COVID-19 Update 3/15/2020

This is a summary of today's news about the novel coronavirus and the COVID-19 Disease. It will be updated throughout the day.

The number of cases of confirmed COVID-19 in the state increased yesterday to 27. This includes 6 cases in Dane County, 6 in Fond du Lac, 6 in Milwaukee, 1 in Pierce, 1 in Racine, 3 in Sheboygan, 3 in Waukesha, and 1 in Winnebago. We expect an updated number around 2 PM today.

Lots of parents are going to have their kids at home for a while between spring break and mandatory school closings. The plans for teaching kids on-line are still in flux, and may or may not happen depending on your district. Some of you may want to find something to keep your kids occupied and have supplemental learning (assuming you have working broadband at your home, which is of course a sore point around here). Scholastic Books has a bunch of free resources for learning at home for different age levels, and you might want to take a look.

Lots of people and organizations are going to take a big financial hit due to this outbreak. I know I dread looking at my retirement portfolio and have just decided to stop looking. One of the groups of people that will be really hard-hit by this are artists, performers, and arts organizations. Some performance venues have completely shut down for the interim (I keep using and hearing phrases that sound like WWII.) The Pablo Center in Eau Claire has closed, and I am sure many other venues will be making the same painful financial decision for the good of all of us. I know a lot of musicians who are suddenly out of gigs, and all the tech people and other theater workers are out of work. You might consider if possible giving all these folks some love through donations or attending arts performances when this all dies down. 

There are a lot of really talented individuals in the Chippewa Valley. I know a lot of you are tech workers. If you're interested in having something to do at home and have the skills, there is a Coronavirus Tech Facebook group. They are working worldwide on a lot of interesting projects and a Coronavirus Tech Handbook to help out others with resources. 

By the way - if you are being irritated by the fact that ads occasionally crop up on the site for N-95 masks and other supplies that people should not be buying or hoarding, we're aware of it. It's one of the issues of using Google Ads on the site - sometimes we just get things I'd like to not have, and making them go away is like playing whack-a-mole. That being said, if there are local businesses and organizations that would like to see their own ads appear here or in our newsletter or videos, it would be a great way to show support for local news efforts and to make our ads as local as the news is. Just sayin'. 

Do you know of interesting resources, ideas, or articles?  Feel free to leave a comment here or send me an email at [email protected].