Dang Corona Virus

[J Anderson]

My Thursday afternoon league has been cancelled for this week due to concerns about Covid-19. This was hours after the league secretary had sent a few e-mails saying that we would definitely be bowling, but would have a meeting 5 minutes before the start of practice to discuss the situation. Most of the league is older and some have some serious underlying health problems. I’m sure he was bombarded with replies that whole teams would be staying home.

Anyone else run into this? How bad is this going to be for the alleys? I have to find out if we still have to pay lineage for weeks that we don’t bowl, or if we will have to make up these weeks.

[mc_runner]

We are expecting to hear that up a bit north of you too, no news yet though. General consensus in the classic league last night was that it was probably the last week we'd be there, but we'll see.

[boatman37]

I work from home but a guy I work with had to get tested. He lives outside NYC and the attorney that got it up there...well his doctors kids go to school with my co-workers kids. His whole family came back negative. I have never met him in person but talk to him every day.

Haven't heard anything about our league, or any of the leagues yet

[Ryster]

Our entire county is basically shutting down except for essential retail (pharmacies, gas, grocery) and medical and government offices starting tomorrow. Last I heard, the bowling center is business as usual despite the coronavirus initiated shutdowns. I plan to go to league tomorrow, but will probably not be giving five or anything like that.

[boatman37]

Just read that the NASCAR race this weekend in Atlanta will be closed to fans and heard the mayor of the town they will be at next week is trying to shut it down. Heard something like NHL suspending their season too? Went to Rite Aid today to pick up prescriptions. Wasn't too bad in there. Only a handful of people in there and shelves seemed stocked. At this point I won't be surprised if our league cancels. I hope not but it's not my call.

[ALazySavage]

Just saw that the USBC has postponed nationals until May 1, saying that schedule adjustments will need to be requested if your slot is affected.

[Ryster]

Just read that the NASCAR race this weekend in Atlanta will be closed to fans and heard the mayor of the town they will be at next week is trying to shut it down. Heard something like NHL suspending their season too? Went to Rite Aid today to pick up prescriptions. Wasn't too bad in there. Only a handful of people in there and shelves seemed stocked. At this point I won't be surprised if our league cancels. I hope not but it's not my call.

It's a total frenzy around here in Southeast PA. Stores are packed with people, shelves are bare. Cleaning products, soaps, canned soup, first aid products, paper goods, OTC medications, etc. are virtually impossible to find. People are even starting to hoard breakfast cereals for fear of being stuck at home for weeks. I have never seen anything like it!

Hardly anyone was open bowling at my local center yesterday during the morning and afternoon, which is very unusual. There is typically a healthy open bowling business. However, all leagues bowled as usual last night. 220+ league bowlers in the place. I reached out to someone that works at the center, and they were also surprised that word hasn't come down to close for the next two weeks. It will be interesting to see what happens in the coming days.

[Timmyb]

Not getting silly yet in Milwaukee, but I'm sure it's coming. Stopped at the local grocery store yesterday, and it was packed with toilet paper buyers. As of now, we don't have a recorded case in Milwaukee county, and I think only 4 or 5 in the state so far. Might have something to do with the amount of alcohol we run through our systems....

Sadly, they canceled my beloved GatorNationals this week (all the pro classes).

[J Anderson]

My Thursday afternoon league has been cancelled for this week due to concerns about Covid-19. This was hours after the league secretary had sent a few e-mails saying that we would definitely be bowling, but would have a meeting 5 minutes before the start of practice to discuss the situation. Most of the league is older and some have some serious underlying health problems. I’m sure he was bombarded with replies that whole teams would be staying home.

Anyone else run into this? How bad is this going to be for the alleys? I have to find out if we still have to pay lineage for weeks that we don’t bowl, or if we will have to make up these weeks.

On the bright side:
One fifth of the league showed up to roll a few practice games.
Because league was cancelled I could help coach the youth bowling clinic which was moved from Wednesday to Thursday this season, in direct conflict with my league.

[boatman37]

Went down for some practice today and talked to the owner. Asked him if there was any talk of cancelling or suspending our league. He said nope. If you are coughing or sneezing stay home and get a sub. We have unlimited sub spots on the roster. Not to say the state or feds overrule that but as far as he is concerned we will continue.

[Ryster]

The county shutdown measures are a joke. Most "non-essential" businesses are staying open despite mandates by local officials to close. In this area, PA Governor Wolf decreed that all non-essential retail stores, entertainment venues, gyms, etc. in my county were to close until 3/27. So far, that has gone largely ignored. The State is closing all state run liquor stores on Tuesday, so now there will be a run on those stores today and tomorrow since here in PA they are the only place to buy hard liquor. I am assuming grocery stores will still be able to sell beer and wine as usual.

Bowling centers remain open, some regional association tournaments have been canceled while others are just postponed. Just this past Thursday night, there were over 300 people in the bowling center. Friday night leagues ran as usual. Some people decided not to bowl, but there were plenty of subs ready to bowl in their place. There was a local "walk-in" bowling tournament this morning, and 32 bowlers participated. Pretty healthy turn out given the doom and gloom being spouted all over the media.

If the spread of the virus continues as expected, I wager there will be more strict enforcement of the closure orders and the bowling centers will be "compelled" to close. However, as of now there is no penalty for them to remain open and no one is enforcing the Governor's closure request.

[boatman37]

Yeah I'm in western PA here. Hadn't heard about the State stores closing but I'm not a drinker so probably missed that one. Our center has 40 lanes so at the most we might have about 125-150 people in there tops. I think there is one night where 2 leagues bowl and it's a full house but I'm not there that night so not sure. On Tuesdays we have my 16 team league (5 man teams) then the womens leaugue is there too but they only have about 6 or 7 teams. The rest of the center is open bowling but there aren't alot that show up for that on Tuesday nights.

Wife works at the local school and all public schools are closed for at least 2 weeks. She just got a recorded call from her Superintendent saying they will not be paid for this time. 12 month employees will be paid but 10 month employees will not. She has about 80 sick days so wonder if she can use those?

[J Daisy]

Some leagues seemed to be canceled, but because most bowling alleys are registered as "recreational" instead of "entertainment" or "sports" centers, they do not yet have to close (or at least that's what the manager at my local bowling alley said). They seem to be pretty empty, though. I guess lots of people are self-quarantining.

By the way, if anybody is finding empty shelves and can't get what they want, try a dollar store, like Dollar Tree. When everywhere else was packed and out of hydrogen peroxide, hand sanitizer, tissues, Vitamin C, hand soap, and bleach, Dollar Tree had only a few people in it and the shelves were fully stocked. Seemed like a good untapped resource. Just thought I'd share that observation with y'all. It's not the first place people think to look.

[SRB57]

My home house is closed to the public. Only leagues are going to bowl. They are uping there cleaning routines (this is always a clean well kept place) so no open bowling. My season is over as I tore a bicep tendon so don't effect me for practice. Be safe everyone. Steve

[RobLV1]

Just heard that all leagues at Red Rock Lanes in Las Vegas have been cancelled until after April 1.

[SRB57]

Just a update on where I am in n.y. Bowling alleys,rest. gyms will be closed after 8:00 p.m. I also got a text from a team mate and was told the rest of the season is canceled.

[J Anderson]

Just a update on where I am in n.y. Bowling alleys,rest. gyms will be closed after 8:00 p.m. I also got a text from a team mate and was told the rest of the season is canceled.

Connecticut is working in unison with NY in shutting down all bars, restaurants, and gyms at 8 p.m. the news article did not specifically say bowling alleys. Don’t know what this will mean for the 6p.m. Leagues that never finish before 9. I’m dreading calling to find out what happens with my league that starts at 7:30.

[boatman37]

just got a text that our league is postponed for at least 2 weeks. summer league is also on Tuesdays and starts the Tuesday after ours ends and they said as of right now they aren't planning to push back summer league so ours will likely be shortened but at the rate we are going i'm betting just cancelled completely for the rest of the season

[bowl1820]

Leagues here have been suspended till who knows when. Heres the post they put out.

To Our Bowlers and League Community,
As we diligently work with local, state and federal guidance to keep all of our guests and staff safe, we will continually update our policy for operations. The City of Tampa, the CDC, and the state of Florida has requested that all restaurant and bars or other hospitality business not have more than 50 person groups at any given time and to practice social distancing protocols during operations.
Effective Immediately, all scheduled league competition is postponed for the foreseeable future. Some leagues may continue the schedule when the COVID-19 crisis has passed, and others may simply start their next season. Pin Chasers will make those decisions on a league by league basis in conjunction with league leadership. League bowling fees will not be due during those weeks affected. League payments will resume when the league resumes play. In the case of a shortened season, prize lists will be amended in accordance with USBC guidelines. We appreciate our league community’s cooperation as we navigate this unprecedented circumstance.
Effective Immediately, all Pin Chasers locations will operate at half capacity and utilize only half of the lanes to help guests maintain suggested distance between themselves and others in the bowling centers. These changes to operations combined with stringent disinfecting practices instituted last week exceed requests by our local, state and federal for hospitality businesses.
As mentioned in previous advisories for our staff and guests, this is a fluid situation and subject to change daily. We will keep all of you up to date with any changes to our policies or practices during this time. Thank you for your more than 60 years of support, and it is always our privilege and pleasure to offer bowling, food, and fun to our community. We can’t wait to get back to our normal operations for you all. If you have any questions, please call

[kingtut]

Yeah, it's pretty locked down here for the Chicago Land area. All of my son's bowling activities are suspended to at least April. My league was suppose to roll last night and all other leagues after Monday were affected. To my surprise, my league had a Team Captains meeting before practice and declared the rest of the season canceled. I understand why, but still very upsetting that everything has just come to a screeching halt. Meanwhile, it feels like I need to put on some war paint to go and get groceries for my household.

[Timmyb]

Everything shut down now in Wisconsin. Governor closed all bars and restaurants, allowing only take out or delivery service. Groups of more than 10 people are banned. So if I invited my family over for dinner, guess I'd be breaking the law....

[bowl1820]

I guess the bowling alley is closed now and my league is kaput. Everyone is voting to cash out instead of waiting and finishing later. Bowling is going to be doomed now, if leagues start back next season. Theyll be thinned out even more.

[Aslan]

Last Thursday everything was fine...just some rumors of the State tournament being cancelled and perhaps the USBC Open cancelling.

On Friday, the league President proposed that individuals be allowed to pre-bowl if they choose...which passed.

Then today, the Governor of Iowa shut down everything. Shortly thereafter I saw a post on the Thursday league's Facebook page that our league is "postponed" at least 2 weeks. I also got an e-mail from a local center...that I bowled in late last year with my daughter...and they are closed "at least through March 31st". They will be trying to work on projects that they can't work on as much while things are open...like carpet cleaning, painting, cleaning pin setters and equipment, etc...

So...a rare thing for Aslan...I don't know what the *e** to say. I want to be angry that we're closing down rather than "push through". I think people need bowling and other sources of distraction...and I think this stuff may completely destroy our economy. But...I have older parents...and I don't want to throw a temper tantrum about bowling and stuff...if these measures can keep my parents safe. So...I don't know.

[ALazySavage]

Nationals have been pushed back again, now delaying the start to May 23rd. At this point I'm pretty confident in saying that this is not going to occur this year. In regards to the death of bowling, a lot is going to depend on how long this extends; we may be seeing the fall of a fair amount of mom and pop shops depending on their insurance policy/plans. Significant periods without cash flow could be the death of many of these if planning was poor.

[Ryster]

Well, as much as I would love to be bowling leagues this week I understand the shutdown. "Pushing through" would have just potentially exposed even more people to the virus than necessary. Let's be honest with ourselves, bowling is not the most sanitary/hygienic of sports in which to participate. Bowling centers are not the cleanest places, either. While the senior population is most vulnerable to the virus, this initiatives being put in place are to protect everyone. The younger population needs to remember that they are not immune to this either, and need to work with everyone to prevent the spread.

The economy will suffer some, but that would be the case regardless of whether we were dealing with this pandemic, outbreaks of severe weather (hurricane, blizzard, tornadoes, etc.), or some sort of global conflict. This is just another one of those things that we will need to persevere and then come back stronger than ever.

Missing 2-3 weeks of bowling is disappointing, but we will all be back to bowling before we know it!

[RobLV1]

Last night the Governor of Nevada shut down all of the casinos for 30 days. Since all of the bowling alleys are in casinos, bowling is done here until at least April 17.

[Aslan]

The economy will suffer some, but that would be the case regardless of whether we were dealing with this pandemic, outbreaks of severe weather (hurricane, blizzard, tornadoes, etc.), or some sort of global conflict. This is just another one of those things that we will need to persevere and then come back stronger than ever.

That may be a tremendous understatement. I've seen a LOT of ups and downs in the economy...from events like 9/11...spats over oil...natural disasters. NOTHING like this. This is a closure of businesses. Think about it like this:

Only about 10% of Americans have $1,000 of liquid assets. They live month-to-month...90%. A miss of just one paycheck, means certain bills don't get paid.

Most businesses are in better shape than that...and can survive a minor "slowdown" for a short period of time (1 week to a few months). Smaller, less profitable businesses...closer to a week. Larger businesses, more profitable businesses, closer to a month.

This "issue" is slated for 2 weeks (highly optimistic) to 18 months (worst case). Most people are saying "early July". Thats over 3 months.

And the major misconception about all this...is that by "social distancing" and "quarantines"...we are trying to mitigate a surge of sick people all at once. BUT...at the cost of this virus continuing to be a problem for a longer period of time. If everyone in your bowling league got sick tonight...most would be fine...maybe a little sick. Some would have severe flu symptoms for a week or two. Some would be hospitalized and a small number would die. The danger of this scenario is that hospitals can't handle that surge of sick people all at once. It would "crash the system"...lead to an even higher fatality rate.

So, you try to keep people from getting sick and spreading the virus. This keeps people under-exposed...but as soon as things get back to normal..they become exposed and get sick...same as they would have without the quarantine...it just levels out the number of people getting sick so that it happens over a longer time-frame.

So...we're trading a higher fatality rate over a short term...for a lower fatality rate over a long term. The issue is...can the government keep the economy from total collapse over a long term? So far....I'm saying "no". The government has thrown out a lot of options:

1) Easing loan interest rates...okay...but banks don't want to lend into a Great Depression and people/businesses don't want more debt in an economic crisis.
2) Tax breaks for businesses. Okay...probably will help the recovery for large corporations...but can a bowling center stay alive for 9 months knowing that they'll get a tax credit in 2021?
3) $1,000 to every American laid off or affected by corona virus...and an easing of unemployment eligibility. Okay...how many on here can pay their bills with just unemployment and/or $1,000/month?

And even if the government comes up with a program that kinda works...the value of the dollar is going to drop like a rock. The government can't pay its bills NOW....what do you think the deficit looks like in 12 months with the most expensive government bailout in galactic history??

So...this is not good...not good at all. I'm not saying everything should have stayed open...I have friends and loved ones that are vulnerable to this virus as most people do...BUT...we may not have a country to come back to if we shut down the economy for > 10 months. We've never seen a 25-45% stock market loss in a 3-year period...not since the Great Depression. Not during the banking crisis of the late 80s, not during the .com bust of the late 90s, not after 9/11, and not even during the 2008 collapse.

[mc_runner]

We're not going to be shut down that long, especially if the virus continues to expand. We just need to make the spike leveled out - after a month or two the curves (infected vs uninfected) will meet and it won't matter much if we stay in or go out. I suspect come May things will start getting lifted. Even if it's still slightly under that meeting point, economic impact becomes such that it's doing more harm to stay in vs. lifting.

Which... is still a long time. It's going to wreak havoc on tons of smaller businesses including bowling. It's NOT good and it is a tough pill to swallow as a country. But I don't see it lasting for several months.

Or we could all be wrong. Who knows! We've never dealt with something like this, but we're all in it now so let's see how it ends up.

[J Daisy]

Hey all. I just have a few things to say about the "crisis" at hand; maybe I'm right, and maybe not. Some people seem to think that this will all blow over in 2 weeks, and everything will return to "normal". The way I see it, things might calm slightly over time, but to much has happened for things to return to "normal" as we know it now. And when power and control are taken, they're rarely ever given back. I think we should all fasten our seatbelts for the long haul. Things are gonna get worse.

Does that mean all this panic is justified? Heck no, but people should prepare for things to get even worse real soon. And when some liberty is given back, don't overlook how much was taken in the first place. Many places have early curfews, and the National Guard already is patroling the streets in some places, or so I hear.

[Aslan]

The problem are the "numbers" don't look good. And very few numbers are looking good.

- Stock Market...unprecedented decline dating back to Great Depression.
- Sales decline...auto industry saw sales drop 35% over just a 2-4 day period.
- Unemployment...highest one-week increase since too big to fail crisis.

The only good news is the current death total is fairly low compared to Swine flu and the most recent Asian flus. It could rise above the 30,000 swine flu number...but unlikely to get over 70,000. Granted, this is less important number (not morally speaking of course) because all pandemics tend to lessen over time as medical capabilities always improve. The Spanish flu was terrible...but it was largely spread via poor hygiene and sanitation during WWI and trench warfare. Obviously, things like the Plague killed huge segments of the globe...but that was centuries ago (for the first one...there were a few).

At this point, the question is whether the economy can weather the storm. Most people will survive and be perfectly healthy. But, what employees barely making it will be pushed into homelessness? What workers will have found other jobs and won't be available when their current employer starts back up? What employers will be unable to keep their business afloat and will have moved on? It took a LONG time to recover from 2008. It took months just to find another job...and the employers didn't see things get back to "normal" until probably 2010-2014. 2-6 years...and that was nothing compared to the scale of this one.

[boatman37]

Well we got our first 2 cases in my county. Just heard about it this morning. One is about 1/2 mile from my house. Then found out this afternoon it's a guy in our league. We haven't bowled his team in awhile but a guy on his team has an auto shop. I was at that shop Saturday morning talking to the owner (teammate of the one with the virus). Had to get my wifes annual inspection done on her car as it expires next week. Wife just said somebody on Facebook posted the place that guy works at is closed now. It's one of the bigger plants around here. Not sure how many employees but I'd say at least 100. My cousin works there and I know quite a few others that work there too. I have known the guy that got the virus for a long time. I used to coach football and his son was on the team and my wife ran the cheering squad and his daughter was a cheerleader. My son went to a dance with his daughter about 15 years ago so I have known him a long time. They said he is in a hospital in Pittsburgh in ICU. There are 3 large plants here in my town. One I worked at for 10 years and left in 2005 they just said it's closed now too. There were about 90 employees there when I was there. Hope all goes well and hope my bowling mate recovers soon. From what I hear the other case in my county is a relative of his. My step-son is a detective in that town where the other person is.

EDIT: just confirmed that the 2 businesses did not close but sent some workers home to be safe

[boatman37]

So got a call from the V.P. of our league tonight. A 2nd guy in our league tested positive. Apparently guy 1 fell at some point and guy 2 helped him up. This was March 10th and we haven't been back since them and we were 3 pairs away from them. Been almost 2.5 weeks so think the rest of us should be good. Hope so.

[boatman37]

Well just heard that the first guy that fell was released from the hospital today and dropped off by ambulance. He walked into his house under his own power. Ballpark he is about 55. Haven't heard any updates on the 2nd guy yet. We did have a couple of deaths in our county and I heard a 'rumor' that he was one but hoping it isn't true.

[J Daisy]

Well just heard that the first guy that fell was released from the hospital today and dropped off by ambulance. He walked into his house under his own power. Ballpark he is about 55. Haven't heard any updates on the 2nd guy yet. We did have a couple of deaths in our county and I heard a 'rumor' that he was one but hoping it isn't true.
I'll pray for him. Thank you for the update, I was wondering how he was doing.

Stay safe, dude!

[Phonetek]

Well just heard that the first guy that fell was released from the hospital today and dropped off by ambulance. He walked into his house under his own power. Ballpark he is about 55. Haven't heard any updates on the 2nd guy yet. We did have a couple of deaths in our county and I heard a 'rumor' that he was one but hoping it isn't true.

Hopefully they pull through. I think before this is over that everyone is going to know someone who either got this virus or was lost because of it. Wifey's best friend is positive. She spent 3 days in the hospital because her kidneys were shutting down from it. They got that under control and sent her home. She's isolated right now in her bedroom, her hubby is not in there with her.

So far he's fine but chances are high even with her isolated that he will get it too. We've talked to her and she's having the breathing and coughing issues. She said she's not out of the woods yet and fears the worst is yet to come symptoms wise given what she was told by medical staff in the hospital. We keep in contact with her daily and she sounds worse each time we talk to her. We're hoping she pulls through this of course. Like everyone else, we have to take things day by day.

This is such a nasty nasty virus, I hope people are finally starting to take it seriously. I also worry about something that has much less press right now and very little mention. That is, since our country is in this very weakened and vulnerable state that our enemies don't take this as an opportunity to pull any punches. We'd be extremely screwed and get caught with our pants down.

[boatman37]

So far those are the only 2 I personally know that have it. Like I said, the one came home yesterday but there was a rumor that the other one didn't make it. I don't know him that well or know anyone that does but hope it isn't true.

As far as enemies, well most of the world is feeling the effects of this so I'm sure they are in a depleted situation too but may never divulge that information.

My neighbor 2 houses away had 5 or 6 friends over Sunday. They were hanging out on his deck drinking. And the neighbor across the street has 3 teen boys and cars are coming and going from there all day long. We only leave our house for groceries or we will just take a ride with just me and my wife but we don't stop anywhere. Heck, I cut my own hair last weekend...lol. Haven't seen my mother since this all started and my wife will get groceries for her mother but drops them n the porch then calls her to tell her they are there.

My county and surrounding counties are on lockdown. Not allowed out now except for groceries, gas, and medicine. I have been working from home for the last 4 years and my wife is a teacher but she has been working from home since this started so we are in the house about 98% of the week lately

[Phonetek]

So far those are the only 2 I personally know that have it. Like I said, the one came home yesterday but there was a rumor that the other one didn't make it. I don't know him that well or know anyone that does but hope it isn't true.

As far as enemies, well most of the world is feeling the effects of this so I'm sure they are in a depleted situation too but may never divulge that information.

My neighbor 2 houses away had 5 or 6 friends over Sunday. They were hanging out on his deck drinking. And the neighbor across the street has 3 teen boys and cars are coming and going from there all day long. We only leave our house for groceries or we will just take a ride with just me and my wife but we don't stop anywhere. Heck, I cut my own hair last weekend...lol. Haven't seen my mother since this all started and my wife will get groceries for her mother but drops them n the porch then calls her to tell her they are there.

My county and surrounding counties are on lockdown. Not allowed out now except for groceries, gas, and medicine. I have been working from home for the last 4 years and my wife is a teacher but she has been working from home since this started so we are in the house about 98% of the week lately

Yep, we are staying put. Last time out was a week ago to shop and that was only one place. Straight there and straight back. Haven't left the house since. My neighborhood is very quiet, at night you could hear a mouse fart while standing on the front porch outside. During the day we see a lot of people walking and riding bikes but it seems to be families only. The only offender I see is across the street. They are being slick about it by having their visitors park in their garage.

We still have plenty of groceries so we may skip this weeks shopping visit. I have been out in the back yard with the kids and threw some hot dogs on the grill. I took a bike ride with my daughter because she has to do cardio exercises for gym class. We only seen one person while we were out and we crossed the street so they were on the other side. So far so good everyone is healthy. Bored yes and we need to start limiting our exposure to the news and corona media. It's starting to take a mental toll constantly reading about it. By 6pm my wife and I are completely wiped out and ready for bed so for now we are tuning out.

[boatman37]

The local news did a story tonight on the guy that came home yesterday. He is still in quarantine so they didn't talk to him but showed pics of him and interviewed his one daughter. I forgot that she is married to another guy we bowl with but apparently he is good

[Ryster]

I've been under "stay at home" order now for 21 days. It was originally supposed to end 3/30, then it got extended to 4/30, and I fully expect it to get extended again because cases in our county continue to increase. I have only left the house twice in 21 days. Drove to the store for essentials, got take-out, and then came straight home. Tons of hand sanitizing, avoiding other people, and general paranoia in the process.

The interesting thing is that residents are currently under stay at home orders until 4/30, however schools and non-essential businesses are closed indefinitely. So even if by some miracle we are "released" on 4/30, places like the bowling center are still going to be closed. It is starting to set in with me that this is going to stretch well in to June/July before non-essential businesses are permitted to reopen.

My bowling center has been closed since 3/16, and there has been no word from them on the plan for leagues, other than a notice that the bowling center was closed due to COVID-19 orders. I am guessing they are waiting until 4/30 to see what the governor decides and go from there.

Some people have floated the idea of just carrying all prize fund money over to next fall and adding it to next season's prize funds. I have a serious problem with that, but we will see what actually happens. That is the least of our worries right now.

[boatman37]

Well I day trade in the stock market and am a member of a service ran by a guy named Rob. He lives in Chicago and just tweeted about 20 minutes ago that his son now has it. Not sure if his son lives in Chicago too or how old he is but this is getting bad. That's 3 that I know (2 that I know personally) that have got it.

And my idiot neighbor across the street had people over today and they were sitting out on their porch right next to each other. Same neighbor that has people running in and out of their house all day. We are under 'house arrest' in our county. And I know the one person didn't belong there because it's my cousins wife and they live 3 blocks up

[Ryster]

Well I day trade in the stock market and am a member of a service ran by a guy named Rob. He lives in Chicago and just tweeted about 20 minutes ago that his son now has it. Not sure if his son lives in Chicago too or how old he is but this is getting bad. That's 3 that I know (2 that I know personally) that have got it.

And my idiot neighbor across the street had people over today and they were sitting out on their porch right next to each other. Same neighbor that has people running in and out of their house all day. We are under 'house arrest' in our county. And I know the one person didn't belong there because it's my cousins wife and they live 3 blocks up

Might be time to call the non-emergency number for your local law enforcement and report them. A visit from the authorities might be enough to get them to play along. People like that are the ones delaying this whole thing from subsiding.

[boatman37]

So I was just outside talking to some neighbors. The one told me there was a 3rd person in our league that got it. He is on the same team as the first guy that just came home from the hospital. But the 3rd guy is about 80 and didn't bowl. He was the captain and handled all the paperwork, etc. Anyway, neighbor knows all 3 of them and said guy number 3 got it and passed away. I hadn't heard that so that sucks. I asked about guy #2 but he hadn't heard any updates on him.

[Timmyb]

Wisconsin is under a "safer at home" order right now. Of course, if you watched the news, our Governor and the rest of the legislature can't see eye-to-eye, so people are out voting today (that's a whole other story...). We've heard nothing from our league, which has been shut down for three weeks now. We've had only one positive at work, and that person has self-quarantined before he ever stepped foot in the building. I personally know no one who's had it so far, but I'm sure that will change.

I wish I was at home, but I work for a health care manufacturer, so guess who's "essential"?

[Timmyb]

Well, now our league is officially done. Had they lifted the order, we were going to go back and finish the rest of the season. However, our wonderful governor just extended our stay-at-home until May 26th! Glad I got a whole 9 games on the new ball....

[Ryster]

We are under a stay at home order until 4/30, but I expect the governor to extend it to mid-May very soon. We are part of a seven state alliance that wants to coordinate reopening the Northeast US, so I would imagine our orders will all be aligned to within days of each other. The other states in the alliance are extending, so I am guessing we are next. Regardless of when it is lifted, it doesn't even mean we will be back to bowling. I would imagine distancing and mitigation efforts (masks, avoiding large groups, etc.) will stay in place even after the order is lifted which will make it near impossible for bowling centers to reopen right away.

[J Anderson]

I got a call, as did most of the other league bowlers, from one of the managers at Nutmeg. The calls were to let us know how much they appreciate us and that they will open as soon as the governor lets them.

[boatman37]

Just got a text from our league V.P. saying they were going to wait until the 30th to make a decision and see what PA decides to do

[SRB57]

We are under a stay at home order until 4/30, but I expect the governor to extend it to mid-May very soon. We are part of a seven state alliance that wants to coordinate reopening the Northeast US, so I would imagine our orders will all be aligned to within days of each other. The other states in the alliance are extending, so I am guessing we are next. Regardless of when it is lifted, it doesn't even mean we will be back to bowling. I would imagine distancing and mitigation efforts (masks, avoiding large groups, etc.) will stay in place even after the order is lifted which will make it near impossible for bowling centers to reopen right away.

N.Y extended to May 15th so You will probably do the same. I am in western N.Y. which is in much better shape than downstate. Steve

[Ryster]

Based on what has been coming out of the guidance for "reopening", bowling centers are going to really suffer. There is talk of Phase 1 allowing groups of no more than 10 while still following current mitigation guidelines (masks, distancing, etc.). Phase 2, which would only kick in after everyone has been tested, would allow groups of no more than 50. Phase 3, which would kick in once there is a vaccine, would then start to allow more "normal" gatherings.

Phase 1 would start after areas can show 14 consecutive days of drops in both new COVID-19 cases AND new influenza like illness cases. Not sure how the CDC has suddenly rolled influenza like illness cases into this mess, but they did.

[J Anderson]

Based on what has been coming out of the guidance for "reopening", bowling centers are going to really suffer. There is talk of Phase 1 allowing groups of no more than 10 while still following current mitigation guidelines (masks, distancing, etc.). Phase 2, which would only kick in after everyone has been tested, would allow groups of no more than 50. Phase 3, which would kick in once there is a vaccine, would then start to allow more "normal" gatherings.

Phase 1 would start after areas can show 14 consecutive days of drops in both new COVID-19 cases AND new influenza like illness cases. Not sure how the CDC has suddenly rolled influenza like illness cases into this mess, but they did.

If you don’t have enough testing materials, anything that looks like Covid-19, like the regular Flu, is assumed to be COVID-19.

[Ryster]

If you don’t have enough testing materials, anything that looks like Covid-19, like the regular Flu, is assumed to be COVID-19.

Makes sense. Our area is never even going to make it to Phase 1 at this point. Cases keep climbing each day (probably due to increased testing). But if an area needs to have 14 consecutive days of improvement, we are far from that. Oh well, I guess we will just sit at home for months on end.

[Aslan]

Anybody heard from the older "regulars" lately. RobM, Iceman, Bowl1820?? Classygranny? <----NOT calling her old...although she does have "granny" in her name and thats not my fault!

I'd hate to lose someone from the boards and not know it. I'm sure the site would tell us if Bowl1820 or....the guy who does the bowlversity videos who's name I can't recall. Or what about Curlie Becton!? Us lower rev guys need someone in the bowling videos throwing like Curlie!!

Well, hopefully everyone is fine....as best as can be expected.

Being in Iowa...I'd like to say its been business as usual....but for all the ruckus you hear on the news about Iowa not closing down...we're almost as closed down as everywhere else. No "stay-at-home" orders, per se....but the schools are closed, restaurants are closed, bank lobbys are closed, car dealer showrooms are closed, movie theatres, gyms are closed, haircut places are closed...and of course...bowling alleys.

Our league decided to pay the center 4 weeks of lineage...two more than we owed. No individual prize money....even though I was pretty close to getting that "individual points" title. Not sure when I'll actually see the money. Still haven't got my Trump Bucks. Still got a job...just gotta 'work' from home. Nice not to get up until 7:15...but I'm limited in how much I can do. Takes forever just to save and retrieve files given everything is remote connecting to this that or the other thing...all on a hotspot network.

Not out of toilet paper yet. The store shelves have been empty the last couple times I went. Things continue like this, or get worse, I've seriously considered going paperless and getting a Swifter. Just the bottom part. Or maybe one of those dishwashing sponges on a stick...that you can fill with soap??

If the forum folks ain't sick from the virus...I'm sure that image'll do it!

Later all...just checking in to let you know I'm still alive!!!

As I'm sure Iceman would agree....Covid-19 can't kill a "Bowling God"...we're IMMORTAL!!

[J Anderson]

Aslan,
Rob M was probably the first of us to post anything about COVID-19, and certainly the most vehement about taking this seriously. Hasn’t posted much lately but the there really haven’t been many thing that have come up lately that would lead to him sharing his expertise. Bowl1820 has chimed in on how leagues are or should be handling wrapping up the winter bowling season, as has Classy Granny. I don’t think anyone has heard from Iceman. I suspect that he is being held at area 51, and being questioned about his contacts with extraterrestrials.

Glad to hear you’re hanging in there.

[RobLV1]

I'm still alive and well, going stir-crazy in my office. I check in here most every day, but usually see no new posts. The one good thing about the enforced isolation is that I'm getting in lots of guitar practice. My neck surgery a couple of years ago left me where I can't turn my head very far to the left, so I'm having to learn how to play without looking. I'm just about there, so I'm ready to go back to bowling. I hope you all are well.