Wow! SCW closes indoor centers for 2 weeks.

The Rec Centers of Sun City West yesterday announced they were closing all indoor activities for the next two weeks beginning at 5 am today. You can read their press release here.

 

It's nice the RCSC here in SC thinks cleaning more is sufficient, but one cough or sneeze by someone sick is all it takes to infect others no matter how clean equipment, tables, chairs, etc are. I had already decided to stop going anywhere I don't have to, including the rec centers. When the top guru in the country told Congress yesterday 70-150-million of us will get covid19 my idea to become a hermit for awhile was corroborated. It's no guarantee, but it improves my odds of staying healthy.

 

I was at Bell today and several people asked me if they thought the RCSC would follow suit. I told them i had no idea; it's way above my pay grade. It's a tough call either way. I'm not sure what two weeks buys you? I know the the argument, but if someone contracts it 10 days in, they still have the risk once they reopen. Glad i'm not making the call.

At the same time i was being asked, i was told the RCSC is now charging golfers $2 if they call and make a tee time over the phone. I again was clueless as i simply don't pay attention. Does anyone know if that is true. seems hard to believe.

 

Well, one chart I saw online today predicts the US will have 400,000 cases by the end of the month if we don't slow the spread somehow. We desperately need to slow it somehow so our lackluster gov't has time to get their act together with testing, what they are going to do if hospitals are overwhelmed, etc. Unfortunately the Fed gov't seems to still be worrying more about the stock market and keeping foreigners from entering the country than how to produce more test kits, more masks, who/where to quarantine those infected, etc. Staying home/closing as many public venues as possible is about the only thing we citizens can instigate w/o fed approval. I'd expect closures to be extended until the number of new cases each day starts to decline.

 

I think SCW probably is erring on the side of caution.

SCW and SC are retirement communities and as such they are more susceptible to the covid 19 virus.

I would rather see a community err on the side of caution than wait for an outbreak to take any action.

The Coronavirus has been in the US for more than a month and has now spread to 45 states. This to me is nothing to be unconcerned about, but it is also not something to panic about.

Unfortunately the US has not reacted swiftly to this issue.

Look at how China has reacted. They have shut down the outbreak area and have used high tech misters and fog systems to disinfect areas.
Italy has shut down the country.

What is US doing - using swiffers, rags, and spritzers to try to disinfect areas. Not a good response.

Too little too late.

They keep saying that the elderly is at greatest risk especially if they have underlying health issues. But I haven't heard yet what qualifies as a underlying health issue.

Should RCSC follow SCW? Good question. It depends on how worried you are about 45 states reporting issues.

 

The underlying health issues I heard were heart, lung, and diabetes. Ie, all the things our older population has a lot of. Since covid19 affects the lungs, anyone with copd or prone to pneumonia, asthma, bronchitis, etc are much more at risk. Ultimately, whether the RCSC close or not, anyone concerned can simply stay home.

 

Therein is the best advice anyone can get or give IC: "If you have health issues, stay home." I will avoid my opinions on how poorly this has been dealt with and simply focus on going forward. We need get our arms and head around the impact COVID-19 is having on the country and the world, let alone our community. It's real and it is in our face. Our lives will be changed for weeks, months and god forbid, years. The best solution starts with personal responsibility. We owe it to ourselves, our loved ones and our neighbors to be aware of how we are feeling and what we are doing. Hopefully our politician's will find ways to help those who will be crushed by loss of hours, job and the financial affect this has. As an old friend used to say; "we'll see."

Still curious if the RCSC has a new policy regarding being charged $2 to make a tee time by phone?

 

Luke Days March 21/22 have been cancelled. I agree that we should all take personal responsibility and for that we are erring on the caution side of contact. Close indoor sports(especially those that share equipment), meetings in close spaces, dining(especially buffets), casinos, travel on planes or buses should all be either curtailed or done at your own risk but with consequences to all of us. It has been proven that the virus can last on surfaces long after exposure. The RCSC is being very lax for not closing its indoor facilities for the time being. I thing the RCSCW did the right thing if for no other reason to do a complete & thorough process of disinfecting.

Let's hope this is slowed to the point that we have enough medical resources to care for the critically affected. Last week Boswell was on diversion and there were patients in the ER all over the hallways in gurneys. What ever became of the possible case of COVID-19 that had yet to be tested? Have there been any cases at Boswell or Del Webb. A great lack of information.

 

I just called the pro shop at Lakes West. There is not a charge to make a tee time by phone.

There is a program where large groups can reserve a block of tee times in advance for a period of time, and there is a $2 charge for this service.

This does not have anything to do with making a time via phone.

 

Any word on the Posse Open House scheduled for Sunday? Will it go on as planned? Sun Bowl show on Sunday evening? No update notices from RCSC being sent.

 

Then stay home. Nobody forces you to go out in public.

 

It would be nice to know if the POSSE is going forward this Sunday, word has it the speaker is going to be one big bore though.

Thanks Adam, with luck i will see the lady who mentioned it at the gym and see what she was talking about.

Finally, welcome (i think) Say What; always want to get off on right foot when first enter a room eh?

 

Exactly! That's my point. Better safe than keeping up usual social outings and getting critically ill.

 

Just adding to the list of proactive closings. Sun City Grand has closed all indoor facilities until May 1st. Outdoor sports activities are still available with limiting personal exposure to possible infectious items.

Thankfully the rain has forced the cancellation of the Sunday night concert at the Sun Bowl. I'm half surprised that the RCSC didn't move it indoors to the Sundial Center in keeping with their lack of forward thinking to protect our seniors. Do the BOD have nothing to say? The Arizona Republic even has an article announcing RCSC's lack of closing amidst so many other senior facilities erring on the side of precaution. No comment by RCSC seems to be their only comment.

 

Other communities like ours have closed, whole religions have suspended services, cities and entire states have closed schools, sports teams have cancelled activities, etc., etc. It's hard to understand the RCSC's choice of action based on the facts at hand. That leaves it up to each of us to do what we can.

I'm choosing to leave my home as little as possible until the verifiable COVID19 growth rate starts to subside, both to minimize my risk of getting it and to avoid inadvertently infecting anyone else if I do happen to contract it. I'd rather be safe than risk getting it and possibly giving it to my wife and neighbors.

But I'm really concerned for all those working for the RCSC, many of whom I consider friends. They don't have much choice (at the Rec Centers) who they come in contact with and they're the ones who must clean the surfaces we members possibly infect with every touch, breath, sneeze and cough. What was clean a few moments earlier can be infected moments later by someone whose infected walking past. Granted, their risk is still very small -- we believe there there are a minimal number of people infected here so far. But it likely will get much riskier very soon.

The reality is no one has any factual idea how rapidly it's spreading in the US because there's not yet been enough testing to determine how many are actually sick. But there's very little reason to think that the US won't follow the same exponential infection rate trends that other countries have had in their beginning stages of the pandemic -- ie, tomorrow there will be 1.33 times as many infected as are infected today, and each day thereafter until there is sufficient mitigation to start a downward trend. Small numbers that grow exponentially get large pretty quickly -- eg, 2000 infected today will grow to over 20,000 by next Sunday, over 400,000 by the end of March, over 5-million by mid-April.

 

The Del Webb Sun Cities museum is closed till further notice.

 

I was just notified the open house at the POSSE on Sunday was cancelled by Maricopa County and not to show up to speak.

 

It's good of them to notify you, but the event still shows as "on" at the Sun City Posse website this morning. So how does this news get distributed aside from hundreds of people showing up to see a notice posted on the door?

 

So the RCSC is holding an emergency executive meeting tomorrow to decide what closures are necessary. In the meantime probably 1000's have been exposed just with the bowling events, exercise rooms, pools & shower rooms and club activities. I hope the barn door won't shut too late after the sick horses were freed.

Made a trip to the store last night about 10 p.m. to avoid crowds. There weren't many people but it was amazing to see how so many shelves were stripped of items. It was like shoppers brought the list of what to stock up on and did a thorough job of cleaning out store supplies. There were only 2 store employees on duty. We weren't making an urgent trip but just wanted to fill in gaps of what we had on hand to cover the next two weeks. Items that were totally gone or almost gone: pasta, rice, milk, water, various canned foods, bread, hamburger, chicken etc. Didn't need paper goods so don't know how that stock fared.

 

That's a challenge as the POSSE doesn't have an email list like many other orgs does. It would have been good had they been able to access other orgs to get the word out. Worst case scenario is people show up and have to go home. Not the end of the world.

As far as the pending decision to close the RCSC, it's not as simple as just say "close." Initially SCW closed indoor events and amenities. Outdoor events stayed open and then at least some of them shut down. Not sure on golf. IC talked about employees and their safety, for some, that paycheck is critical. Do they keep getting paid? At the RCSC, there are still two shows with tickets that have been bought and paid for, will they be refunded? Can they cancel the entertainment, or do they have to pay them irrespective. Look, it's not arms and legs but they are all part of the discussion and they need answers.

If you think it's not an issue, some of you may remember 5 or 6 years back when the golf courses were all closed for a week or two and golfers who had purchased the year unlimited golf pass all went nuts. They wanted to know if the pass would be extended for an amount of time equal to the time they were unable to golf. I heard Sun City Grand is shut down till around the first of May, something like 6 plus weeks. If you think people won't be asking about the financial side of the discussion, you are delusional. What i am saying is all of these issues should be talked about and laid out as whatever decisions are made they are upfront and specific about. Stay ahead of the game, rather than behind (we know how that has worked out here in the USA).

I've come to understand there are always at least two sides to every issue. Ignoring one side comes at the peril of pissing off the other. There are good arguments to close, but i guarantee there will be residents crazed by whatever they do. For example, close the centers, clubs, keep the outside stuff open. For those who don't do anything, it sounds really simple. It's not. That said, doing what's right is often a tough choice.