This magazine takes some time to print and then distribute. So, as I’m writing this, I’m on week three of state and federal mandated quarantine. It’s April 1st. I figured I’d document what’s going on right now since you’ll likely be reading this in early May 2020. I’m sure it’ll be drastically different by then. Hopefully better, although it does look as the worst is yet to come. I’m not going to offer up any opinions here, just sort of document what’s happening. Here’s to hoping the next time I read this, in print, we’ll all be getting ready to head to Ultimate Callout Challenge in a couple weeks.
Man, I feel like I’m getting ready to write some fiction novel…
There are currently over 206,000 cases of COVID-19 in the US with about 4,700 related deaths. Every single state has reported cases and most have reported deaths. Recovered numbers are low, but it’s still early, most haven’t had time to recover yet.
Up here in Northern Idaho, it’s nearly impossible to find any toilet paper (why TP people, why??), bleach, hand sanitizer, rubbing alcohol or any other type of disinfectant are just plain gone. Food is still easy to find, as long as you’re not too picky. Anything perishable is not a problem getting, anything that stores well is a different story. Dry beans, flower, dry pasta or canned goods are very hard to come by (hoarders…). A carton of eggs seems to be the only food item that has gone up significantly in price, they’re twice what they were a week ago. Fuel is cheap at roughly $2 per gallon for diesel. Ammunition and firearm sales are up 300-700 percent depending on the type. Both were scarce for a while, but everything seems to be available now.
Truck parts are easy to get. No shortage there although some shipments take a bit longer to arrive. Delivery people are some of our favorite people in the world right now.