The forums being down reminded me how much I rely on our little check-ins with our hockey community. I was grateful that if they crashed for an extended period, I have many of your guys e-mails from fantasy hockey.
Minnesota just enacted more measures to mitigate the virus. A "stay at home" order. It's not as strict as some states, but our Governor is working with data models from the University of Minnesota that shows there would be little difference. He was fairly candid that it's not IF our systems are taxed to their capacity, but WHEN. It's going to happen. He showed 2 charts, each one showing the exact same peaks just at different times. The goal is for our state to hit peak infection rates in 9 weeks rather than 5-6 weeks. By doing so, that gives us precious time to build more ICU beds and gather more supplies from local manufacturers. For Minnesota, having Medtronic, Honeywell, and 3M in our backyard is going to be a huge bonus.
So while it was reassuring to hear how the state I live in has a concrete plan in place and is moving rapidly to minimize mortality rates... it was fairly grim news in regards to how widespread the infection is gong to be, even after we reduce our person to person contact by 80%. And then thinking about areas with less resources or major metropolitan centers that are already experiencing overload - before it's even peaked... goodness.
My parents had the "where were you when JFK was shot" moment in their lives. Then we shared 9/11. I didn't expect the next moment to be a pandemic. I can imagine Winger98 and all the other parents telling their kids too young to remember about these events years from now.