It's Monday 3/16. How is everyone dealing with virus threat?

[Linda196]

Later the same day I posted last, our province instituted a state of emergency, reinforcing the restrictions and making it possible to enforce them when necessary with legal action.

Any returning travelers are screened at the provincial or international border, and given printed rules to follow, including a clear statement that, once within the boundaries of this province they are on 14 days self isolation, and are not to stop for supplies or anything else between the border and immigration building and their own home or face fines of up to $1000 per infraction. Someone has to shop for their supplies and drop them off to them. They are then required to self monitor daily and report any symptoms immediately.

A rapidly developing form of socializing is "drive by waves", just what it sounds like, car pulls up in front, sounds the horn, people exchange waves or shouted greetings between car and front door, and then they are on their way again! There are also neighbourhood egg hunts and bear hunts, with those things placed in windows for children to observe and count as they are taken for neighbourhood walks or drives; house to car, circle the area, no stops and home again. Reminds me of a childhood game; Mom would send us out to walk around the block (as young as 5 or 6  on our own!) and tell us to count the number of red things we saw in front yards, or the number of black house numbers, flower boxes or garden reflecting globes; I realize now it was anything she could think of to get us out for a bit LOL.


After no increase in the number of cases for 3 days, we had 6 new reports on one day, all of which were returning travelers or direct contacts with existing cases, and many of them had already been following isolation protocols. It was also a predicted spike, based on the time of the last cruise guests returning.

Our neighbouring provinces have also declared states of emergency, and travel between provinces , except for essential traffic to maintain supply lines and for emergencies, has been stopped, or drastically reduced, and now includes mandatory 14 day self isolation, just like international travel.

We remain well, and still finding things to do, but the increasingly nice weather is making it worse; you can only walk and explore so far on your own property, even if it is near the woods and in a beautiful, natural part of the world! One local natural trail had to be cleared by police, because even with physical distancing and responsible hikers, there were just too many people out there! The trails are narrow and winding, so if you catch up with someone, you can't get by and still maintain a buffer zone; so "Stay.At.Home" is becoming our new motto!

[Kathy57]

Who would have thought that this would happen?  I remember Ebola and SARS but they seemed too far away to have an impact on me.  Global Pandemic!  Covid19 has shown itself to be able to spread far and rapidly😱

I live in Northwestern Illinois and my city is right on the Mighty Mississippi.  I am a nurse but I basically retired last year in February.  I?m 62 and my husband is 65 with stage 4 metastatic prostate cancer, and so I guess that means that both of us is high risk.  All I take is Plaquinil and Evoxac for my Sjogrens so I don?t know if I can be considered immunocompromised.  I do use a steroid nasal rinse and that can predispose to infection.

We babysit our grandkids usually a couple times per week, but our kids are not letting us do that for now which makes me sad.  We FaceTime with them and call them.  I send them little things through Amazon as a surprise for them every once in awhile.  I?ll be so glad when this is all over cause I LOVE to hug and kiss my grandkids😍🥰.

My one daughter has told me that she would get our groceries for us but I just tell her that I have everything I need.  I?ve been making a detailed list for when I go and get stuff to stock up on so I will make less trips.  My goal is to have more than enough to last three weeks.  I have a face mask and gloves which I plan on using the next time I pick up supplies. 

I?ve made three different types of home made soups and have frozen half of all of them in case I don?t feel like cooking or one of us gets under the weather.  I?ve stocked up on canned and frozen goods.  My husband picks up our prescriptions through the drive through pickup.

I feel like I?m in some kind of plague movie that needs to get over with sooner rather than later!😷. I had to skip my nails and hair appointment and I?m wondering just how many I will have to miss?  I will look a fright by the time I do get in😱. I worry for peoples? jobs and I worry for my family. 

We were planning on taking a whole family trip - all the kids and all the grandkids - this June at Estes Park in Colorado.  We have rented a beautiful big cabin with five bedrooms and four baths, and a game room, that is right on the Big Thompson river and on the other side is Rocky Mountain National Park.  Now I have a bad feeling that we may have to cancel it, but we have until April 7th to cancel and get our down payment back.

What do you think?  Well, we will eventually find out.   But first we have to make it through the Quarantine.

I?m praying that we all can make it through this with minimal issues.  Take care and at least we are all in this together.  Stay safe and well.

Kathy

[susanep]

 We live in East TN. Since I last posted, we have at least 2 confirmed cases of the virus in our rural county. Our schools are closed, only drive through for the restaurants. We stay home except
for the pharmacy, doctor, and groceries with taking precautions.  The nursing homes closed , and all non essential areas.

We don't get out frequently anyway, so being more isolated doesn't bother us. We just pray for people to be healthy and safe. 

susanep

[Bucky]

Another day  . . . which is a good thing!  One has to really look at the calendar now to know what the date is and what day of the week it is!

Since my last post on this thread the company I work for has completely shut down.  We all sit in limbo waiting for the news that everything can resume again.

I am not working at all right now and have signed up for unemployment (along with millions of others).  Thankful that my husband and son are still working.

When I was at the grocery store the other day the shelves aren't quite as empty as they were last week and there actually WAS some toilet paper on the shelf!! 

The only thing I can think of that we don't have right now that I haven't been able to find anywhere is a thermometer.  The one we do have is 25 yrs. old and not working properly.  Hoping we won't need to use one.  The gal at Walmart said to get to the store first thing when they open as they sell out of them quickly.

Today, I've been making phone calls to relatives in other states checking in on them.  All of the ones I'm calling live by themselves and appreciate being thought of and the time chatting and catching up.

Wishing you all health and well being as we're all in this together.

Take care,
Bucky

[Douglas]

https://www.sjogrens.org/news/575-covid-19-sjoegren-s-precautions

Sj?gren?s patients have compromised immune systems. This specific risk factor is for those who regularly take drugs to suppress the immune system. Examples include prednisone, methylprednisolone, Imuran, azathioprine, methotrexate, leflunomide, Arava, CellCept, mycophenolate, Rituxan, cyclophosphamide.

Please note that hydroxychloroquine (Plaquenil) does NOT suppress your immune system and does not increase any risk for a more serious illness from COVID-19. However all Sj?gren?s patients should still be diligent and be tested if symptoms become present.

That answers some questions.

[araminta]

Today the supermarket shelves were crammed with toilet rolls.   Nobody was buying them, as by now we've all got cupboards, lofts and cellars overflowing with them.

We had to queue outside the shop at 2m intervals, and only a limited number of people were allowed in at a time.   I was excited to find some eggs (imported from Ireland).   Pasta and tinned beans in very short supply.

My mother's care home is not even taking phone calls now.    I imagine they are short staffed and extremely stressed.   Hospital staff too of course are terribly stressed and tired.

Our Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who has had the virus for several days, today went into intensive care.