All I have to say is that we are SOOOOOO GLAD we don't live in South Florida anymore! We lived at the Broward/Palm Beach county line and it would have been a nightmare for us both. Steve's job took him in and out of people's homes every day and I'm sure he would have lost money because even though people may have wanted their draperies and such installed, they probably wouldn't have wanted him in their homes... We are very grateful to be living here where we're relatively safe!!!
Alaska got a very late start with the virus. We have had 6,658 cases and only 45 deaths. Of those I know of SEVERAL who were already sick with pre-existing fatal conditions and in the hospital or hospice but got the virus and died. So even with such a low number of deaths, that number is skewed.
Our island has had a total of 19 cases and that I know of no deaths. Our island is 100 miles long and 45 miles wide at the widest and we have many communities that are very small. Our community of Hollis only has about 200 residents spread out over about a 5 mile area. Because the ONLY community on our island that has more than 1,000 residents they will not release the names of the communities where the person who tests positive lives. The main city of Craig has only had 8 cases which leaves 11 out in the other areas and no one knows where. Usually the word gets out however I've only heard of 2 other cases that weren't in Craig and one was in our community. We are not required to wear masks everywhere. The only places that actually requires them and won't serve you if you're not wearing one is the 2 grocery stores here and the 2 clinics require them as well. They are recommended everywhere else.
We can eat in restaurants (I haven't yet) indoors and not everyone wears masks everywhere. I have only gone into town alone about 3 times since all this started. Mostly because of my asthma keeping me home. I've had to travel on the ferry to Ketchikan and back twice but was very careful both times. We haven't been to church since Christmas - mostly because I was too sick but after the virus when it opened up I was too afraid to go because so many people work with the public.
Anchorage and Fairbanks are our two largest cities and things were pretty good in our state until the fishing fleets started arriving. Once the process workers and fishing boats started arriving the numbers started shooting up quickly. Then they opened the schools on our island and in Ketchikan the last week of October. My oldest stepson is a junior high teacher. They attended school ONE DAY and a teacher had a positive test and now they're back to virtual learning. On our island once there were a couple of newer cases the schools mandated masks for teachers and students. My BFF is raising her 6 YO granddaughter Excie and Excie can't wear a mask all day. She gets quite upset and can't breathe. So now Sandra is trying to figure out if she should just try to put Excie back in school or try to find another solution for her. Our school only has about 30 TOTAL students of all 12 grades plus preschool and kindergarten so it wouldn't be hard for them to make some sort of special arrangement for kids like Excie. I have to admit that even with a special mask that allows you to breathe better (it has vents) I can only handle it about 1/2 hour before I start having trouble breathing!
Social distancing for me is kind of easy because I've been home so much anyway with being sick and we're so far away from everything that it hasn't made a lot of impact on my life. About the only difference besides wearing the mask and doing the hand sanitizer and wiping the grocery carts for me is that I send Steve to town for groceries quite a bit more than I used to. Unfortunately with him hurt right now I'm going to have to do the town run tomorrow for goose food and a couple of other things. But I'll wear my mask and use the sanitizer and wash my hands well when I get home.
Stay safe out there ladies!