fifteen pages

Red alert, day 38. Lockdown, day 28. Suffolk has 618 (+18) confirmed cases in today’s figures, neighboring Essex has 1846 (+65, about 2X Suffolk population) cases and Tower Hamlets has 548 (+5, about 0.5X Suffolk population) confirmed cases as of this morning.

The UK has recorded 120,067 cases on 372,967 tests (+21, 626, some on the same people). A total of 16,050 (+596) deaths in hospital have been recorded.

A 99 year old veteran, not the one who walked a marathon in his garden, has died here in Ipswich. The friend who is an ER doc back home reports all hospital staff have had their salaries cut 20% (as part of university-wide pay cuts) and his N95 mask is wearing out.

Boston friends agree four to six pages is normal.

It’s Patriots Day tomorrow and back in Massachusetts, the traditional battle re-enactments will be virtual. Two members of the Bedford Minute-Man unit made the traditional walk to Concord Bridge this morning, using social distancing, according to the town nostalgia page on Facebook. Nothing further seems to be planned. There is a more extensive schedule for Lexington (via Cindy W), and another from the Lexington historical society – mainly video replays of previous years’ events on town cable. (Old peeve: cable as a public information channel is discriminatory – not everyone has cable.) It is possible that on-demand recordings might show up later.

Also back in the hometown, army reserve forces have landed at Hanscom AFB to help with medical care in the region. The big church up the street is working with a research firm to open a pop-up COVID testing center in a tent on the edge of the Common. Too bad we don’t live there anymore. Down in Florida, Fisher’s Island, an all-millionaire community, is reported to have bought enough tests for all 800 families and staff. In Navajo Country, people are trying to do CV hygiene without water or electricity. As they say, we are in the same storm but not in the same boat.

Some shops in Ipswich are reopening on trial including KFC for carryout, and DIY store B&Q, the EADT reports. I can’t think of anything I need that is so urgent a store needs to reopen to supply it. I have cut my own hair before. I wish I had gone for a teeth cleaning before this came down. Dental practices are probably the last thing that will reopen. In checking this I discovered that my dentist, the unflappable Captain Fang (ex-RAF), died in December. He only learned he was ill in August, I think, when his practice suddenly cancelled all appointments and rescheduled them with his dentist, Dr Instagram (who was also good). Sad news. RIP Captain Fang.

Posted on by Diana ben-Aaron
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