Coronavirus and Quarantine

Ok, it's time to talk coronavirus.  Wow, this last month has been weird.  I can't believe it's only been a month since this whole quarantine debacle started because March seriously feels like a lifetime ago.  Let me explain.

Back in December, news outlets started generating reports of a novel virus spreading through the Chinese city of Wuhan.  For the next couple of months, we all watched cautiously as the virus began to pop up in other areas of the world.  It spread to Italy first.  The spread was concerning for the CDC and the WHO because Covid-19 seemed to have a higher death rate than any other virus they'd seen in recent decades.

In an article written by Amy Harmon out of the New York Times, she paints a vivid picture:

"Coroners in some parts of the country are overwhelmed. Funeral homes in coronavirus hot spots can barely keep up. Newspaper obituary pages in hard-hit areas go on and on. Covid-19 is on track to kill far more people in the United States this year than the seasonal flu.

But determining just how deadly the new coronavirus will be is a key question facing epidemiologists, who expect resurgent waves of the infection that could last into 2022.  

As the virus spread across the world in late February and March, the projection circulated by infectious disease experts of how many infected people would die seemed plenty dire: around 1 percent, or 10 times the rate of a typical flu."

Covid-19 is a respiratory virus, much like pneumonia.  Symptoms include fever, dry cough, difficulty breathing, and fatigue.  So far, the data indicates that people who are young and healthy generally get through it just fine.  But for the older population or immunocompromised, the percentage of people who require hospitalization is significant.  

At the end of February, Americans started getting a little nervous about the virus, but it mostly just manifested itself in the form of everybody frantically buying up all paper products from all the stores.  I kid you not.  There was no toilet paper, there were no paper towels, no kleenexes anywhere.  Oh, and definitely no Clorox wipes or hand sanitizer.  That was gone a while ago.  The toilet paper situation though!  There were soooo many memes about the "great toilet paper shortage of 2020".  This one is a personal fav:

As you can see, the feeling in the country was still mostly light-hearted about the whole virus thing.  We were supposed to go to Utah on March 10th for an eight day ski vacation, and although we briefly considered staying home, we ultimately decided that it was ok to go. 

We had a great time the first couple of days, skiing and running with friends.  We also brought Auggie to feed the ducks at a local pond near the Williams' house which he absolutely loved.

{Feeding the ducks with Grandpa Dan}

{Running with BYU friends}

But after the first couple of days, things with coronavirus escalated very, very quickly.  What was a funny meme the week before suddenly became a national state of emergency.  Within twenty four hours states were closing down schools and businesses, enacting stay-at-home orders, and responding seriously to what was now considered an immediate threat.  Utah closed their ski resorts.  At the time, we were very nervous that the government would enact a travel ban and that we wouldn't be able to get back home.  Needless to say, Don and I reevaluated our plans and flew back to Pittsburgh the next morning.

Since arriving back in Pittsburgh, we have been at home in quarantine. Pittsburgh has now announced the official stay-at-home order, and we're doing our best to be responsible citizens and do our part to not catch or spread the virus.

To be honest, we've been lucky through this whole ordeal.  Quarantine for us has been a wonderful, unique time to be together.  Don has had quite a bit of time off because of previously scheduled vacations and because work at the hospital is slower right now.  Most hospitals are not doing elective procedures, and if they are, they are limited.  I also feel lucky that we only have one little baby bean to take care of.  At this point, almost all schools have closed for the rest of the year, so moms everywhere are left in charge of home schooling their kiddos.  Yikes!  I just think homeschooling like, four kids would be really, really rough.  

Quarantine for us has been a lot of running, cycling, going on walks, being creative, and playing with all the toys.

{Walking by the river to see the geese}

{Sitting in baskets, of course}

{Playing in abandoned parking lots}

{Picking up sticks and rocks, on repeat}

{Stroller runs}

{Laundry games}

{The most extreme paint-by-numbers in my free time!}

We haven't talked to anyone in person for the last four weeks, with the exception of neighbors who happen to be out walking at the same time.  Even then, we stay six feet apart as directed by social distancing.  For good reason, but it sure feels like all we talk about these days is social distancing.

Such is the case at grocery stores as well.  I only go out for my once a week trip to the grocery store.  Almost all the grocery stores have lines out the door in order to control how many customers come in at one time.  That, along with masks, sanitizing carts between customers, plexiglass protective sheets at the registers, and specified shopping times for the elderly and disabled are all efforts to curb the spread of the virus.  

{Social distancing line at Trader Joe's}

{Sign:  "8am - 9am seniors and disabled shoppers only"}

{Face mask grocery run}

 {Sign:  "Face covers are required!}

{low, low gas prices}

At this point, all non-essential businesses have been shut down.  As a result, a lot of employees are being furloughed.  I got that call from Anthropologie last month.  They told me that all part-time employees were being furloughed until at least June 1st, and I was on the list.  I guess the unemployment rate is the highest it's been in a long time, and everybody is just waiting with bated breath to see if and when the economy will turn around.

(So...is now the time to mention that Don just signed a contract for a new job in Utah and gave UPMC his six month notice last week?  Well folks, it's done and we're moving.  In the middle of a possible economic depression and a worldwide pandemic...but yolo, right!?)

I could go on and on about our epic search for toilet paper, how we bought jasmine rice online because every other kind was sold out for weeks, or how we haven't been to church in a month because all meetings have been cancelled for the foreseeable future, or how everyone is sewing their own masks because there is a worldwide shortage, or how sports have all been cancelled and the Olympics are postponed until 2021, or how we subconsciously check the death toll every hour just to see how high it's ticked up...like I said, I could go on and on.  For the record, the current stats after four months are:

Total Deaths:  170,096
American Deaths:  42,201

It's sobering to think that these are the statistics despite the world literally standing still.  Don and I feel very grateful that we have everything we need.  For now, we'll just keep praying, fasting, and having faith that the world will be ok again soon.