After the announcement yesterday that one person in the next town over from me has been diagnosed with Covid-19 (two more have since tested positive), I made the hard decision to take time off from my job until it is safe to return. The job entails serving customers directly on the sales floor, checking them out at cash registers, handling their money and merchandise they touch, all of which effectively prevents me from practicing "social distance" from the customers I serve. While I have no "pre-existing" conditions, I am over 60 years old, and more important, I have a retired husband at home who is also over 60 and diabetic. My husband is the main reason why I go into self-imposed isolation. I am employed with a big box store that sells food and other necessary supplies in addition to entertainment goods and clothes. The only reason it is still open is because it sells the necessary food and medicine supplies. However I work in a department that would be considered "non-essential". While I feel sorry to leave my coworkers to pick up the slack, I feel no guilt leaving until it is safe for me to return. I only hope that I was not exposed to the virus before making this decision to leave. I will know in two weeks. My husband and I have practiced social distancing with each other as best we could for at least the past week. I hope it is enough.

As of today (March 24th ), the State of Maryland reports 349 citizens diagnosed with Covid-19. Yesterday that total was 288. I know that these numbers seem miniscule compared to what some other states and countries around the world are going through, but this is really only the beginning for us. We have neighboring states with far higher infection rates (most notably New York). I hope the aggressive policies being instituted by the Governor of my state works to drastically lower the potential infection rate that will prevent overwhelming our healthcare system.