Yes, a coronavirus month has passed. We should have seen it coming from six feet away.
Friday, March 13 was when I last set foot in The Bee newsroom. That’s one month I haven’t seen the inside of the beautiful old building at 21st and Q streets where I have worked for 30 years. And no, I have never been away from my newsroom for this long.
Friday, March 13 at 4:40 a.m. and drove to my gym in Natomas where I joined teammates in a packed spin class from 5:30 a.m. to 6:30 a.m. We had a great session, but as we left, our coach advised us to monitor the gym’s website for updates on whether classes would be held the following week.
They weren’t and I haven’t been back since.
Friday, March 13, my kids last set foot on their campus and they are just now – one month later – formally beginning distance learning from their bedroom in our home.
Friday, March 13 was the last time I had lunch at a restaurant with another human being. It was very pleasant – Frank Fat’s always is – but you couldn’t ignore the foreboding feeling in the air despite the sunny weather and the facade of an ordinary day in Sacramento.
Looking back, it’s mind blowing how unprepared we were a month ago for the coming pandemic that jumped our borders while we were sleeping. By March 13, glaring signs of trouble were initially confronted with half measures in partial darkness and denial.
NBA goes dark
The NBA had already suspended its season by March 11. An NBA player, Rudy Gobert of the Utah Jazz, had tested positive for COVID-19. A referee who had come in contact with Gobert – Courtney Kirkland – was in Sacramento to officiate that night’s game.
And yet the game was going to go on.
New Orleans Pelicans players refused to come out of their locker room before the obvious finally happened – the game was suspended.
What were county and state health officials and the NBA thinking?
California is praised for reacting much faster than other states to embrace the now universally accepted method of social distancing to slow the spread of COVID-19. Another month anniversary is approaching: Gov. Gavin Newsom issued a shelter-in-place order March 19.
But just a month ago, right before then, precious time was lost amid chaotic and contradictory decisions.
The first cases of COVID-19 in Sacramento were detected roughly two weeks before that aborted March 11 Kings game, according to county records.
By March 11, the county had 68 cases of COVID-19. The curve of contagion was already arching toward trouble. There would be 106 cases by March 13, my last day at the gym and at work.
Schools close
The first major event that brought the pandemic home was the surprise announcement on Saturday, March 8, that the Elk Grove Unified School District would close all its schools. A few days later it was announced that an EGUSD student had tested positive for COVID-19.
The district was criticized, including by me, for jumping the gun ahead of other county schools. But in hindsight, part of the reason the Elk Grove decision seemed rash was not the fault of EGUSD officials.
County executives bungled internal communications leaving key elected officials in the dark. And, also in hindsight, the district was let down by county education officials and state health officials who were slow to react to what was happening on the ground.
Counties were responding to COVID-19 in vastly different ways and the situation cried out for more state guidance by the time EGUSD acted.
Later that night on March 8, after EGUSD officials faced the heat all day, state health officials released guidelines for schools to cope with COVID-19. Chief among those guidelines were recommendations that districts consider closing after multiple positive tests on multiple campuses.
There had not been multiple positive tests on multiple EGUSD campuses but they closed down anyway.
So the March 8 guidelines from the state solidified the view that Elk Grove had acted too soon.
Within days, district officials reversed course and allowed the Sheldon High School boys basketball team to participate in a highly anticipated playoff game on March 10. Other school activities were allowed to go on as well.
But on March 12, just two days after Sheldon’s momentous win, state high school sports officials canceled the state basketball finals at Golden 1 Center.
And the next day on March 13, all county schools were closed starting March 16.
COVID-19 sends us home
By the time the statewide stay at home order was rendered, the number of COVID-19 cases in Sacramento had jumped to 240.
As of April 13, the county was reporting 739 cases and 27 deaths.
Gov. Gavin Newsom has acknowledged the startling lack of tests in California for COVID-19 and, to his credit, has owned up to it.
Without those tests, all numbers related to COVID-19 have to be taken with a grain of salt. Even though the last month has seemed endless, making my last lunch date seem ages ago, the truth is I may have been one of those asymptomatic cases of COVID-19 that went undetected.
When the curve of contagion was already moving upward, I was at my gym, in an enclosed room, sweating it out with a room full of spin teammates.
I was sitting across a restaurant with a friend and we didn’t have six feet between us.
Reach a month of isolation has made yearn for those ordinary days of simple pleasures, just like most people I know.
But when I think of that time a month ago, what I remember most is how we had not yet grasped the concept of social distancing when we should have.
We were still letting people go to restaurants and bars as the curve spiked and more people got sick.
As Californians, we have done better than other states. But how many people got sick before we finally “met the moment” Newsom often says?
I think we all know the answer: Too many.
This story was originally published April 14, 2020 at 5:00 AM.
