Ready, Set, Hoard?

Shoppers thronging stores and buying out the stocks of toilet paper, hand sanitizer, etc., was a big issue back in March. Even frozen foods sold out amid panic-buying. Runs on paper products left long rows of empty shelves in supermarkets that took weeks to refill. Well apparently 🎵 it's ba-ack!



That was the scene last night at a local Safeway when I looked down the aisle for paper towels. All they had left was one brand, at the far end; the overall lowest quality product, selling at a mid-range price. Thankfully I didn't need paper towels urgently; I was looking to pick up a package 2-3 weeks before we run out as part of our "Keeping the Kitchen Full" strategy.

BTW, this is exactly why we agreed on the strategy of refilling necessities a few weeks before we scrape bottom. Or, more accurately, it's one of four reasons why we keep the pantry full that we identified literally nine months ago. And nine months later, all those concerns are literally still true.

200k+ New Cases, 2k+ Deaths Daily in US

Today the US passed yet-another milestone in the Coronavirus pandemic. There are now over 15 million confirmed cases in the US. A few weeks ago I predicted that our caseload would reach a growth rate of a million in just five days. It took a week longer than I predicted... partly, it seems, because testing was reduced around Thanksgiving as many clinics were closed. This 15th million comes 5 days after 14 million. Over the past week there have been 5 days with more than 200,000 new cases reported per day. See, e.g., New York Times Coronavirus in the U.S. (retrieved 8 Dec 2020).

Deaths per day also touched a new record recently. On Dec 2 there were 2,885. Several days this past week have seen counts over 2,500. The daily average over the past week is 2,260 (source: NYT, ibid).

A few weeks ago I noted that US Coronavirus deaths are like a 9-11 tragedy every two days. With this week's numbers we're getting close to 9-11 every day. Experts like Dr. Fauci warn the worst of the disease surge from Thanksgiving travel and gatherings is yet to come.

UPDATE: Less than 24 hours later it happened (more Coronavirus death in one day than the 9/11 terrorist attacks). 😞