That's a Good Question

"I don't know how long Illinois has been in self-isolation compared to Michigan but I find it odd that Michigan has significantly more cases and deaths (per one thousand residents) than Illinois, about fifty percent more the last time I checked.  That's quite a difference and I wonder why; maybe my sources are in error." - Old Dog

I don't know when it started in Illinois, but Michigan's governor declared a state of emergency about a month ago.  The first week she closed the schools, the restaurants, and the bars.  The second week she closed all "non-essential" businesses and prohibited "un-necessary" travel.  I think the whole thing was supposed to last 30 days and was set to expire tomorrow.  Last week she asked the legislature to extend it for seven more weeks, but they voted to extend it only till the end of April.  About the same time, she issued a new order and seemed to imply that the 30 days should start all over again, but she set the new order to expire at the end of April, same as the legislature.  We only had two cases in the state when the first order was issued, and now we have around 26,000, with over a thousand deaths.  They just started reporting recoveries yesterday and last I heard, there were 433 of those.  The vast majority of cases and deaths are in the southern half of the Lower Peninsula, with Detroit being the epicenter.  I think all the rural northern counties have reported at least one case by now, with Otsego County, our neighbor to the south, having the most cases, 31 by last count.  The latest total for Cheboygan County is 12 cases and one death.

The second order laid some new restrictions on us.  Michiganders who have more than one home within the state are not allowed to travel between them.  I think that means they have to stay put wherever they were when the order was issued.  People whose primary residence is outside of the state are allowed to go there once and stay there, and people whose primary residence is in Michigan, but were out of the state when the order was issued, are allowed to come home and stay there.  There were also some additional restrictions placed on the businesses that have been allowed to stay open. They must limit the number of customers allowed in the store at one time to 20% of the store's rated capacity, and they must rope off the parts of the store that sell "non-essential" items, although I understand that the rules about that might vary depending on the size of the store.  

I went to Family Fare today to get some beer and a few items that we couldn't find in the other two stores. They still have some empty shelves, but they do have a small amount of TP and other paper products.  I was surprised to see that that they were out of flour again or still, having bought the last two bags when last I was there a month ago.  Walmart has some flour, but not the kind I like (unbleached).  I didn't go down the bread aisle, and my wife didn't either when she went to Walmart last Friday, so we don't know whether or not bread is in sort supply like it was Down Below until recently.  People are taking the six foot rule seriously now, and more of them are wearing masks. 

My daughter and grand daughter have always shown an interest in my stories, as I have in theirs.