A medical worker friend of mine, a veteran of wars in both Iraq and Afghanistan, told me something sobering today. He said, "This is a Dunkirk moment for humanity and the nurses, doctors, housekeepers, EMTs, respiratory therapists, etc, are the ones in the boats." Are we ready? What can be done to help?

This installment centers mostly around Virginia Governor Ralph Northam's press briefing on March 21, 2020. Topics include changes in testing criteria, availability of personal protective equipment (PPE) for use by medical personnel, and whether there will be further restrictions on closing down non-essential businesses.

Image credit to Patricia Parmiter who sewed these masks for medical workers in preparation for an anticipated increase in COVID-19 cases.

This episode contains the words of state officials from March 20. Another day in this long drawn out COVID-19 Crisis. This one mostly features the sounds from a press briefing, but I also went out for a walk.

We live in a data driven society and have been for years. And when something like a global pandemic hits, we need information in order to help come to terms with unexpected change. This episode was made on March 19 and features comments from Governor Ralph Northam's press conference as well as another live stream from Michael Clem.

This fourth episode mostly takes a look solely at Albemarle County, and how officials there are working in real time to find their way in a shifting normal.

This is the third in a series of podcasts I am producing to help document this fluid situation as we begin to realize the totality of what shutting down restaurants and other businesses means for the economy of a place like Charlottesville. I personally am staying at home to help prevent spreading a virus that may or may not be on me already. As I record this, the script is already out of date, so this one is shorter. This audio is from March 17, 2020 and I didn't get to get everything I wanted. More on that later.

On March 16, 2020, the Charlottesville City Council held a historic meeting at which most of the public participants were at home, isolating themselves from others as part of our community's response to the COVID-19 global pandemic.

Four out of the five Councilors were present in City Council chambers, as were most of the senior staff. At a time when officials are pleading with people to stay home, Council moved forward with business - though none it was as usual.

I thought I would go ahead and create a podcast to help share information on what's going on in the Charlottesville and Albemarle area.