Oh, my. This virus still isn't quelled. I thought you were going to say closed, like in leaving the area, not closed for Covid.

I don't know why I'm surprised. My bank was closed for a week last month 'out of an abundance of caution' other than the drive up. The office in a nearby town about 30 minutes from here was closed for two weeks beginning on the same date. It made me wonder if they didn't have some traveling employees who may have worked both branches.

Hang in there people and don't become too casual. This isn't quite over yet.

In n' Out Burger had a HUGE grand opening with the warehouse next door....never closed....announced 122 employees had covid. Costco here had an outbreak. Our bank was closed to "clean" when employees tested positive. Last November was terrible! This is being treated very casually....now....

I too thought you were going to say that it had been closed forever. Before the virus started I noticed that in some of the small towns I drove through the Walmart's had been closed. Granted they were the smaller ones. I keep expecting the one I normally shop at to close because it too is one of the small to medium sized ones and there are two much larger ones within ten miles.

The virus is not dead and I was reading today that the new variations are affecting the younger set. I have a very hard time thinking that 70% of people over 65 have had the first shot as hard as it is receiving an appointment.

People around where I live are acting live covid is over. It is not. Granted, our cases are declining. However, my friend works at the department of health. She says hardly anyone is coming in to get tested anymore. I have had both vaccines (but not at the 15 day mark yet) and there is a lot I will not risk doing.

My friends great nephew and one of his daughters have COVID. The wife and younger daughter do not have it. He is a fireman, but they think the daughter got it from school. He was fully vaccinated!

Wear a mask people, we are not out of this yet!

Is it the Dearborn Walmart? I found articles saying that they were closing for "deep cleaning" - in other words hygiene theater. What they really need is to stick needles with vaccine into all the employees' arms. "Deep cleaning" only lasts until an infected person enters and contaminates the place.

maifleur, everybody over the age of 16 started being eligible here in South Carolina last Wednesday. My daughter and I got our first one on Thursday. Have to say I had to work on my husband. He agreed to get it if I can get him a Pfizer. Ok, booked an appointment for him last Friday afternoon to get the shot Saturday morning. And yes, he survived the huge needle :) My daughter and I went to a CVS about 4 miles away (Moderna), he went to a Walgreens 3 miles away.

The only place I am still going for groceries is Publix. Have to say for the past two weeks or so it seems people are ready to throw out their masks. Not many there in the early mornings, but it still makes me very uncomfortable.

Our governor just announced that the National Guard will be giving 168,000 shots in an 8 week period in the St Louis area. That is an area that has over 2 million people. Has only started in this state on Phase 2 people. However supposedly opening to all as of April 9. The places I have checked Walgreens, CVS, Grocery store Pharmacy's are not taking appointments as of last Friday. My second is scheduled for the 21st. I suspect that the lines will be longer.

Hubby told me some nearby bar had a grand opening not too long ago and now 40+ people are infected.

We're at the beginnings of another surge. Other countries like Italy and France are back on lockdown. Too many people here are being too careless 😟

The Texas Rangers had over 38,000 people at their home opener. Pictures of the crowd do show some wearing masks but I can only think of it as a massive pool of people about to become ill. I used to wonder about what people were thinking but have come to the conclusion that there is very little thinking just a ME, ME. The virus has made this very clear. Link to picture: Texas Rangers sell over 38,000 tickets to home opener, marking one of the first full-capacity sporting events in a year - CNN

I think there are a lot of people out there who flaunt the rules in order to prove that there is no pandemic and that covid is nothing. We have two ski resorts (one is Whistler) that closed three weeks early because of those kinds of idiots.

I think that grocery workers are very much at risk of getting Covid at work and need to be constantly vigilant. It does not take much for one careless moment to cause one person to get infected, and then it can spread quickly and easily to other employees.

This isn't over yet - not everyone is vaccinated - and there are variants here now that spread more easily and quickly.

I've been very careful about where I shop for groceries, and I would never have considered entering a Walmart. I also avoided Cárdenas because it was known for being crowded and for having children. However, I have not heard of any outbreaks at Cárdenas, but we did not go there for quite a while, especially when there were lines to get in.

That's a very curious event. Not once have I heard of a business closing due to an outbreak around here. I am watching to see what are the results of : #1 we had a Marshall's open in our town. Huge crowds. #2 State wrestling tournament was held in a neighboring State where they have no *19 restrictions. #3 our counties load numbers continue to rise but no talk of going back to the hybrid school schedules. Other than diligent mask wearing can't say there's anything I have changed in the last year--that I had control over. Now that I am fully vaccinated feeling pretty free if I had opportunities come my way.

We are seeing a huge uptick in younger cases. Our local convenience store has closed multiple times for cleaning due to covid. There are currently 20 cases at a local high school. I don't think we are out of the woods yet.

Our local WM is closing. They're sinking 2.1M into another WM.

Ours isn't a Superstore WM, it's a smaller one, but it will certainly be an inconvenience when it closes. I live in an established area where people have lived for generations; it's on a bus route, and a lot of seniors frequent that store and plaza. The other anchor store is a large grocery chain, and a new major drug store is getting the finishing touches. So the 3 stores are huge draws to the plaza. This will definitely hurt as it's walkable and easy to pick up a couple of sale items.

I am surprised others are surprised by this :-) A number of Walmart stores have instituted temporary closings due to Covid 19 and they have all been in the news. Over the last few months there have been at least 9 stores across the country (that I am aware of - could be more) that have closed at least for a day or two for " deep cleaning and sanitation".

fwiw, most of the closures have also been associated with numbers of employees of those stores testing positive.

I won't avoid a store that has had cases of Covid. The store I worked in had 3 employees who tested positive. Not at the same time, mind you. The first time, I got tested even though I knew I wasn't at risk as the guy who got it was new and we worked different shifts. I think I only talked to him long enough to say, "Hi! I'm going home now, enjoy your night!".... The pharmacy tech stayed home the minute she started feeling ill so nobody in the pharmacy had anything to worry about. And the pharmacist who got it (from a customer she did a covid test on), is married to a pharmacy tech. So they both had to quarantine, along with a few other pharmacists she worked side-by-side with for 14 days. Her husband had to quarantine an extra 14 days. The pharmacy was disinfected and never closed. Mind you, it's disinfected so often there was never a worry about spreading it, even in non-pandemic times.

Most businesses only have to close overnight while a cleaning crew comes in and cleans high touch areas (doors, counters, bathrooms). Most stores are done within a couple hours depending on the size. All staff who are in close contact cannot come back without a negative test. Two other staff members had symptoms and had to quarantine (my bosses orders) and could not come back to work without a negative covid test done: they both had a cold.

I have a very hard time thinking that 70% of people over 65 have had the first shot

The last that I read is that around 75% of seniors have had the first shot & over 50% are fully vaccinated. FWIW, DH & I got our first vax on January 30 & the second one on February 20. I waited two weeks & flew to AZ where my friend got her second dose while I was there (early March).

(Walmart is) on a bus route, and a lot of seniors frequent that store.

Our small WalMart closed several years ago when a larger one was built to replace it. What happened was the bus routes were expanded/ changed. Not long after, two different health care facilities were built near that WMT along with a lot of other retail outlets & a large new Goodwill. Cities/ town expand & change. Bus routes are easily altered & expanded.

Similarly, a grocery that served old mid-town closed & moved. This was a store that served a lot of seniors & pedestrian shoppers (across the street from a large mobile home village.) What happened was that another grocery located within 4 blocks of the closed grocery to fill the vacuum. This new one is a discount grocery which, when all is said & done, is a better fit for people on fixed incomes. Vs the old store which is part of a 'highest prices in town' chain operation. Part of the old grocery's parking lot is now filled with a KwikTrip. KT is a thriving quick shop chain that has very competitive pricing on staples like bread, milk, eggs, bananas. Plus a nice selection of bakery products.

On our Neighborhood this morning someone posted that about 50 Walmart employees were out because they either have COVID or have had contact with someone with it.

we live in small town America and do not have a plethora of places to shop.

Currently, only about 20% of the US population has been vaccinated. In our county, vaccines are trickling in slowly so vaccination locations run out within hours and then it's a week or more before they get more. Some people weren't able to get the second dose within the required time period. We are on a waiting list but expect to still have a fairly long wait to be vaccinated, and plan to continue being very careful.

According to the NY Times, as of this morning, a third of the US population has received at least one dose and many of the more vulnerable 65+ have been fully vaccinated. According to that same news report, 5% of the US population received at least the first of their injections during the past 5 days and we have hit the 3 million vaccines per day marker. They expect it to hit 4 million by the end of the month.

However, this is not to negate that availability has not been smooth nor necessarily equitable. Still lots of room for improvement!

I am over a month past my second shot and my life is the same. I wear a mask every time I enter a store and I don't eat at restaurants and only socialize with my daughter's family because they have all shots or are getting the second one today.

Yes, one-third of population with at least one dose & almost 19% fully vaccinated. Plus millions more who have acquired immunity due to having had Covid. Which means a diminishing # of people who can catch & pass on the virus. The virus is meeting an increasing number of dead ends.

4 million people in the US have received the one dose J&J vaccine. J&J reaffirmed its commitment to deliver 100 million doses to the US by the end of May. (This after the screw-up in Baltimore where 15 million doses had to be discarded.)

https://www.ft.com/content/3906ee0c-8062-496c-9bb7-d1814a30bdf3

According to the NY Times, as of this morning, a third of the US
population has received at least one dose and many of the more
vulnerable 65+ have been fully vaccinated.

NPR reported 18.9% as of April 5th, and 56% of over 65's. Sounds like NYT has more current info. At any rate, I wish our county had better access to the vaccine, especially since many of the country residents are well over 65.

Oklahoma is opening up covid vaccines to non-residents starting tomorrow.

https://www.koco.com/article/oklahoma-to-open-covid-19-vaccine-eligibility-to-nonresidents-starting-thursday/36052555

this was the Tawas, MI Walmart. It shut down at 2pm Easter Sunday and reopened Tuesday morning. The newspaper says they brought in a professional cleaning company and has their employees restocking.