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[JimH]

We're in Minnesota, as you may know.  We began working at home on March 13th.

Minnesota has about 100 cases of Covid-19 now.  Schools closed this week.  Stores are shutting down but there's still some activity.  People are becoming very careful about keeping some distance. 

Traffic in downtown Minneapolis yesterday was like it would be on a Sunday.

In another week, it's likely that only essential businesses will be open.

We're lucky so far, but it will probably change soon.

I have a lot of friends in France and they are really not going anywhere.  They're taking care of relatives and friends.

I wish you all the best. 

[davelr]

Denver. Things are rather sad particularly for most service businesses which are closed at least through April. Nobody's gone too crazy yet but time will tell. We've 363 cases this morning.

My wife and I are in our early 70's so we now have the unusual phenomena of having our younger neighbors checking in to see if we're ok. Kinda sweet actually. I just go to the grocery during their early morning "geezers only" hours.

One of our specialty groceries is encouraging customers to not cook and patronize restaurants that are allowed pick-up and delivery business. They included the attached image in their latest email. Thought it was appropriate.

Yeah, they forgot to include that your investments are going down the crapper.

Stay sane.

[kensn]

Hi Jim,,
I'm about 25 miles south of Seattle as the crow flies.

I was able to start working from home this week.

Closed are schools, libraries, restaurants (except for pick or delivery), bars, playgrounds and sport courts, and our transit system is reducing services but is currently fare free.

The last week I was commuting I did see a small decrease on commute traffic as people started working from home.

I am fortunate to work at a plant that produces dry mix food products, think cake and brownie mixes you buy at the store. It's a great company and has really stepped up in providing a safe environment for our production people. Social distancing, personal hygiene, elimination of meetings, paperless communication and extended emergency benefits are among the items implemented at this time.

My family has pretty much hunkered down at this time. My son, daughter and granddaughter live with me. My son and daughter are also in jobs that are not immediately effected at this time. We are all being very cautious.

Now the granddaughter... she wants to go out! Hard to explain we can't go play at the park as usual, or go to the indoor playground, or the zoo. Being creative to keep her busy. Took her out of preschool a few days before they cancelled anyway, so trying to keep her up at home on her education. Being creative around the house finding ways to occupy her time, and ours.

I think we will work in the back yard today, i'll see if she can pick up leaves and pull a couple of weeds. 

Take care Jim...

[Inquisition]

Germany, Weiden, Bavaria.

Lockdown at moment, but i and my wife had to go to work of course. i work every day other time, also weekends. don't know how long, at moment we had no known infection in our factory.

my wife is in a food shop. there are chaotic situations with all the panic people who buy like ww3 will come.

All not easy with an 8 year old child who has no school of course and nowhere to put when we in work. grandma or grandpa not an good  idea, cause one they in the critical age for heavy cases and grandma works in hospital at corona station.

[Jamil]

I'm in Pennsylvania, and I have been working from home since the beginning of the week this past Monday.  There is some panic here and all my appointments I had made were canceled (doctor and meeting with an attorney).

I still go out, and I still buy food at the local 24 hour convenience store.  I saw just one lady wearing a face mask at this same 24 hour convenience store that I thought was odd.  She was the only one I have ever seen wearing anything remotely like this.

I have not been keeping track of any cases, but I believe the number of infected in my state is minimal.  I am not overly concerned at all.

[JimH]

371 cases in PA as of today.  About 100 more than yesterday.
https://www.media.pa.gov/Pages/Health-Details.aspx?newsid=747

[fitbrit]

371 cases in PA as of today.  About 100 more than yesterday.
https://www.media.pa.gov/Pages/Health-Details.aspx?newsid=747

In the past 13 hours I've seen the cases in the US go up by about 3000 with 17 additional deaths.
https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/map.html?fbclid=IwAR1-XRuIuUAwcYEhCjIlN2p_gpgtOSQj7Rq1Y-YWCRp1NtPta4iTjQmoIdg

[fitbrit]

Generally, things are okay here in Montreal. We are isolating ourselves. We don't like the province's premier because of his culturally bigoted policies, but he's been stellar at saving lives so far. I wrote this last night:

As day 8 of isolation draws to an end, allow me to share some thoughts.
TL/DR: Is that a silver lining I glimpse? Read on if you dare (long!)...

What a wild ride. We have only the one child at home. It's been tough. Lots of screaming, lots of screen time, lots of fighting, lots of fighting about the screaming and the screen time. It should just be called screem time from now on, because I love puns and portmanteaus (Punmanteaus? Portpunteaus?). I expected there to be chaos in the household, based on how things were during the weeks immediately before cases of COVID-19 made themselves known in Montreal.
Unfortunately, I was correct in that premonition, but I was hoping that wouldn’t be the whole story. From accounts in Italy, I held out hope that after some period we would adjust and reunite as a family. We’re not there, yet. But there is some glint of hope, and it is brighter than it was yesterday.

How did our isolation start? I think a pupil in the neighbouring school to Kiddo’s tested positive, and that really was the last straw. Kiddo got sick the next day, and we decided it was time to remove ourselves from society. If she had THE virus, there was no way we were not going to get it. And that could take 2 weeks to show itself, so it was definitely time to lay low. Her symptoms were like those of a mild cold, and we were not too worried. However, some reading showed that kids’ symptoms from THE virus could seem like that, or be non-existent.
We had some family meetings and these were heated. I’m likely to have more pronounced symptoms if I got THE virus. I’m over 50 and now out of shape, when a decade ago I was fighting fit. When I had H1N1 I was crippled cardio-wise for months. I feared that if I lost that much lung function now, it would be in the negative. I gave the family a choice – do we want to have a zero or non-zero chance of contagion (to the extent of our agency in the matter)? We could opt for a non-zero chance, where we still had playdates “with other cautious families” and had tutors come to our house while we were on a nominal “lockdown”. Or we could disinfect anything that entered our home, and only go outside to walk the dog, exercise, and conduct essential activities like buy groceries or deposit that one last check that I got in US$. We opted for the “closest to zero chance of infection” path as a family. I knew it would be tough as hell. We would be at each other’s throats in no time.
This kind of tumultuous domestic situation is exactly the sort of thing that routinely would send me spiraling into low morale.
My wife and I work a lot from home, especially me. The past week has of course been different. It’s been quieter. Only one enquiry from a potential customer, no phone calls asking about our products, nobody helping me to build and ship the systems I make. Most of all, Kiddo is home.  ALL the time. But it’s not all bad.

Here is what has happened in the past 8 days:

• I am sleeping between 6-8 hours consistently. It’s been 11 years since I could say that.
• I cook every major meal or at least dinner for the family; sometimes we do our own thing at lunchtime and I almost never eat before 1 pm anyway.
• I take time to exercise. May as well try to improve my fitness before I get the virus, in case that happens.
• I am more conscious when I step out of the house. I monitor my every move, and plan ahead on how to conduct my cleaning routine when I get back indoors. It’s a great opportunity to focus on the present, rather than using dogwalks and errands to think about work all the time.
• I’m teaching Kiddo how to make an omelet all by herself, how to boil eggs and eat them without scalding herself in the process, how to make fries in the air fryer etc. We’re teaching her all sorts of non-academic lessons; Kiddo can spot one of Trump’s racist dogwhistles easily now too. Thanks MSNBC.
• Kiddo is becoming more proficient at using Word and computer stuff in general. She’s already learned to save her work before she loses it the hard way! Except it’s not really the hard way with the autorecover feature, but it was fun scaring her for a minute or two.
• We are experimenting with different ways of coping with Kiddo acting out. Finally, discussions about parenting and both of us attempting to be on the same page!
• Movie nights and VR experiences with the family.
• Facetime/Skype meetings for Kiddo with her tutor and me with my appointments. These have worked brilliantly and have saved around an hour of internal combustion engine-based travel each time. I’m pushing this to be far more normal in the future, after the crisis is over. It’s so lovely to see so little car traffic on the streets. Employers take heed: Let your staff work from home more.
• A general lack of external deadlines!
In the past: Get all work done by 4 if possible. Walk the dog. Pick up Kiddo from school at 5 and get her to the pool by 5:30. Continue to work at pool on laptop or workout (usually work wins), and buy dinner for Kiddo at the mall near the pool. Drive Kiddo home while she eats dinner in the car. Get home in time to do a little homework, supplement Kiddo’s dinner with more if she is still hungry after training for 2 hours. Put her to bed by about 9:45. Spend 45 minutes watching TV with wife and then back to work if I have any will to do anything. Kiddo is out of the house for 12.5 straight hours most weekdays. Any wonder she’s frazzled and at her wits’ end? And some of her friends do even more sports and activities. Most parents have more than one kid! I can’t even.
Now there is none of that. We train a little, we do homework a little, we cook, we talk, Kiddo reads(!) and gets mad when it’s time to do something else, Kiddo plays Gacha Life and Roblox a lot, and we fight.
• We try to be more frugal. We didn’t hoard toilet paper.

All these things mean that I am less chronically stressed than in a long time.

Sure, I don’t know where the money will come from after April. But my family is healthy. I’m glad I was reminded about which of those is more important without a heavy sacrifice so far. I realise how fortunate I am to be in this position. For far too many, this is the road to financial ruin unless they are helped by their leaders.

Sure, we’re fighting to an extent that would have flushed my soul into the sewers of depression. But now I know it’s not the fighting I couldn’t cope with, it’s all the other stuff that drained me of the energy to cope with moderate intra-family discord.

Sure, I’ll probably be quite stressed again soon, when the financial reality hits. But I’ll take this reduced-stress time to plan ahead and mitigate the worst scenarios. I’ve paid my bills and shipped all outstanding products to my customers. I am now preparing to do a lot of free customer service calls for my older-demographic clientele who might be stuck at home and want to listen to some sweet music on my products.

Like many people, my hope is that we can take the good things we learn about one another during this crisis and keep that in our hearts when it is over.

[JimH]

Nicely written.  Thank you.

[Jeffhef]

Winona Mn 120 miles south of Jim and crew. I am a Business Prof at Saint Mary's there. We sent our students home 10 days ago. We were allowed office access till yesterday, but now I will finish semester online.

No cases reported here yet. But Lacrosse Wi 25 miles south now has 3 cases. It's coming. ...

[glynor]

371 cases in PA as of today.  About 100 more than yesterday.
https://www.media.pa.gov/Pages/Health-Details.aspx?newsid=747

Multiply it by 25-50 if you want to know what the "real" cases are. In states where the hospitals are getting overwhelmed, it is likely higher by a factor of 100. It is everywhere now.

Look at how the death statistics are increasing, not the confirmed case statistics (which are all based on extremely limited testing now). If they continue to double every 3 days, then it is still growing exponentially and our efforts aren't working (yet, hopefully).

[glynor]

I'm in Bar Harbor, Maine. We still have zero confirmed cases in our county, though the local hospital did have one confirmed positive test (it just happened that the person who took the test didn't live in the county).

The local schools all closed on March 13th, and are staying closed through April at least. Thankfully our superintendent reacted swiftly even before the state had issued guidance. Restaurants and bars all are closed, and many non-essential businesses have been closed for the past week. Work has been a mixed bag for us, as our employer is a critical infrastructure institution (and is actively at work fighting). It is nice that our President and CEO is an MD/PhD who happened to run the Genome Institute of Singapore during the SARS outbreak (he actually earned a medal in Singapore for his work then). While he's not an epidemiologist, he knows quite a bit about what comes next. It has been quite reassuring hearing him speak about plans and how this can, and will, be faught and eventually defeated.

But, since we can't shut down or literally millions of lives will end, we keep operating. We sent most people who can work remotely home throughout this past week, and they aren't supposed to return unless it is absolutely necessary. I'm the primary videoconferencing and "digital workspace" technician in Maine for JAX, so needless to say, I'm a little busy right now. My wife works for Dr. Lutz, so she's also quite busy. Keeping an eye on our 8-year-old has been challenging, but we're making do.

I think most locals are following the guidance fairly well and avoiding congregating and whatnot, at least on the Island. Unfortunately, here on the Island where I live, the people "from away" have started fleeing their homes in NY, Mass, Florida, and wherever and are returning to their summer homes in Maine quite early. We saw a big uptick in activity in town this past weekend (including a few summer businesses with owners from away opening up months early!) This is absurd. First of all, if you are from New York, you need to stop moving around and bringing it up here with you (or picking it up on the trip). But more importantly, even if you aren't infected, you're going to come here where we have a hospital with 25 total critical care beds? Really?

Maine overall has 89 confirmed cases right now, so probably something like 2500-4500 total cases. This could bite us badly, as we have (much like Italy) a very aged population in Maine and (unlike Italy) an extremely under-funded healthcare infrastructure. We have much lower population density, so it'll likely be slower, but with all the summer people panicking and fleeing to "the country" it could turn very bad, very quickly here. And our hospitals are totally unprepared for the folks who live here, much less an influx.

Personally... I don't know. One thing that is interesting (I guess that's the word, I don't know what to call it) is that just on March 7th I had my daughter at the doctor to be checked, as she had a low-grade fever, dry cough, headache, an earache, and some mild chest tightness which hadn't gone away for about a week. They gave her antibiotics and sent us home. She took them all. She's better now.

A week or so before my daughter first got sick, my wife had been diagnosed with "viral pneumonia" (with similar symptoms, but worse in the chest). She still has a lingering touch of a dry cough, though is otherwise fine. And, about 10-12 days before she got sick? I had the same thing. Mine lingered longer (but is now completely resolved). I never went to the doctor even though I did have some "fluidy breathing", felt fevery (though the 2 times I actually checked, I was in the normal-ish range), and a lot of chest tightness because I'm stubborn and "it's just a dumb cold". It was a weird cold though, as it felt flu-like (with the fever), and I was exhausted, but I never got the body aches, and it seemed to come and go more than the flu usually does.

And, of course, about a week before my first symptoms? I was supporting multiple events with a bunch of executives fresh from a plane from China. They were all supposed to isolate for 14 days, of course, but we had a Board Meeting scheduled (which is why they came back) and so they all went to the board meeting and I was right there with them for the whole thing. None of us were tested. It was probably just Influenza-A (which has been going around and isn't blocked entirely by this year's flu vaccine), but how do we know? How does anyone know? Maybe I've been a typhoid Mary for this past month (including a 4 day business trip to LA in the middle there). I'll probably never know. But if so, my R0-value is terrible. Sorry.

The lack of testing is a calamity.

Oh, and by the way, if you think back to the H1N1 "scare" (which actually killed a ton of people worldwide and wasn't a small thing at all) and think this is overblown? They'd tested 1 million people within 30 days of the first confirmed case of H1N1 in this country that time. So, you know, it is possible when the inmates aren't running the asylum.

[Scobie]

Melbourne, Australia. Sometimes we think we're pretty isolated in this part of the world,  but at the moment not so much. We have about 1400 confirmed cases in Australia with 350 odd in Victoria.

The Prime Minister announced closure of quite a few non essential services last night that came into effect midday today, so all pubs, clubs, restaurants, cafes , cinemas are now shut along with places people tend to congregate. These were brought into play because there were enough people not taking sufficient measures, going to the beach, pub etc. and putting others at risk so it was a fair enough call. They have also suspended the AFL football season which is unprecedented. It is absolutely woven into the culture of this city whether you follow it or not. School holidays which were due to start Friday started tomorrow.

I'm able to work from home without too much trouble but can already see how it can be extraordinarily disruptive. Our neighbour has had to close his restaurant and doesn't know what to do with himself; on top of the obvious financial concerns.

Looks like we're in for a long haul. Still in early autumn here so the regular flu season is round the corner as well. But people I've spoken to today are taking things in their stride and getting on with it.

Cheers

[RoderickGI]

Glynor, it would be interesting if your boss could exert some influence and get you tested. You should still have antibodies in your system, or if not you, your daughter. Because I suspect you and your family have already had Coronavirus, and recovered.

Why would it be important to know? Because I suspect a lot more people have already had it and recovered, and just didn't know. This virus is extremely contagious, but the symptoms seem to vary greatly.

If more people are having mild symptoms, and recovering "easily", that would be a good news story to tell.


Just a thought. I'm certainly no expert.

[Dmytro]

Sydney, Australia. It's been crazy last weekend - sunny and nice and many more people than I usually see outside. Partially as a result, we are all now in lock-down mode, so it's quieter. Pretty much everyone works from home (so as my wife and me), and so far so good. I feel a tad sick but feels more like a common cold (although somewhat similar to what Glynor has described).

As Scobie said, it's unlikely this will pass quickly. My guess is till July until it starts to taper off and maybe September when we return to economic recovery.

[TheShoe]

Here in PA.    confirmed cases are still low, nothing like New Jersey or New York.  we’ve just not tested enough and likely much higher.

We shut down most non essential businesses last week as well as schools (which i am told may now extend another two weeks into mid April).

With my second oldest back home from university we are back up to 7 people in the house.   (6 kids total). Our eldest who graduated university last year is self sufficient now (read: off my payroll).   The youngest isn’t even in school yet and to her this seems normal.  My wife has started home schooling the two youngest and keeping to a school like schedule.

I often work from home many days so not too different from that perspective.    We have been playing board games most nights, Bang!, 7 wonders, carcassone, quiddler, shushi go, red dragon inn, and Power Grid.    some video games too - broke out Rock Band and playing a lot of Switch - Mario Party.   Have been able to grill and smoke meat a lot - did a fine rack of ribs the other day, we cooked potato chips all day (russet are the best), and the beer and wine stock is holding up.   glad my brother and i brewed up a lot of our coffee stout.   turns out it works for breakfast too

on a more somber note, this is going to hurt small business badly and a lot of people are already losing their jobs.   it is shameful that our elected officials - regardless of political bent - can’t grow the f**k up and act like adults.

feels like life is put on pause and we’ve started living in some alternate reality...

[glynor]

Quiddler and Sushi Go are such awesome games. We've been playing those as well, along with a bunch of games of King Dominoe and Quirkle.

[Bohemian]

Outskirts of London, UK, close to Heathrow airport. Much quieter since most flights grounded.
Now on lockdown, no groups outside more than 2 people unless same family. Non essential shops all to close. Only allowed out for exercise, shopping for food/medicines or essential work. My health means I cannot leave home for 12 weeks minimum!
Lots of music to listen to, though.
Religious services banned, weddings etc. Only funerals allowed.
My congregation meets using Zoom so we have social interaction and a strong support group for elderly, or sick ones, like myself.

[fitbrit]

My mum is housebound in Hillingdon - must be close to you. Good to hear steps are finally being taken over there. I was shocked at the government's stance up until now.

Outskirts of London, UK, close to Heathrow airport. Much quieter since most flights grounded.
Now on lockdown, no groups outside more than 2 people unless same family. Non essential shops all to close. Only allowed out for exercise, shopping for food/medicines or essential work. My health means I cannot leave home for 12 weeks minimum!
Lots of music to listen to, though.
Religious services banned, weddings etc. Only funerals allowed.
My congregation meets using Zoom so we have social interaction and a strong support group for elderly, or sick ones, like myself.

[darichman]

Brisbane, Australia

I am a doctor (paediatrician and clinical geneticist) with legitimate fears about the ability of our health system to scale to meet the crisis. Our Prime Minister has just confirmed a complete ban on international travel & escalated restrictions for non-essential business and all public socialisation, but on current trends our ICU bed capacity will be exhausted nationally in less than a fortnight. We are a few weeks behind Italy & UK and on a similar curve.

My specialty is primarily outpatient-based, attended through telehealth for the last week but today we've had direction to reject all new referrals which are not Cat 1, which we can only surmise is a prelude to workforce redeployment. Which means it could be a dermatologist, obstetrician or orthopod looking after your airway Beer manufacturers are pivoting to hand sanitisers, and ventilator manufacture has been upscaled but it might be too late. There is not enough PPE to protect the healthcare workforce.

Lucky to have a job, I guess? Many have lost livelihoods due to restricted practices... Stay safe everyone!

[Tcifre]

I am from Mallorca, Spain.
 
Here the situation is like in France and Italy. Everything is closed. You can only go out to buy some groceries. The police is around the streets checking that everyone is at home and if you don't have a good reason for been out you can be fined.

 The airport and the port will close definetly the day after tomorrow and only ships or planes to supply the island are allowed. Is very strange to see all the streets completely empty with no life. I've never seen something like this before, and everyone is following the rules with no disturbs. Actually people go out of the window every night at 8p.m to clap all workers of hospitals, supermarkets ...

This situation will be until the 11th of April but who knows if the government is going to increase the days. Here in Mallorca where I live looks that the situation is under control with 210 cases and 12 deads and 18 recovers. But in Spain there are nearly 40.000 cases and 2700 deads. The city with more cases is Madrid, the hospitals are full of people and with not enough resources and they are preparing military hospitals at sports centers, hotels to attend everyone.

The only benefit of all this is that I have more time for listening to music.

Stay positive!

[RoderickGI]

The situation is actually far worse in Australia than is being reported, because people are only being tested if they have all the symptoms and can prove contact with an overseas traveller or a confirmed case.

My cousin's wife has all the symptoms and works in retail, so she has been in contact with a lot of people whom she knows nothing about. They could be travellers. They could now be confirmed cases. She can't get tested. The hospital refused, gave her a doctor's certificate for three days, and said she should go home for that time and then go back to work. They didn't think she had Coronavirus, but the shortness of breath symptom is unique to Coronavirus apparently.

The above makes all reporting of numbers in Australia grossly understated, and that error will get much worse.

I actually think a lot of people have been walking around for weeks, if not longer, with the Coronavirus, blissfully unaware that they have it because they have natural immunity.

Obviously the health system can't cope, so our government, not doctors, have said only treat the seriously ill, much in line with darichman's comment that only Cat 1 referrals are accepted. This means people who have Coronavirus are still isolating at home... and going out to do shopping. So we aren't getting on top of the Coronavirus. We are sweeping the true situation under the rug, and only dealing with people who are critically ill.

I think anybody who is susceptible to the illness and can't fight it off is going to get seriously ill, and possibly (probably?) die. Based on all I've read, that's 20% of the population. I guess some of those will survive if they are hospitalised.

Let's hope I'm wrong.

[MikeyFresh]

Westchester County, New York. 3,891 cases as of this evening.

The situation has certainly spiraled downward very quickly. I've been working from home since March 12th, however the roads were strangely void of normal traffic at rush hour for about 10-15 days prior to that, suggesting some companies and/or individuals were much further out ahead of this than others.

Though my scheduled business trip to Austin, TX for Mar. 11-13 was canceled, various co-workers were in both Los Angeles and San Francisco the previous week, and I took a train to Manhattan and an Uber from there to a restaurant in Brooklyn, the evening of February 22nd.

So far I have no ill health symptoms whatsoever, and have not gone out much at all except for a couple of grocery runs. I think I'm in the clear with regard to my late Feb. early Mar. potential exposures, but that doesn't mean my more recent runs to the grocery store are not still a potential threat. I've worn nitrile examination gloves on those trips, and have been washing my hands A TON of times per day for over a month now.

New York is facing a crisis, though all non-essential shops have been closed since last week, many people were not heeding the original warnings to stay home and not congregate, and that has had a huge negative impact as the number of cases in the county is second only to NYC at this point, though Long Island doesn't lag too far behind and will likely overtake Westchester at some point due to being more densely populated.

It is very likely that most areas have vastly underreported numbers, both here and everywhere else. The number of reported cases in NY has skyrocketed only because of vastly increased testing, initially there weren't any appreciable amount of test kits available. Now, the more test kits available, the more positive cases that are reported, that rate now doubling every 3 days or so. A disaster would seem to be imminent in the local healthcare system if that rate cannot be slowed and eventually arrested completely. Even if a disaster is averted locally, I don't see how anyone can possibly expect for that to happen in NYC hospitals.

The hoarding of various supplies such as toilet paper and cleaning wipes was both abhorrent, and stupid, nobody needs 6 months worth of toilet paper in their garage, and paper products like that, as well as paper towels, etc. are locally made with domestic materials, meaning they aren't going to just vanish forever. But that early run on those products has seemingly been impossible to restock in the near term, most places have had no paper towels or toilet paper for sale for over 2 weeks now. I hope the hoarders are sharing with their neighbors.

My company is trying to stay optimistic, we do a team video conference call every 2-3 days, and while the official stance is that we hope to return to the offices on April 3rd, everyone knows that not going to happen. Currently that would violate the Governor's order to shelter in place, and even May would seem in question at this point, much more likely June at the very earliest by most estimates.

A tough situation all around, about the only silver lining is the onset of Spring, and with it warmer temperatures that will hopefully be conducive to getting outside and getting both fresh air and exercise without close contact with others. Perhaps the warmer weather will also make the virus mutate into something less harmful to humans, as is thought to have been the case with the previous SARS and MERS outbreaks.

Of course we all have the greatest concern by far for the senior citizens and those others deemed at very high risk. The grocery stores have opted to start each day with 2 hours for the seniors to get there first, do their essential shopping, and get out of there early. Unfortunately, I've still seen many seniors at the grocery store both in the middle of the day, and in the evening too.

I've signed up for Instacart, and it's very likely I'll just have my next load of groceries delivered to my doorstep, though that isn't 100% safe either, but it's better than walking around the store where many patrons are still ignoring the advice to stay a minimum of 6 feet away from each other. I was crowded by various morons on a bunch of different occasions the last 2 times I went to the grocery store, so I think delivery is my next step.

I wish everyone the best of luck in coping with this unprecedented situation, please stay safe and be well.

[The Big Labinski]

Austria, Tyrol, City Kufstein.
A lot of people are in quarantine.
Nobody is allowed to leave their homesteads except for buying food, medicine and going to work - but only system supporters.
All skiing areas, restaurants, bars etc. are closed down
Border between Germany and Austria is locked down.
25th of March - 1.376 secured cases - total population in Tyrol 758.000

Wish everybody the best and good health.

p.s. Austria has a big advantage over America - the name of our president is Sebastian Kurz

[nedam]

There are many odd things and conflicting stories out there and some of you may have heard about the WHO statement regarding ibuprofen copied below.

From WHO:
"The World Health Organization (WHO) has recommended that people with COVID-19 symptoms avoid taking ibuprofen, after concerns were raised by French officials that it may make the virus more harmful."

My nephew lives in New York and was lucky enough to work for an investment firm that closed ten days ago so he is with his father in Knoxville. Earlier today one of his coworkers sent him the text below. The sister referenced is an ER doctor.

“Wanted to share latest news from my sister. Their doctors are working with NYC doctors and are seeing that the vast majority of patients that are dying have ibuprofen in their system, now that autopsy reports are coming back. The virus seems to thrive on it and patients that otherwise would be healthy are having significantly worse reactions than others if they had taken Advil somewhat recently. 

#####'s hospital currently has an otherwise completely healthy 28yr old on a ventilator that had zero preexisting conditions and they suspect Advil.

This is starting to circulate in the news anyway but just wanted to communicate that 1. It is true and 2. Please just take Tylenol for ANY aches/pains/headaches even if they seem completely unrelated to virus. No ibuprofen for any reason for the foreseeable future. Stay healthy! “

Of course at this point unsupported other than the WHO warning but an easy thing to avoid until more information is available.

Neal

[RoderickGI]

Apparently that is out of date information Neal. The WHO has withdrawn that warning.

References:

https://www.sbs.com.au/news/world-health-organization-says-ibuprofen-is-fine-for-coronavirus-patients

https://www.tga.gov.au/alert/no-evidence-support-claims-ibuprofen-worsens-covid-19-symptoms

[MikeO]

JHB South Africa

Cancelled my super trip for my 70th to South America

We go into 21 day total lockdown At midnight, enforced by police and army , mind boggling.

I am 69.9 so I haven’t been out for 2 weeks, already . Food delivery services are overwhelmed. Despite all the Social Distancing stuff people seem to still milling around

Supermarkets will stay open for essentials but no booze, no ciggies , there is going to be some serious Cold Turkey

SA people are not renowned for following rules , they were made for other people!!

Lots of good listening and reading time. I have started the Ring Cycle , am considering Beethoven Op. 1 then to 136

Crazy , we are only at 709 nationally with no deaths but watch this space. Living conditions for many are cramped, mainly live with HIV and TB , transport for most is overcrowded mini bus taxis (incubators)

The general public haven’t woken up yet

[syndromeofadown]

I live fairly north, close to Alaska. No cases where I live. I don't know anyone infected. I don't know anyone who knows anyone infected. There are, or was, a lot of Americans passing through making a run for Alaska. Lots of Texas license plates. I still work full time, my wife works full time, we have been skiing and snowmobiling a lot. Snow will be melting soon so we have to get out as much as possible. There are things shut down around here, schools are closed, it's like Sunday everyday. People are calm, polite, and cautious. I don't think we will manage to avoid all the problems everyone else is having, I'm sure we are just lagging behind by a week or two.

[DJLegba]

I'm in a suburb of Toronto. Toronto was hit pretty hard by SARS in 2003, and a significant proportion of the fatalities were health care workers. We learned that we needed a plan for future pandemics, and some very intelligent minds put a plan in place. I was hopeful that Toronto would fare better this time.

However, 2003 was a long time ago. The ministry of health set up a stockpile of N95 masks, but a few years ago they passed their "expiry" date, so they were destroyed and weren't replaced. We're hearing now that with proper storage they would still be viable, but we don't have them anymore. In February Canada shipped 16 tons of medical supplies, including N95 masks, to China. You can argue this one either way (most masks are manufactured in China so limiting the spread there could lead to a better supply here in the future), but the point is we don't have them now.

Hospitals are cancelling many scheduled procedures, including cancer operations, anticipating that we won't have capacity to meet demand. The system in Ontario regularly operates at closer to capacity than in many other countries. If there was ever a case for flattening the curve, it's here.

Right now our infection/death rates are much lower than those of similar cities with a lot of international residents/visitors, but it sure looks like we're on the same curve.

Meanwhile, my suburban town has never looked livelier. I work from home and have walked the dog twice a day for years. Normally we'd see only a few other dog walkers during the day, but now it seems like everyone is out on the street. Not in groups of course, but parents with children on bikes, families with dogs, and kids in strollers are everywhere. The dogs must be loving it. Most shops are closed, and people are very good about the 2-meter rule in grocery stores. I ride my bike (alone) and most of the few cars I encounter give me 2 meters - which is a new development.

My son and his wife left their apartment in Toronto to stay with us. We're very lucky, as we're all able to work from home. No real hardships for us yet, but I know many people are suffering already.

[Vocalpoint]

Calgary, AB, Canada

The city (and Province) is in a general lockdown pattern but AB Health has been stellar in their response and emergency planning here. As of this writing - we have 486 cases out of a population of 4.4 million.

Grocery stores and restaurants are still open. Gas stations etc are operating. Everyone is watching their distance and getting out for walks. We are all doing our part.

The major bulk of our cases seem to be from travelers coming back home from somewhere outside of Canada. Testing is off the charts but changing by the day - I believe we are now focusing more on those who have a higher risk of getting really sick. There is a major push to keep this thing out of the care homes etc.

Our case numbers have been rising daily since March 6 when the first case was reported but we are seeing positive signs in "flattening the curve". AHS believes the worst is yet to come but I believe Albertans have done an amazing job (so far) to keep this case count extremely low given our population size vs the scary stats I am seeing from Italy, the US etc.

Economy (especially oil and gas) has plunged off the cliff in AB but that is something (along with many other factors) that are out of our control right now.

Be safe out there.

Cheers

VP

[fitbrit]

Calgary, AB, Canada

The city (and Province) is in a general lockdown pattern but AB Health has been stellar in their response and emergency planning here. As if this writing - we have 486 cases out of a population of 4.4 million.

Quebec is also doing a stellar job right now. Very proud of my adopted home - Canada! Makes you wonder why the US recently sent troops to the Canadian border. Maybe to keep their citizens in - I doubt anyone is desperate to get out of here right now.

The worst is yet to come, as you say.

[craigmcg]

Moncton NB, Canada

Very few confirmed cases in NB (45 in this morning's paper) so far most of them being connected to travel or infected by travellers. All non-essential businesses are closed and restaurants can only do take-out or delivery. Most people are social distancing whenever possible. I've been very lucky so far in that I'm able to work from home so my income has not been hit although our retirement investments certainly have been. The streets are very quiet but I see families out for walks in the park across from me or dog walkers. As everywhere small businesses are hurting badly so since I'm lucky to still have a paycheque, I started buying gift cards from some of my favourite Mom and Pop restaurants for future use/gifting. We normally buy most of our food from the local farmers' markets which are closed but farmers as always are adapting; we're about to head out to one of the farms to buy a box of meat and some baked goods from a family bakery that will be there. The "farm store" is in a medium sized barn with plenty of air flow and people maintain the 6 feet pretty consistently.

It will get worse before it gets better but to date, we've been very lucky.