General Discussion

They've started banning gatherings of over 200 people now. I mean, I get it, but...doing so will only make people want to break that rule. Especially teenagers. I can just see it now...

There's already been a ban on buying too many of one thing. Not that it's going to help now. Everything is pretty much gone from the stores. And nobody is going shopping for anything else. (So it's a perfect time to go buying stuff. Everything is on sale in some stores. =\ )

On the bright side I think I know what people are doing with the toilet paper! There's gotta be a secret mass TPing going on soon. o_o

I hope this doesn't last too long. My family owns a restaurant (not one of the large chain/corporate restaurants, an actual mom-and-pop small business) and this is absolutely going to put us out of business if things don't turn around. It doesn't help that both my fiance and I work at the restaurant and get paid hourly. We are so scared that we won't be able to afford to pay our mortgage and other bills. [emoji=coatl sad size=2] On top of that I am in the higher risk category (as far as catching Coronavirus goes) as well, I have asthma as well as an autoimmune disorder. Every time I get sick I end up getting asthmatic bronchitis too. [emoji=coatl sad size=2] I currently have a low-grade fever and some pretty bad fatigue but no other symptoms. I plan to go get tested tomorrow. My fiance and I stocked up on groceries last week (no we didn't buy all the TP lol) so hopefully we have enough to last us until the panic at the grocery stores dies down.

Everywhere was out of bread today. Except apparently all of the hoarders completely overlooked the fresh baked bread at the grocery store bakery, so now we have break to make PB&Js this week. I'm a grad student, no more in person classes for the semester. Lab research is still going on but we're making plans to shut down everything in the lab.

Best of luck to everyone who is coming onto financial hardships because of these times, as well as those at a high risk. I'm really hoping that throughout the world, people stay safe and healthy, that things can return to normal, and that vaccines and treatments can be found to help save lives. With nothing like this ever really happening on this scale before it's so hard to say how long it might go on.

Depending how much people hole up and cease the spread, this could last the rest of the year. essentially, the more people get infected, the quicker this will end, but that's not exactly ideal! I believe it may peter out in early summer, but sanitation and staying inside, as all the best preventative measures do, produces no perceptible result, which can be mistaken for not working and people may be infected anew at this point; this happens A LOT in human history, and the Spanish Flu slimmed out and then came back during fall. In my mind it will be around for a while, but things will probably open back up within a few months. If you're compromised or around compromised people though, make sure to still stay careful at that point!

[quote name="Amura" date="2020-03-15 13:41:24" ]I mean, I get it, but...doing so will only make people want to break that rule. Especially teenagers.[/quote] Then those teenagers can enjoy their legal troubles for breaking shutdown or quarantine rules, if/when it comes to that, and hopefully it'll teach them a lesson about giving two flips about other people. Same goes to anyone of any age who hasn't figured out how to look around and realize that the world actually has other humans in it.

I have terrible anxiety and all these people panicking is really flaring it up.
I live in Ohio, they just announced all restaurants and bars be closed starting
at 9pm tonight, and people are freaking out even more. I've read horror stories of theft, gun threats and more.
I really wish people would look at this calmly but unfortunately that's not the case.
Stay safe out there friends.

I'm already spending most of my time at home, so the current COVID-19 situation hasn't really had a huge impact on my life. The biggest inconvenience for me is not going to my RL D&D game Saturday afternoons, and even that can be remedied by finding an online game to join (providing I can muster the courage to talk to total strangers over Discord voice chat).

My parents took an inventory of our food storage yesterday, and we have a ton of food we can eat if we can't get anything from the grocery store. We probably could give away some to others in the neighborhood without as much and still have more than enough for ourselves.

As to how long this could last, I really have no idea. It could get very bad very quickly here in the US, especially with how panicky the people here are. But I'm not afraid. I have total faith in God that He will help me and my family get through this. We are members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, and we have the assurance that even if one of us dies from this disease, we will be together as a family unit forever.

I work at the busiest grocery store in the area and it's an absolute madhouse rn. We're all exhausted, customers are flooding the store, we hardly have time to stock, and we keep running out of multiple products (the usual toilet paper and soap, but at one point we ran out of bananas for some reason???). Past couple days have easily been the worst shifts I've ever worked, don't think anybody has been able to go home on time. Plus with us being so crowded we may as well just be THE place to catch the virus.

I've got the next few days off at least so I can breathe a bit, but I'm really not sure what to expect when I go back later this week. We're used to the occasional hurricane prep shopping spree, but with those you at least know that it'll only last a few days max. With a virus there isn't really a set end, so we have no idea if it'll start tapering off soon or if people are just gonna keep panic buying.

So yea uh.. be nice to grocery workers, we're suffering.

[quote name="SunnySunflower" date="2020-03-15 11:02:33" ] Remember to wash your hands and have hand sanitizer! [/quote] Chance'd be a fine thing. Hand sanitiser has gone extinct in the wild. :C

I work in a busy supermarket pharmacy, and this last week has been exhausting and stressful. We've completely run out of OTC paracetamol, thermometers, and hand sanitiser, which means most of my shift is spent apologising to customers :(

I'm back at it tomorrow...