I
live in Sun City, Maricopa County, Arizona, a suburb of Phoenix. You
all hear that this is one of the country's "hot spots,"
with day and night yammering talking heads scaring the bejesus out of
you. (Well, of course. That's in their job description. The ratings
thing, you know.)
Anyway,
I am just fine. I wear a mask in Walmart and Kroger--not in the car,
not out walking, not at home. Linda and I have taken three trips,
since June 1. We visited her brother in Delta, Colorado, staying
overnight on the Navajo reservation (another "hot spot"),
on the way and on the way back. We survived.
Also
in June, we met my sister and her husband and another Las Vegas
Porsche Club couple in Flagstaff, Arizona (overnight there), then did
a three car (two Porsches and my 550i) caravan to explore a "twisty
road route" for a Porsche Club event in the fall. It was a good
one. We survived that, too.
July
16 we drove to Williams, Arizona. This small town (pop. 3023) is a
tourist meca on Historic Route 66 (bars, souvenir shops (obviously an
essential business), restaurants, mostly with a cowboy or 1960's
hot-rod theme. Arizona has had a mask mandate for weeks. Compliance
is good in the big metros; in small towns like Willliams, not so
much. Bars are closed but restaurants are not (so if you're a bar,
put one of those big soft pretzels on a menu). Our friends are known
by all the bartenders in town (that's a lot) so we spent Thursday
afternoon saying "hi" to as many as possible. We survived
that, too (at least so far).
Here’s
what we’re not doing: Trivia night at a favorite sports bar. Dining
out (though we could; enough restaurants are open with
limited seating). Having a beer at Buffalo Wild Wings with friends
talking football. (You’d think I’d have lost a bunch of weight.
Alas, that's not the case.). What I have been doing is polishing the heck
out of my two cars. Reading. Veterans stuff, including a Cav
newsletter. House
cleaning (well, a little bit). Enough to stay busy.
So,
what about that raging pandemic? People, especially old farts like
me, dropping like flies! At least that’s what what I saw on my TV
yesterday. So, to make you feel better here is some information about
this “hot spot.” Unfortunately, whether it does or not probably
has more to do with your politics than anything else. Most will be
thus predisposed to accept or reject good (or bad) news.
Arizona
has reported
152,944 COVID-19
cases, resulting in 3,063 deaths. That’s a mortality of nearly
exactly 2%. Maricopa County (this one) accounts for two thirds of
Arizona’s cases, 102,247. Reported deaths: 1599,
or 1.6%.
But, isn’t Maricopa home to lots of retirees? It is, and I live in
Sun City, one of the oldest and largest planned retirement communities. The question is a good one,
because according to CDC data, 80% of deaths are
65 years old and older (75% in the week ending July 18).
I
can
get down to zip codes for cases, but not for deaths. In three zip
codes that cover Sun City and Sun City West, there have been 798
cases in a population of about 70,000 with a median age of 74 years.
I
can’t
find any
real good indicators of deaths, but
according to the local paper we don’t have the assisted living
issue that some states do—looking at you New York and New Jersey.
There are about 20 assisted living facilities in these two retirement
communities. The local
newspaper,
Sun
City Independent
surveyed
five of the largest, with over 2,000 residents and 1,000 staff. The
surprising result? As of July 1, Only two of the five had any cases
among staff or residents, those totaling just 6 cases (2 staff, 4
resident). I
won’t go into all they did, but one item stands out. When Arizona
opened restaurants and fitness clubs, Grandview in Sun City West
made sure its own (inside) restaurant, fitness center and pool were
open, giving residents a safe alternative to “going out.” It
seems you just need a bit of common sense.
