Good Morning All: As we continue to try different methods to best deliver important and interesting information to you, today we are going to try a continual feed of blog posts through the day. We are still working on our categorization and tag creation, but as the day continues the organization should get better.
Letter To Governors – President Trump sent a letter to all State Governors. In the letter, he outlines a concept whereby Counties across the Country are assigned a risk level (low, medium and high) based upon test result data and that will influence the social distancing and other mitigation measures imposed in each County. There is no explanation as to how the risk levels will be determined. Further, it must be remembered that the USA is a republic and, as such, mitigation measures would continue to be determined by the Governor of each State.
Keep Calm and Carry On – Prime Minister Boris Johnson has tested positive for COVID-19. He tweeted:
“Over the last 24 hours I have developed mild symptoms and tested positive for coronavirus.
“I am now self-isolating, but I will continue to lead the government’s response via video-conference as we fight this virus. Together we will beat this. #StayHomeSaveLives.”
Looking For a Good Book or New Music – A way to spend many hours is by visiting the Internet Archive, which is a non-profit library of millions of free books, movies, software, music, websites, and more. They just announced that they have made it even better by opening up their lending library of 1.4 million books (which is in addition to the over 2 million books you can download for free). Check out the National Emergency Library. If music is more your thing, then check out the audio section which has a millions of digitized audio. Within the audio section, there is the Live Music Archive that is constantly being updated with musicians creating quarantine sessions.
Don’t Forget The Flu – WLOS reports that the NC Division of Public Health states that another 5 people in NC died from the flu the week ending March 21. The death toll in NC for the 2019-2020 flu season is at 149. Interestingly, the NC Department of Health and Human Services has extended the reporting period for this flu season to the week ending May 16.
Social Distancing Data – Unacast, a start-up company focusing human mobility data tracking (are we the only ones concerned about that being the product focus of a company) has created a social distancing scoreboard. It grades States and Counties based upon the change in average mobility which is measured by distance travelled. The greater the decrease in mobility, the better the grade. Their graphs are several days behind, but they combine the daily new cases with the changes in mobility, which over time could be useful in assisting with the determination of the effectiveness of social distancing.
Video – Business Survival Tactics During Coronavirus – Social Venture Circle hosted a special webinar on “Business Survival Tactics During Coronavirus” led by Josh Knauer (JumpScale Co-Founder and Professor at Carnegie Mellon University). We have not yet watched it, but when we do we will let you know what we think.
Exercise – Use some of your extra time to maintain or improve your physical health. Although gyms are closed, people can still get outside for some exercise. If you go mountain biking, be aware that a lot of the usual places are quite busy. If you are a road bike person, there are lot less cars on the road. If you are missing the gym and/or need some discipline to get your workout done, check out Hard Exercise Works in Asheville. Arnaldo, the owner, runs video classes throughout the day, 6 days a week. Cost is $25 per week, and he offers the opportunity to borrow weights as well.
CARES Act Passes – The House passed the CARES Act by way of a voice vote. Now it goes to the president for his signature. Within a day or two, we will provide a detailed analysis of the law as it applies to small business.
Learn New Skills – There are a ton of free courses available online. We have taken several courses offered by Udemy, and they have a lot of business courses and some very good instructors. You can filter your search results to include only free courses.