures are dangerous.

ONLINE SALES
Amazon and other online sales outlets are wonderful.
We can still buy items that we need when local retail sales are limited, don't have to drive all over town, have a great selection, have informative reviews and we aren't exposed to COVID-19.

AIR POLLUTION
Air pollution decreases significantly because driving has decreased and the low price of oil has reduced gas and oil prospecting and extraction have decreased significantly.
The sky is blue and on some days the brown cloud between us and the mountains is not visible.

FORT COLLINS BIKE PATHS
The mix of bikes and pedestrians changes daily.
Many people post on Nextdoor about conflicts between bikers, pedestrians, children and dogs so we start biking only on the reads.
Road traffic is greatly reduced, maybe 15% of normal levels, and road biking is great.
Later we start biking on the local bike trails in the morning during the week and find people to be mainly considerate although some don't understand the rules and have no idea what "On your left" means.
The number of bikes has greatly decreased and the number of pedestrians has greatly increased.
Eventually the number of pedestrians decreases and most people understand the rules and people continue to be considerate.
Biking is good and important to maintaining mental health.