Visiting audio stores?

I was at my dealer last Friday getting my preamp re-tubed, imagine being on lockdown with no tunes! Just the store manager was there the owner and another employee out doing a custom install. I ended up spending 3 hours there as my 9 preamp tubes were tested and 6 matching replacements were found, and he answered the phone and dealt with 2 other customers. It was honestly a pleasant distraction.

I'm in Santa Clara county, California and the shelter in place order applies to us. So we aren't holding auditions or going out to visit anyone. But we're still available via our other normal means of communication like email and phone, and we're also doing video calls. So far, shipping companies are still operating as normal and we can still ship things out.

Regarding Covid-19, my main concern is not so much a personal life-threatening illness, but the potential of its consequences surmounting health-care capabilities. 

A spike of folks needing hospitalization that they may not be able to easily, or timely receive, is a definite concern.  Especially when dealing with an-until-now, unknown viral agent. 

We never know when we may need hospitalization & equipment for the Corona virus or the seasonal flu, or for other life-threatening illnesses.  Hence, the recent steps taken by federal, state and local governments in the U.S. to flatten the Covid-19 outbreak curve.

It's good to know that ~80% of the people afflicted with Covid-19 will ostensibly not need specialized care.  But if +/- 20% of people needing medical intervention were to present en masse (so to speak), things could get bad for everyone needing specialized care, very quick indeed.   

The ironic fact that Covid-19 depicts is:  that ~40,000 to 60,000 yearly fatalities are related to the seasonal flu in the U.S.  The news media as sensational as it is geared, doesn't dwell or specifically focus on this striking figure -- the fatalities have simply become "expected".  And with the exception of the annual flu vaccine and the admonition to wash hands et al, the CDC, federal and state government's have never taken the draconian steps that are now being done for Covid-19. 

So, the devil is in the details of leveling-off the outbreak frequency numbers.  Which theoretically will allow the healthcare professionals to handle the influx of those needing hospital/ICU care.  Time will tell whether these steps were sufficient, or in fact, even warranted.  But until that time, to err towards complacency as opposed to action, would seem to be a dubious and even incorrect direction to take.    
    

The danger is very real, and serious. The reason we just saw a comprehensive multi-trillion dollar stimulus package is this paper by epidemiologist Dr Neil Ferguson and published today by the Imperial College of London showing that merely acting to slow rather than completely stop the spread would "still likely result in hundreds of thousands of deaths and health systems (most notably intensive care units) being overwhelmed many times over." https://www.imperial.ac.uk/media/imperial-college/medicine/sph/ide/gida-fellowships/Imperial-College...

In other words exactly what I been saying for two solid months, only now its a prestigious epidemiologist reporting to the White House.

Their projection is for 2.2M (yes, million) deaths in the US.

That said, the Wuhan virus is spread not by speakers but by, uh, speakers. When you talk, or even breathe, it comes out in your breath. If you are infected. Which you must at this point assume that you are, and everyone else as well. Also assume every surface in the area of breathing people is contaminated, since moist breath and particles tend to drift and eventually settle on surfaces.

Wearing a mask interferes with this process. Virus that gets caught in the mask is virus not being deposited on surfaces. So avoid people, especially people so clueless or inconsiderate as to not be masked. Avoid touching surfaces anywhere anyone has been, because they could be contaminated. Above all wash and sanitize your hands like crazy and especially before eating or touching your face.

Do those things, maintain a distance of a good 6 feet, and there’s no reason not to go audition some gear. If that still somehow manages to be so important.

I am 71, in good health. My wife and I are not leaving home, except to take a daily walk or visit a park, and to get groceries every 10 days or so. I do not wish to be on a ventilator, and now I've assembled a great system, I'd like to live to enjoy it.