COVID 19 - The Coronavirus: The Prelude (Here)

After lacrosse practice Wednesday, I took Shane by Costco. We had to drive by Cville anyway, I needed gas, Shane was hungry, the pizza was cheap, and Carrie sent me a small list of groceries to get. Things like grapefruit, oranges, taquitos, paper towels, and toilet paper.

I'd seen some jokes/comments online about people hoarding toilet paper. I figured it'd be like "milk and bread" before snow days. I certainly didn't expect Costco to look like this.

There was no toilet paper. There were a few pallets of paper towels left with a sign saying "limit 2 per customer."

I don't buy two packs of toilet paper or paper towels from Costco at the same time. I probably only buy several all year round!

The warehouse wasn't picked clean, but there were definitely gaps I wasn't used to seeing. People hit the frozen pizza hard.

Not me. I paid $10 for a whole pizza for Shane and I to snack on as we went home. We weren't going to be back until after 8 PM and a busy days makes for hungry boys!

The coronavirus has been in the news. I read about it months ago when it was in China, but I've started to hear about it more at school the past couple of weeks. That's a good sign that it was being discussed more online and at homes. I even had my Freshman Seminar write a quick blurb about what they thought for a journal, because it had reached the point of the common consciousness (much like Y2K was a big deal when I was a senior).

While I've heard some talk, the empty shelves were the first sign I've seen of people taking action on their worry.

I'm not overly concerned with the virus itself at this point. It can be deadly, especially to certain portion of the population. Jama's independent living retirement community is already under a quarantine to protect the residents (smart). For most, it sounds akin to the flu.

The flu can be deadly, too. When Shane had it, a news article came out about how a teenager in Northern VA died from it to make me slightly paranoid (I didn't tell Carrie). The flu has been running through the school system this year and knocked many of my students out of their seats (I've had one poor girl get the flu three times this year!). I hope and pray that the coronavirus won't be anything worse than that.

However, "fear is the mindkiller." Also, "scared people do scary things." Neither of those are Biblical, but both have proven true in my experience. Italy is a mess right now. There are definitely people here taking precautionary steps. UVA cancelled classes on the 11th. If the public schools are going to close, they will do so slower because many students rely on the schools for food and other services.

I bought a few more groceries than I normally would have. I put an emphasis on buying non-perishable goods just in case. We're in a good spot on a farm with space around us rather than being in a crowded city. UVA has a research hospital, so some patients should make it this way regardless of whether there's an outbreak here or not. That should mean that there are people nearby who will know at least somewhat what they should be doing, but time will tell.

Times are interesting. Never forget what Gandalf said!