Covid 19 - Updates from your zones

[Gwenno]

We're going to be discussing how Covid 19 is impacting our countries and our lives quite a lot in the coming months so it makes sense to have a place specifically for this. This thread is for letting people know what's happening in your area, wherever that may be. There is also a thoughts and feelings thread to discuss your feelings relating to these trying times in case somebody just needs to vent a bit.

[wavewright62]

Thanks Gwenno, I guess I can kick it off, although have already shared most of this in General. 
New Zealand has been on Level 4 - complete lockdown - since midnight 25 March, putatively lasting for 4 weeks.  We were only on Level 2 for a week and Level 3 for about 3 days, so there was a lot of panic buying here.  Everybody is meant to stay in the place they were as at midnight on the 25th, leaving only to "access essential services" including supermarkets/grocery stores & pharmacies, and that's pretty much it.  You can keep contact with the people in your household 'bubble', although self-isolation within a household applies for household members who have been overseas or are a close contact of a case.  You are not allowed to go out, in a private car, to go fishing or hiking or such, in case you get into any difficulties which would require use of emergency responders or other support people.
Public transport is still running here on a reduced schedule, but only as an allowance for people to commute to their essential jobs (must show ID to the driver from the kerb, then enter through the back door) or access the above essential services.  I live on a street where dozens of bus routes transit, and bus after bus passes by, empty.
Supermarkets are open, and restocked for most items, but there are strict rules on distancing and amount of shoppers allowed in the store at any time.  Smaller operations are one-in-one-out, larger supermarkets have tape at 2m distances for people in the entry queues to stand on.  Only one person from a bubble is allowed to shop at a time.  There are long queues, as you might imagine, with bits of tape placed around city blocks.  You are issued a trolley when you enter, as a) hand baskets are harder to sanitise between shoppers, and b) the length of the trolley is meant to help you gauge your distance from other shoppers.  Some chains have installed perspex shields for the checkout staff, and cash is discouraged.  Additional services like lotto kiosks or coffee stations resident in larger supermarkets are shut.
My company has always been positioned to work from anywhere, as a learning from dealing with the Christchurch earthquakes.  So I am fully set up to work from home, and currently we are all busy as all get-out.  I work for a quantity surveying firm, and all the QSs are putting in overtime dealing with construction companies shutting down all building sites, and virtually all pipeline estimating projects put on indefinite hold.  Whether they will still be busy this time next month remains to be seen.
So here's a photo of a major arterial route at 6pm rush-hour last Thursday...

(You can get out for a walk, so long as you keep social distance, and don't go far from home.)

[Alkia]

wow, that picture is crazy, Wave- I don't think i've EVER seen a major street that empty in a city at rush hour. As for me, school has been cancelled till the end of April, and I wouldn't be at all surprised if it closes for the rest of the year. My state isn't at level 4 yet, but has also shut down non-essential businesses, no group meetings, etc.. Taking walks is still allowed as well (although a lot of beaches and trailheads have been shut down because too many stir-crazy people are out taking jaunts at once). I'm honestly actually enjoying quarantine because it allows me to work based on my own schedule and be free from the time-consuming agenda of "normal" school. Anyway, I hope everyone stays safe and doesn't go (too?) crazy from staying inside so much! Be well!!

[midwestmutt]

I live in a rural county in NW Illinois in a small village of @850 souls. So far the confirmed cases in my county and adjacent ones are counted in single digits, 6 being the highest count for a single county west of us in Iowa which contains a city of 75,000 that lies 30 miles away from me. Our governor ordered shelter at home until April 7 last week though this differs little from my usual winter activity. I am hoping for the best but preparing for the worst because of my age and lung disease. We have no grocery in town but the nearest ones in towns north and south of us have delivery service with a minimum order and transport fee so I have no reason to go further from home than the post office a half block away. So for now I am hunkering down, waiting to see what happens in the next few weeks. Good luck to you all.

[Yastreb]

Australia as a whole is on level 2 at the moment with most shops closed; restaurants and cafes are open for the most part for takeaway service only. Supermarkets have put perspex shielding up to protect checkout staff. At checkouts, yellow and black tape crosses mark the two-metre distancing. Panic buying eased off in the last week or so and toilet paper became available again, but only individual rolls; no four-packs. The supermarkets that I use are enforcing either a maximum two of any item rule, or just one of anything (that one's eased that somewhat to allow a bit of discretion).

Public transport is still running, but on trams the seats nearest the driver have been marked as not to be used. With the few people still travelling (at least when I've had to use it), social distancing is easy. I had to pass through the CBD on Friday and while it wasn't a ghost town, seeing only a half-dozen people where scores of hundreds would be was eerie.

[Róisín]

Husband found an interesting article for me. I can’t do links, but you should find a reference to it if you look up coloradovirtuallibrary and ‘How Gunnison dealt with the 1918 Spanish Flu Pandemic’. Gunnison is a little town in the Rockies that came unscathed through the first two waves of the 1918 pandemic, and they had some good lessons.

[GaelleDragons]

Here in France, we have been on complete lockdown since tuesday 17th march. Our president Macron made an official speech and announced that our country was "at war" against the Covid-19. At first it was only necessary to fill up a paper to justify the reason why you were out of your house, but because a lot people didn't take it seriously and kept on going out with friends and such, more restrictions were added. As of now, the only acceptable reasons for going out are shopping for essential goods (like in many other places, only grocery stores, some shops like boulangeries and pharmacies are open), medical reasons, work (for medical staff, people working at open stores, delivery men...). You are allowed to go out to do sport, but only alone and in a 1km radius from your home. The police is patroling on the streets and checking everyone's papers. There's a 135€ fee for those who are outside the limits or don't have a paper.

As for me, I'd say I'm pretty happy with staying at home instead of going to school every day (it saves me 3 hours per day of public transport). It's less stressfull and I can work pretty much on my own schedule, which is nice. But there are a lot of projects planned for the next few weeks which we will be unable to complete (I'm in an arts-specialized high school in Paris), like an animation course that I was really excited about, or a fashion project that I won't be able to make because all haberdasheries are closed.

I live in a small town in the far banlieue of Paris, and the rules are as strict here as they are in the capital. I used to go on long walks in the forest near my town to relax and get inspired, but the access was restricted a few days ago due to too many people going there to take walks (wich is pretty stupid in my opinion, since the forest is large enough to keep the 1 meter distance between two individuals). Though I can't complain too much, I'm fortunate enough to have a garden and I can even go take a walk on the rooftop of my garage, so it's not too bad.

Anyway, I hope you all are doing okay, and are staying inside as much as possible. Also I want to send a big message of support to all the people currently working in hospitals, they are the real heroes of this "war" (I don't know if any of you are, but I'll send lots of love and support anyway ^^)

[JoB]

I can’t do links, but you should find a reference to it if you look up coloradovirtuallibrary and ‘How Gunnison dealt with the 1918 Spanish Flu Pandemic’.

That'ld be here, I suppose.

Germany has a national regulation, as well as a few states and cities enforcing still-stricter ones; to paraphrase the federal ones, max out-of-bubble crowding is one-on-one, social distancing (private spaces included) by 1.5 m is mandatory (often 2 m are suggested), all physical shops except medical, victual, and takeaway closed, plus restrictions WRT entering Germany (noticeably stricter ones than those for France, but not as strict as those by some of our Eastbound neighbors IIUC). Apart from the border checks, and hotels being forbidden to accept any guests other than business travelers, travel is strongly discouraged, but not outright forbidden, or subject to checkpoints. Latest statements say that the restrictions will not be lessened before 20-Apr (but, of course, may get tightened anytime if necessary).

For the healthcare situation, Germany is quite well-equipped with testing capacity (still not enough to scan the entire populace, though), ICU beds, and breathers, so German hospitals are actually taking severe COVID-19 cases off the hands of Grand Est and Northern Italy. Still no match to what will be needed should we fail to "flatten the curve", though ...

[thegreyarea]

Here in Portugal things are basically just like France and Germany (less the "you have to carry a paper" thing they are using in France).

Things are calm, and most (but sadly not all) people are respecting the advises and rules. However since the government announced that road travel between cities would be restricted (except in justified situations, like work or support to older people) some decided to move faster and tried to travel to those places, prompting a swift reaction from the police that now has checkpoints on most roads leading to beach areas and creating a few traffic jams. But now everything seems back to normal.

Bellow is a picture from the "Ribeira" area, the heart of Porto's touristic zone, that would be packed full of tourists in a Spring Sunday afternoon...

[Róisín]

JoB, thank you, that’s it. And I reckon they are right about better results from acting earlier rather than later.
We have a new cluster of at least 18 cases near us - American and Swiss tourists who thought the rules didn’t apply to them. They were quarantined, but a couple of them drove to Adelaide anyway, where they got out by air (probably a private flight, they were tourists). What scares me is that before they were stopped they had been all over the Barossa: wineries, tourist sites, fancy food places etc etc. Dammit, the residents live here too!

[Mebediel]

Things are quiet where I'm at in Illinois. Like midwestmutt already said, we have a shelter-in-place, although not everyone is taking it seriously--one of the people in my cohort has tried to convince me to hang out with her despite the shelter-in-place. We only have 10 confirmed cases in my small city, but they haven't been able to trace how all of these people were infected, which means that we have a community outbreak. There's still plenty of food in the grocery stores and such, so it's been easy to stock up on the necessities in case things take a turn for the worse. My sister is in Chicago, and my parents have been trying to convince her to drive down to where I am so that she won't be stuck in the middle of a hotspot by herself.

Meanwhile, most of my friends and their families are still in NYC. Someone I knew from church thinks he got the virus, but since he can't be tested he just has to stay home in his small apartment with his wife (and hopefully not infect his wife) until he fully recovers. A few of my friends also work in hospitals in the city as public health workers or nurses, and they're pretty overwhelmed. One of them has been working 12 hour shifts and making face shields out of laminating sheets, EVA foam, and zip ties because her hospital isn't supplied with enough face shields. A week ago, the nurses were told that they might be transferred from their positions as primary care practitioners to urgent care units, even though that's not what they've been trained for. It makes sense, but hearing about the chaos that's been happening in a place I until recently called home has been a lot. I guess I should be glad that only one person I know has been (likely) infected so far and is recovering well, so there's that!

[Solokov]

Out in a remote area in New Mexico (hot damn do I move around a lot, 14 times in 7 years or so). No cases in my county. There was a scare a week or so go after a county meeting where everyone who'd been at the meeting had to be locked down after someone at the meeting had been in contact with a person who had been in contact with someone who tested positive, but the whole Dark Helmet situation resolved itself with no one else testing positive.

The sheriff has floated the idea of setting up a checkpoint at the Arizona state line and main highway coming from Albuquerque to enforce the "only essential travel" orders the governor has put in place, as we've have issues with people driving from as far away as ABQ and PHX (note this one is close to an eight hour drive one way) to buy up paper goods from the local stores.



as for me? I've got supplies, I managed to snag some rolls of TP from safeway in a neighboring town and I'm considering turning my cabin fever towards productive efforts, like converting my sks into a scout rifle setup.

[Windfighter]

Sweden has made gatherings of more than 50 people illegal and you will face up to 6 months in jail if you break it!

Otherwise the current situation is just
- Wash your hands (which most swedes I talk with seems to think is an exaggerated reaction)
- Go about your day as regulary
- A few schools have changed to online lectures
- Oh and people are hoarding pasta and baking powder

[Róisín]

Hoarding pasta and baking powder at least makes more sense than hoarding toilet paper. We are moderately well provisioned, though I still want to lay in more firewood, cat food and grain for the poultry. And potting mix, because our Farmers Market is still open, and lots of people are realising that they need not only food like the seasonal fruits and other produce I sell, but perennial food plants, vegetable seeds and the like. So I am still bringing in some income. And the pause in all the teaching and public speaking I normally do, while it is a bad hit in the income, gives me more time to work on the cookery book I am writing, tend the garden, and have long and fascinating conversations with husband, who is interesting to talk to, and by phone and internet with all the remote friends and relations.

 Have spent the last few days going back and forth with husband to his medical appointments, since I am by far the more mobile of us, and go along both for things like getting his walking frame out of the back of the car, making sure he doesn’t fall, and understanding the medical gobbledegook (I’m not a medic myself, but enough of my friends and relations are or have been that I can at least interpret the jargon). For myself, some planned ear surgery has been indefinitely postponed (Wyrm, you were very lucky to get in ahead of the ban on ‘elective’ surgery). I will be spending some time this afternoon doing a telephone consult with my own doctor, getting scripts renewed remotely, hearing the results of my last lot of tests and so forth. Irritating, but at least saves the fuel of a lengthy round trip.

Luck and health to all!

[thorny]

Current restrictions/changes for New York State, latest official list I've seen:


Workforce reduction of 100% for non-essential services [Here’s a list of what New York State considers essential];
Evictions and foreclosures paused for 90 days;
Medical and student debt collection halted for at least 30 days;
Co-pays waived for Telehealth visits across NYS;
Unemployment restrictions lifted to ensure more availability;
Wait period for unemployment also lifted;
School year shortened by waiving 180-day requirement;
Job protections for those quarantined due to COVID-19;
Waiving mortgage payments based on financial hardship;
Creating a 90-day mortgage relief;
Preventing negative reporting to credit bureaus;
Allowing a grace period for loan modification;
Preventing late payment fees and online payment fees;
Postponing and suspending foreclosures; and
Waiving fees for overdrafts, ATMs, and credit cards.


Everyone's advised to stay home except for essential travel and the sort of outdoor exercise which it's possible to get without contact, and nobody's supposed to be gathering with anyone outside their own household, but there's nobody that I know of checking what reasons people have to be out on the roads, at least in my area.

Schools, public meetings, libraries all closed. Everything not deemed an "essential business" closed down in New York State; restaurants etc. takeout only; winery tasting rooms closed down, but wine etc. available as takeout or by mail; groceries and hardware stores open. Non-urgent medical appointments cancelled, postponed, or done over the phone.

Farmers' markets can open with restrictions; many of them wouldn't be open yet anyway, mine don't open until late May. We would currently not be able to allow crafters other than soap vendors who are allowed, and I may have to go to bat for a produce vendor who also sells flowers to be able to sell the flowers, though maybe things will be looser by then in any case. Keeping ornamental nursery plants alive and properly cared for is still considered essential business even though selling them isn't, so presumably they're expecting to allow sales eventually.

There are assorted efforts to make sure meals get to schoolchildren and others in need of them, and to get learning materials to students and to get isolated people checked on by phone. Much of this is being run by volunteers.

Grocery store stock seems highly variable by store and by item; though in general paper products and either hand sanitizer or anything to make it out of are in short supply to the point of frequent non-existence. At least some local distilleries have switched to making hand sanitizer so I expect the local supply of that to improve soon.

Downstate is getting hit very hard now and they expect it to get worse; also major cities. Some rural counties, mine included, still have only single-digit numbers of diagnosed cases in the entire county; though that may change fast. I'll probably venture out tomorrow to pick up potting soil on the other side of the lake. Am pretty well stocked up otherwise, and haven't left home for a week and shouldn't need to for a couple of weeks afterwards -- though "home" at least gives me lots of outdoor options. And indoor ones; today am trying to more or less conduct an annual farmers' market meeting by calling everyone up on the phone. Much of the membership is Old-Order Mennonite so Zoom or whatever is not an option, and there are few enough people currently involved that I decided it wasn't worth trying to figure out how to set up a conference call -- let alone how to get everybody on it at once. In more normal years we have a dinner meeting at a restaurant.