I'm living in one of the earliest hit areas in the northeast and it is frightening. We have been isolated in our home for two weeks. The streets are empty except for the UPS trucks. Fortunately, I thought about stocking up on some things when we first heard of the virus appearing outside of China, but still, one of us, my sister, had to go out for groceries to get a few essentials. Going to the store takes some preparation - leaving and coming home - mask, gloves, hair tucked into a hat and long coat. The store has security guards at the end of every other aisle in addition to the police officers posted at the main doors. The loud speaker announces every few minutes to remain at least 6 feet away from each other and most people are doing that. Everyone talks about food and supply shortages, no sugar, no chicken, no bread, no toilet paper, no bleach, the shelves are bare by the end of the day so you have to go at the crack of dawn after they have restocked. You can really tell what people don't like ie there were a few cans of creamed corn on the shelf but no regular canned corn. I like creamed corn so that was fortunate. Yesterday morning, they allowed people one roll of toilet paper each. Not one package, only one single roll. The security guards make sure no one is too close to the checkout clerks, thank goodness for them, and we are so grateful for them. Arriving home, the items are unpacked outside the front door, packaging doesn't come inside. Then, the items are placed inside the front door and stay there until they are each wiped down with disinfectant. All of the clothes are stripped off at the door and put into the washing machine and then a shower before coming into the living room. It is surreal. And for the next 6 days (the estimated time of contagion), she has to keep six feet away from us and that isn't easy because we don't have a big house, but we manage, like not going into the kitchen at the same time and our chairs are spaced as far apart as we can get them. But if she doesn't get symptoms we can relax the six-foot rule at least in our home. It seems extreme but it isn't bc my daughter and I have asthma and I have other health issues. And doctors say if you have to go out among people then assume you are a carrier so that you take the necessary precautions when you come home. Makes sense. It is the waiting for symptoms that has me so scared, one of us coughs and we all freeze with a fraction of a second of fear. I distract myself with silly YouTube videos of animals and watch light hearted tv shows, and come into SL of course, where I found that Callie has set up this place for us to talk about it and she has the virus. I pray every day for God to make people safe and healthy, and I thank God for what we still have - each other. I didn't intend to write this much. Blessings shower all of you.
Corona Virus - how can we help?
