Some Montgomery County businesses close, gym confirms member has coronavirus

The first coronavirus-related business closures in Montgomery County have occurred. The Apple Stores at Bethesda Row and Westfield Montgomery Mall have closed until March 27, 2020. Apple is closing all of its stores outside of China until that date. Mynd Spa & Salon at Pike & Rose announced at the close of business last night that it would close indefinitely due to the coronavirus pandemic.

While those businesses closed to avoid employees and customers contracting covid-19, upscale gym Equinox in Bethesda already had a member who did. WUSA-9 reported that the Bethesda Row fitness facility confirmed a member tested positive for coronavirus after last working out there on March 9. Some employees and members of the gym expressed anxiety over its decision not to temporarily close, and WUSA-9 cited Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines that suggest a 24-hour closure is needed before an exposure site can be disinfected.

Mall operator Westfield released identical statements regarding its Montgomery Mall and Wheaton Plaza properties Saturday. Westfield stressed that both retail centers remain open, but that it will allow individual tenants to change hours or close as needed to protect their staff and patrons. The company added that the open status of the mall could change if the CDC or government authorities request such gathering places be closed.

President Trump announced he tested negative for coronavirus on Saturday. The United Kingdom announced citizens 70 and older would be asked to self-isolate in the near future, but Maryland Larry Hogan had long ago recommended Marylanders 60 and older do just that to avoid exposure to the virus.

Some of the business closures appear to be driven by the same magical thinking of local politicians that schools would somehow be able to reopen in only two weeks. That will almost certainly not be the case. Testing locally and nationally remains inadequate, and as a result, we have no true sense of how far and how rapidly covid-19 has spread in our county and region yet. But no credible medical professional believes this will blow over in two weeks. "I'm not an epidemiologist, but I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night."

Coronavirus slashes Metro ridership, Montgomery County restaurant/retail patronage

MoCo Council, Rockville leaders 

wall themselves off from public 

as COVID-19 spreads

Ridership of the Metro subway system and patronage of Montgomery County businesses plunged Thursday and yesterday, according to data from Google. As the week ended, the Montgomery County Council voted to bar the public from their building. The Council will continue to legislate and hold meetings, but their constituents will not be allowed to enter the Council building, sit in on those meetings or testify at public hearings. A long-held fantasy of the Montgomery County political cartel has now come true - citizens may now only email comments, meaning feedback will have virtually no public impact or reach to galvanize any resistance to Council moves.

The City of Rockville did the same, also barring the public from City Hall, meetings and public hearings. Gaithersburg canceled Mayor & Council work sessions, and meetings of other city bodies like the Planning Commission. Gaithersburg leaders did not officially bar the public from City Hall or their meetings, but are encouraging citizens to email comments and rely on live tweets from what will be streamlined Mayor & Council meetings on only the most pertinent city business for the time being.

Federal and state governments have not yet taken the likely most-effective step of closing all businesses except grocery stores and pharmacies, unlike some other countries. But many people are - wisely - staying in their homes anyway as much as possible.

Google data shows Metro ridership (pink)
during Thursday, Friday evening rush
was a fraction of what it usually is

Google real-time data showed Metro ridership on the Red Line at the Bethesda station was not even half of the average for Thursday and Friday evening rush hours. The Google data also showed patronage of restaurants and retail centers continuing the dramatic slide first reported here earlier this week.

Woodmont Grill, which has the largest volume of sales of any downtown Bethesda restaurant according to industry insiders, seemed the least hurt of any Montgomery County dining establishment. But patronage at Red Robin in Germantown was less than half what it would usually be on a Friday evening at dinnertime, according to Google's real-time count.

A decline in traffic at Red Robin,
combined with heavy sales of hamburger
buns at local stores, suggests more
burgers are being consumed at home

Traffic at Westfield Montgomery Mall was down about half last evening according to Google. Ellsworth Place mall in downtown Silver Spring was faring better, with traffic only down about a third. Silver Spring seemed to be slightly more insulated from the coronavirus panic, as even the Regal Majestic IMAX cineplex was still mustering about a 60% turnout - much better than the scenes of empty movie palaces being shared by brave moviegoers on social media Friday night.

Officials are protecting themselves, but whistling past the graveyard in not taking further steps to stop the spread of coronavirus. Because so many have not been tested, and because the precise nature and scope of the virus' spread in the region is not yet clear, these same officials will likely be caught short by next week when the total number of infected residents could well skyrocket. The general consensus of the Montgomery County cartel that this will somehow be a "two week" pandemic is almost certifiably nuts, as was the Maryland House voting to ban plastic bags in the midst of a world health catastrophe. This is the last time you would want people reusing dirty bags in public places or their own homes.

To add insult to injury, just as homebound residents turn even more heavily to streaming services like Netflix for some diversion, our corrupt elected officials quietly moved their Netflix tax forward. If passed - and if Gov. Larry Hogan's veto is overturned, Montgomery County residents would have to pay a tax on each of the many streaming services they subscribe to.

Some of our elected officials need professional help, folks. Or at least a clue.

Montgomery County Public Schools to close for 2 weeks as coronavirus panic peaks

Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan ordered all
schools in the state to close for 2 weeks
starting Monday, March 16 for coronavirus

"Don't make me come back there." Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan finally pulled the car over and went back there, making the executive decision to close all Maryland public schools for two weeks beginning Monday, March 16, 2020, as Montgomery County Public Schools leaders continued to drag their feet amidst growing panic over the coronavirus. Ultimately, Hogan had to act, as school officials who see their system as its own government body and social services agency were frozen by political concerns.

"How do we indoctrinate kids ideologically, if they're at home?! How do we ever have a snow day again, once it's proven we can teleteach kids over the computer at home? What if, after two weeks or two months of no school, taxpayers realize we aren't actually doing all that much with the multi-billions of dollars MoCo taxpayers are forced to fork over to us annually?"

Those and other political questions will now actually be contemplated and answered by residents over the next two weeks. But residents, a majority of whom don't even have kids in MCPS, have other pressing matters on their mind. Child care and paper goods were chief among them Thursday.

Hoarding hordes gave the county's empty paper goods aisle another ransacking for good measure Thursday evening. Perhaps there were invisible rolls that the rest of us had missed. Even Walmart's online toilet paper supply ran out as America faces a pandemic with no end in sight, and a potential total collapse of a national economy that was booming for many just a couple of weeks ago.

Hogan on Thursday banned gatherings of more than 250 people, even as event cancellations flooded the news and email boxes. He deployed the National Guard. The Republican governor also announced the first case of community transition of the covid-19 virus in Maryland.

As the nation inched closer to martial law and a total lockdown similar to Italy, local businesses began to take to social media to make clear they were still open, and taking proactive steps to protect customers and employees from the virus. Brickside Food & Drink in Bethesda announced it would temporarily suspend lunch service beginning March 18, and now open at 3:00 PM on weekdays, while stepping up its cleaning regimen to regularly disinfect surfaces. The restaurant said it would continue to maintain its regular nighttime and weekend brunch hours, still opening at 11:00 AM on Saturdays and Sundays. 

Brickside is even revising its menu, and emphasizing its home delivery options, the latter a recurring theme among many restaurant social media posts yesterday. "We promise not to hug you, but we'll be thrilled to see you," Chef Geoff Tracy joked in an otherwise-serious post from his Chevy Chase restaurant Lia's that emphasized the heavy impact a drop in customers would have on his employees. He, too, emphasized the option of DoorDash delivery. Owen's Ordinary at Pike & Rose said something a lot of diners would like to hear more of - that they will be sending home any staff member who is showing symptoms of illness. 

Small, independent coffee shops took a cue from Starbucks and banned the practice of allowing customers to bring their old cups in to be used for a fresh drink. Clove & Cedar Coffeebar on St. Elmo Avenue in Bethesda said they would temporarily halt the practice as Starbucks has, while continuing to use compostable paper goods. Saints Row in Rockville announced they would suspend filling growlers brought in by patrons, and more frequently disinfect the brewery's public areas. Silver Spring's Astro Lab Brewing said late Thursday night that they were ramping up canning operations in case they need to switch to offering to-go options only.

With all major movie releases being postponed, schools and universities shutting their doors, and the entire sports world shutting down indefinitely, America is a nation about to go into hibernation. It's unclear what the magic number of "two weeks" means in the real world. Unless the virus proves to be seasonal, retreating until the fall or winter, there's no end in sight for coronavirus. 

Amazon 4-star store opening at Montgomery Mall in Bethesda

Montgomery County didn't get the Amazon headquarters, but the retail giant will now open an Amazon 4-star store at Westfield Montgomery Mall in 2020. Their 4-star store concept is what it sounds like - a selection of popular products rated 4-stars or higher on Amazon.com, top sellers, or new and buzzworthy.

The 4-star store will offer Prime prices to Prime members, but you won't have to be a Prime member to shop there. It will also, not surprisingly, showcase Amazon hardware like Kindle, Fire tablets and Alexa-based home gadgets. 

Besides books and electronics, departments will include kitchen, housewares, toys and games. No grocery items are currently carried in Amazon 4-star stores, however. Amazon 4-star stores don't use the much-hyped Amazon "Just Walk Out" payment system, either. 

Amazon 4-star will be on Level 1 in the Nordstrom wing, in the space recently vacated by Furniture Place. It looked like Victoria's Secret was moving there, but it turns out that was an old VS sign uncovered when the furniture store sign was removed. Amazon 4-star will be in-between Intimissimi and Zara, below Stuart Weitzman, in one of the largest spaces in that wing of the mall.

The Amazon lease is another coup for the mall, which has been buffeted by a rash of closures in recent months. Westfield has bounced back quickly with coveted tenants like Amazon 4-star and Frank Pepe's Pizzeria. The latter shocked many when it chose the mall for its first pizza parlor outside of the northeast U.S., another sign of Westfield's long-term plans to upscale the property that began with the addition of ArcLight Cinemas, and will continue with an urban-style mixed-use addition off of the Sears wing later this decade.

Starbucks warns of changes ahead as coronavirus panic accelerates

You could see coronavirus-related changes at your favorite Starbucks in the coming days and weeks - assuming American businesses remain open that long. Shortly after the Italian government shuttered all of that nation's businesses besides grocery stores and banks, and the governor of New York called in the National Guard to oversee a coronavirus "containment zone" in New Rochelle, Starbucks CEO Kevin Johnson emailed a personal letter to customers.

The coffee chain recently admitted what I said all along - that refilling dirty cups brought in by customers, and having them handled by the same people preparing your drinks, is unsanitary and a heightened risk to spread disease like the coronavirus - and axed that disgusting policy for now. Now Starbucks may go further. Johnson said that, based on the rapidly evolving situation, you might find your neighborhood Starbucks store only serving customers by delivery and mobile pick-up orders.

Stores that remain fully open could limit the number of customers seated inside, to facilitate "social distance" protocols. If the store has a drive-thru, that might alternatively be the only way to make an order. In the worst-case scenario, Johnson wrote, "we will close a store if we feel it is in the best interest of our customers and partners, or if we are directed to do so by government authorities. In any such situation, we expect store disruption to be temporary."

Johnson also added that the company is also watching out for its employees. Starbucks is now expanding catastrophe pay to cover employees who must miss work due to contraction of, or exposure to, covid-19.

MoCo Humane Society has urgent need for hard-to-find items in coronavirus panic buying

Rocky and his fellow adoptable friends at the Montgomery County Humane Society in Rockville need your help. Humans have cleared the shelves of hand sanitizer, hand soap, bleach, Clorox wipes, toilet paper and wet and dry puppy food in coronavirus-related shopping. The society is "urgently" asking residents who can donate these supplies, along with sheets and blankets, to bring them to their headquarters at 601 S. Stonestreet Avenue, Rockville, MD 20850 between 11:00 AM and 5:00 PM seven days a week.

Target now rationing coronavirus items

Target has begun rationing items high in demand by customers during the coronavirus outbreak. Products like disinfecting wipes, paper goods and bottled water have been flying off shelves nationwide since Americans began coming down with the covid-19 virus. The announcement was buried within a longer statement regarding new cleaning procedures for stores, and other strategies the big box retailer is implementing to reduce the spread of the virus.

Other retailers have also begun rationing supplies they say consumers are hoarding, including Wegmans and Kroger. But Target's biggest rival, Walmart, has yet to announce it will ration goods.

Target CEO Brian Cornell wrote that stores are adding paid hours to allow employees to clean surfaces and equipment like check-outs more frequently. Touchscreens and check-out surfaces will be cleaned every 30 minutes, Cornell promised. They have temporarily suspended food sampling in stores, and are staffing up to meet greater demand for curbside pick-up. Target is also reducing all non-essential corporate and employee travel.