What is it like where you are?

[TheRealCallie]

We are all dealing with Coronavirus right now and it seems like everything is shutting down.  How is it where you are?  What is the government doing to keep you safe?  Do you think it's as bad as they are saying it is?  How is it impacting your anxiety/depression/loneliness? 

Where I am, everything is shutting down.  Schools are closed, colleges are online only, bars and all recreational businesses are closed, stores have changed their hours restaurants are closed.  There is no toilet paper or food on the shelves, though stores are working hard to get daily shipments.  Thank goodness for truck drivers. 
The government in my state are going to extreme measures to try to keep the number of cases low, but I feel it's just going to keep going since a lot of people don't care or don't think it will be bad for them.  I think for younger healthy people it will be fine, but the problem is that older people and compromised people won't and they will get it because the younger people aren't doing what they can to prevent it.  Currently, my state has less than 100 cases, but it gets higher every day.  I personally think it's everywhere and people just don't realize they have coronavirus or they aren't showing symptoms.

 

[ringwood]

I'm in the Kootenays in B.C., Canada. Everything is closing down, our province has declared a State of Emergency. Kids are on Spring Break right now for 2 weeks - they just announced yesterday that school is suspended 'indefinitely', which most likely means for the rest of the year. They are talking about electronic/online learning, so I hope that's a possibility. Libraries, community centres, rec centres and all public municipal facilities are all closed. Some businesses are starting to close, places like thrift stores and art studios. They have banned events/gatherings with more than 50 people, so that includes places like restaurants. Unless restaurants can switch to a take-out/drive-thru format, they will have to close. Bars and nightclubs were ordered to close yesterday by our provincial health officer. The grocery stores are struggling to keep up with 'panic buying' (people are so friggin' stupid. Freight is still coming in regularly, panic buying just induces more panic.)

In B.C., we now have 186 confirmed cases and 7 deaths.

I am very fortunate in that I can work from home and with my son now home from school, I am doubly fortunate that I don't need to find childcare (next to impossible). Although not sure about homeschooling for the foreseeable future. I'm not a drinker, but I may be by the end of this!!

Yes, I think it's absolutely as bad as they're saying it is which is why they're going to such extraordinary and extreme measures to control it. This is unprecedented. And I think for the most part, people are heeding the message.

 

[TheRealCallie]

I work at home too. Have for 10 years.

Tylenol and thermometers are also gone from the shelves now.

 

[user 115627]

Things aren't too bad in the east of Germany. I'm on of the states with comparably lower case numbers with no deaths so far. There are some cases in my city and about 200 people in quarantine currently. Some colleagues at work have struggled to get their hands on some toilet paper, so that seems to be a universal. My lifestyle is pretty much unchanged since I just go back between work and home. My company is aiming to send as many people as possible into home office and that might eventually include me, but nothing is mandatory so far. Not like I can catch anything in a deserted office either. There are a lot of meetings and talks going on as you'd expect for a place that deals in non-essential goods during these times when restaurants and all kinds of stores are closing temporarily. I went to the supermarket today and cashiers should avoid accepting any hard cash which I can't imagine being easy. While many people buy bulk, others still go to the store just to get a single bread or some chewing gum. There will always be unreasonable people and especially right now it's important to stay clear of them if you aren't doing it already.

 

[TropicalStarfish]

Coronavirus is not everywhere.

It's a global pandemic, though.  So it's going to cover the globe.  Don't be a panic buyer.  You compound the problem by hoarding resources and therefore deprive those who need it.  There's enough food and enough toilet paper, if people would be sensible.

The only way to possibly stop the spread of this is by closing things down, locking down, and quaruntining.  Which, is what a lot of governments are doing, probably as per recommendations by the CDC; so, be thankful for that, don't panic, be hygenic, be informed, be kind, and be a civilized human being.

It's a waiting game.  So wait patiently.  By the end of the Summer Solstice, perhaps before, you can expect to have a more clear picture.  Don't binge watch the news, it's nothing but 24/7 fear mongering (has been for decades probably).

Gamers and others are Folding@Home to help fight the Corona, I believe. So many people are joining up to help out, they can't churn out enough work units for people. Join in.

 

[Cucuboth]

Where I am in Australia (near Sydney), everything is still open. There is not much food left in the shops though. No TP or paper towels, hand sanitizer, ect ect. Even gym is still open. Stopped there after work today, and there is posters about keeping a distance from others ... not a problem for me anyway, since nobody comes close to me at the best of times ... and there is extra hand sanitizer and wipes and stuff, although while I was there, apart from myself, I only saw one other person actually use any of it.

But yeah. Apart from the shops, there is no real difference here tbh.

 

[Just Games]

Yeah same as above , schools restaurants pubs closing down food running out.But a great sense of community and helping each other out especially the elderly is a great thing emerging from all of this.Sense of humour is still rampant people still laughing and joking in shops . One of my older customers said he was asked five times in one day if he needed any shopping.People just talking to each other in the street,neighbours an all.Of course who knows what the future holds but Brits including me are slow to catch on how serious this could be , still seeing people hugging and rarely do you see a mask and I drive around alot of areas of London in my work.Whether we go lockdown as far as China who knows .
And a little later having been down the shops everyone looking miserable maybe realisation hitting home , dog eat dog on the horizon ,let's hope people stop hoarding food plenty to go around.Fugging hard to be positive but kids asking questions and some nervous about it all just have to keep up a front because it filters down your anxiety and I'm good at hiding it anyway.

 

[Sci-Fi]

Pretty much the same as everywhere else, schools, bars, restaurant dinning rooms, government offices are all closed. The restaurants are still open for pickup and delivery though but most are only accepting credit or debit, no cash. The Canada/US border is now closed to all non essential travel. Stores keep running out of toilet paper, hand sanitizer, dry/canned goods. They keep telling people not to overstock, you only need enough for about two weeks if you become infected, you need to think of everyone else. I haven't been able to buy anymore hand sanitizer in weeks, not that I'm out but it is getting low. The airports are shutting down flights coming into Canada on the 23rd, if you don't get back by then you are stuck. And only Canadian citizens or permanent residents will be allowed back into the country. The government keep telling people not to overstock, you only need a few weeks worth if you are isolating or become infected. Lots aren't listening.

Where I work we are still open and we mainly do business with contractors, most of them we've seen haven't traveled recently. We didn't have much of a winter so they were able to keep working all season long. I keep worrying that some of those jackasses who think this isn't a big deal might come around. The health officials keep telling everyone who have traveled in the past few weeks that they must self isolate themselves. Some aren't doing it. My brother is a travel agent, his office is closed to the public but they have been very busy trying to get some people back and cancel any current travel plans people had.

Ontario has 311 confirmed cases, there are only 2 in my area. On the bright side though over 13700 people have tested negative. There are over 5000 waiting on results. A testing center only opened up a few days ago here, so we might see a jump next week when results start coming back in. There have only been 2 deaths so far in the province. Ontario was kind of slow at acting, the government has taken some heat for that.

Funny story though, my mom when to our local Canadian Tire store since they were supposed to have toilet paper on sale. She doesn't need any but loves to pick up extra when it's on sale, it's hard for her to pass on a sale when it comes to stuff like that. They weren't open yet when she got there and some people were starting to line up, so she got in line too. Thankfully most were keeping their distance from each other. All of a sudden the parking lot became flooded with people and the line grew all the way down the front of the store. When they opened the doors one old guy in the line asked if they had toilet paper, the store clerk told them the truck didn't come in, they don't have any. Everyone started to leave, and people further down the line were asking those leaving if the store had toilet paper. My mom said the line diminished as quickly as it formed. She had a hard time leaving the parking lot with everyone leaving at the same time.

 

[ahsatan]

Schools are closed. Also restaurants too but u can order take out. Hard to find name brand toilet paper. Line ups are not as bad anymore at stores. No one is hoarding soap. lol People encouraged to work from home. People need to stay 6 feet away from each other but not all do.
Can't go to a dentist unless you absolutely have too. Lots of surgeries are cancelled. 20 people only have it here on Winnipeg.

Staying at home is fine as long as u have purrfect company.

 

[soresoul]

Life is normal where I live. Only schools and government places are closed. Toilet paper and other essential needs are not short supply at all. Otherwise, restaurants, bars, stores etc are up and running. My business I own are still going strong. Life is great.

 

[Livebreathesmile]

Here in the UK, we seem to have got past the 'It won't come to our doorstep' mindset and the message seems to have hit home now. Only shops selling food and supermarket are open, only essential manufacturing eg food manufacturing, manufacturers of resources for the NHS etc. Pubs, restaurants, schools, colleges, sports and leisure all closed.

We are allowed one session of outdoor exercise per day (although not stipulated how long this should be), we are allowed to shop for essential items, but can of course pick other stuff up whilst we're doing it eg chocolate, booze etc

On a personal note, I am working from home but it's tough as I work mainly with people from other organisations. I now have a structure to my day, so I achieve things at work and at home every day and I learn something new every day. I am trying to watch just one news bulletin a day and have some rewards for the day eg between 9pm and 11pm I'm going through my DVD collection!

But it's surreal and I think it's going to change the way we live in the future. I also think it's going to kill a lot of people, I'm with Trump that China aren't telling the truth. In Italy it's a catastrophe and the UK is heading that way.

Hopefully, it'll never happen again in our lifetimes and therefore, for now, it's best to just 'stay in' whilst the world adjusts.

 

[Finished]

A great number of businesses are open as usual in Phoenix, AZ. When I head out to rip toilet paper out of the hands of old women or steal shopping carts from single moms, I'm shocked at how normal things seem to be. Well, panic buying aside that is. Some stupid checkout person at Home Depot actually put her hand on my back to comfort me when the self check out register wasn't working. WTF! Really? 

MANY people are heading to the parks and trails to congregate, socialize, and brag about how much free money they are going to get from the government. People are so stupid. I'll give you a dollar today and you will owe me a $million later. Okay, sounds great!

Many of the "third world" countries have been smart. You shut EVERYTHING done for two to three weeks and then things are way better. Here in the US we half ass things so everything has an exception to being closed. Basically the only things that are closed are dine in portions of restaurants and sports stuff. Although a couple days ago I saw two semi-fast food places allowing people to dine in.

So, everybody in the US will get the Coronavirus probably before any real cure or vaccine is available making all this economic turmoil for not. Trump has always said and wanted to devalue the US dollar to make it easier to export US items. But, it screws over savers and retired folks on fixed incomes. It also allows the US to borrow even more money due to low interest rates. 

To be honest I kind of think I got the Coronavirus mid-Feb. I have no desire, or ability, to get tested because it doesn't make any difference. We're beyond the need for testing. It's here.

 

[TheRealCallie]

Still much the same in my area, but I have a few more cases in my county.  My area is still barely testing anyone and someone who works at the rehab center tested positive and my uncle was there after his surgery until last week, so it's possible that he could have been exposed to it.  It's unlikely he would fair well if he did get it, so he better not have it.  

New York (I don't live there) has nearly half the cases in America and honestly, I hope Trump puts them on serious lockdown because it won't get better otherwise.  I don't know how it will work if he does that, but I'm sure there's a way, even if the National Guard drops off food for them at their houses.  People everywhere (from what my friends are saying on Facebook) are still having parties.  All of America just needs to shut down for two **** weeks so this can end and we can resume our lives.  
I'm starting to worry about my oldest son, he's getting more and more anxious, I'm going to have to call his therapist's office to find out what's going on with the phone therapy sessions because they still haven't called to let me know how it will work.  I think his college has something in place to help students, I'll have him check into that too.  I have to get him less anxious or he will start tanking his assignments and lose his academic scholarship.  

Also, I'll just leave this here in case anyone wants it.
[img=350x350]https://i.insider.com/5e6a58e684159f61963287a2?width=750&format=jpeg&auto=webp[/img]

 

[user 139760]

In my case, life goes on. Montreal is I think, the epicentre for Canada right now, with most cases exclusively on the west end of the island. Probably because that's the area where wealthier people who travel more live. I'm expecting by this week the army will come in and cut off the island, only essential travel will be allowed. I'm one of the few still working, since we make protein bars for US and Canadian markets. I don't know how long I'll still be working, since some factories outside the island are starting to close because of contagion, but so far, so good.
Meanwhile, life goes on. Besides going to work and going to my local cornerstore, nothing changes much. What is changing is people's reaction. Some are starting to fly off the deep end. Like the kids running around the subway trashing stuff for shits and giggles, or licking doors and stairs and posting it on social media to show they arent scared of the virus. I'm thinking in about 3 weeks time we'll have about quadrupled the numbers we have, while hoping I'm wrong.

 

[TheRealCallie]

I went to the store today. I was surprised that it wasn't too busy and everyone was practicing social distancing. The pasta was mostly gone and there was no TP or paper towels, but they had everything else.
Trump extended the social distancing policy til the end of April. The governor decided to keep schools closed until at least May 1...it's going to be closed the rest of the year, I don't know why they just don't do it now.

 

[Just Games]

Queue is nearly 45 minutes long to even get into our local big supermarket.Only one family member allowed in at a time, security pulls you out if they suspicious there's two together.Some still not realising and queue together....but get pulled out at the entrance.

 

[ahsatan]

Salons are opened now.

 

[soresoul]

I feel very fortunate that the state I live in never had a stay at home order and no business closed. We are still doing the 6 feet distance from others. I’m glad everyone else life is starting to go back to normal...for now.