COVID-19 Resources

[Utahtea]

Drivers entering Utah will need to complete an online travel declaration form. I wonder if other states will follow.

https://www.abc4.com/news/drivers-en...arting-friday/

Utahtea

Moderator Edit: Here is an update on this story:

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah (ABC4 News)– Three days into the governor’s travel declaration and the Utah Division of Emergency Management reports 8,000 people have completed the health form and there have been 600 false alerts.

Officials report a majority of the false alerts were in the St. George and Vernal area.

To fix the problem the system has been narrowed to not include residential areas.

“We do feel very bad about that, that is not the intent,” Joe Dougherty with Emergency Management said. “The coronavirus is strange times we are going through- we really just asking for as much patience as people can muster.”

Friday, the governor’s travel deceleration went into effect for all travelers coming into Utah by vehicle or plane.

[landmariner]

Drivers entering Utah will need to complete an online travel declaration form. I wonder if other states will follow.

https://www.abc4.com/news/drivers-en...arting-friday/

Utahtea

Spooky. Inside the geofence at border crossings your cell phone receives a text from a Federal entity.

[Mark Sedenquist]

Yeah, it is VERY creepy that Federal entities (and other governmental entities) have access to personal phones.

By the way, I found another online resource that has a very good UI for tracking coronavirus stats:

Here is the USA report – broken out by state: (scroll down the page). There is often a lag on the "now" report of a couple of hours. However, if you click on yesterday – it gives a pretty compelling look at new cases and new deaths per state. Easily the most useful such chart I’ve seen thus far.

Look at the jump in reported cased in Russia! I do like the reporting capability by region (Europe, North America, Asia, South America, Africa and Oceania)

Mark

[AZBuck]

This morning my wife had arranged for a drive-thru pick-up of groceries, where the store packs all your stuff and puts it in your car in the parking lot. BUT... we hadn't been out for a couple of weeks. Now, as it happens, my wife has a newer, gadget-loaded car that in particular has an anti-theft system that is constantly monitoring the status of the car, i.e. using electricity from the battery. Needless to say, the car would not start. Dead battery. Fortunately, I have an older, very basic car that when it's turned off is really OFF, and the two cars were parked side by side in the garage, making jump-starting hers relatively easy. I then got my first taste of being out of the house, aside from local walks, as I drove it around for half an hour to recharge the battery.

I would urge everyone who has a newer car, particularly if it shows any blinking lights while just sitting there, to take it out every week or two for a 30 minute spin so that it's ready when/if you need it.

Buck

[glc]

Buck, you may want to get one of these:

https://www.amazon.com/Battery-Tende.../dp/B000CITK8S

[DonnaR57]

Older vehicles need starting occasionally, too. A couple of weeks ago, we had to replace BOTH batteries in our 20 year old pick up (diesel). It had not been out in over a month. When the battery guy came out, he put each on a tester. One was 6 years old and a goner. The other was about 5 years old and almost a goner, so we replaced both.

We now try to go on a jaunt at least once a week in EACH of our vehicles.


Donna

[Midwest Michael]

I would urge everyone who has a newer car, particularly if it shows any blinking lights while just sitting there, to take it out every week or two for a 30 minute spin so that it's ready when/if you need it.

That's really not bad advice for anyone, regardless of the age/model of your car.

My commuter car is currently sitting in front of my house with a dead battery. I've only driven it once in the past month - basically to pull it out of the 1 car driveway - and when I went to use it last week, I found it wouldn't start. Of course, I knew the battery in it was already due for replacement, so it wasn't much of a shock, but I haven't bothered to run the charger out to it yet either.

[Mass Tim]

Every couple of weeks I'm "reminding" myself to take the car for a spin. It seems weird to be on the road, and with things being so quiet where I live right now, I sometimes feel like I'm doing something "wrong."

In other Covid-19 news, my employer announced today $3 billion in free term life insurance policies for those health care workers on the front lines. I'd link to it but I don't want to seem like I'm advertising. These are smaller (up to $25,000) policies. If anybody needs more information I'd be happy to share.

[Southwest Dave]

Every couple of weeks I'm "reminding" myself to take the car for a spin. It seems weird to be on the road, and with things being so quiet where I live right now, I sometimes feel like I'm doing something "wrong."

It's much the same in the UK and police are doing more checks on people 'out and about' to see if their outing is classed as 'Essential' which is the regulation. It's these grey areas, such as charging the battery on your car by driving it around, that makes 'Essential' confusing. As I have a few vehicles (or too many as the wife reminds me) a dead battery can be a regular problem (especially in the winter) so I invested in a jump start power pack a few years back and would never be without one now.

[DonnaR57]

In San Diego, the traffic has lessened by a LOT, but there are still cars on the road. We went down to the commissary on base (i.e. grocery store) on Monday. The freeway was not super busy, but it definitely was not empty. Essential workers are still out, and folks need to get groceries and medications, etc. I have to carry a letter in my car when I am going between work/home, because there were two roadblocks where officers were checking on folks' need to be out. I only have to report in to work about once a week, mostly teaching from home.


Donna