- New Jersey issues a shelter-at-home order. ~25% of U.S. population now under varying degrees of shelter-at-home orders.
- 3 Congress members have now tested positive.
- Alameda County reporting 100 confirmed cases.
The weekend is fairly calm so far (Sunday morning).
I reached 14-days of extra-familial isolation on Friday. Then I went to the grocery store last night to refresh our supply of perishables.
Safeway wasn't as bad as I feared, but it was still like nothing I've ever seen or ever expect to see again once this has passed. Plenty of fresh produce, milk, cereal, chips, snacks, & desserts. No eggs, pasta, rice, beans, flour, yeast, sugar. Limited quantities of yogurt, cheese, butter, and frozen goods.
Bread, milk, and eggs were all on limit-2 per household restrictions.
The store wasn't crowded, but of the people there many had either face-masks or gloves on. I wore nitrile gloves. I keep a box in the garage for working on the car or doing other tasks that get messy but still require digital dexterity. I did not buy them in response to this event--I've had them for months. So I'll use what I've got to try and slow the spread.
Safeway is usually open 24/7; under the isolation measures it now closes at 10 for restocking and cleaning. I left as they were announcing that they were preparing to close and everyone needed to begin checking out. They've installed clear plastic barriers between the cashiers and the customers to avoid as much respiratory interaction as they reasonably can.
When I got home I stocked the new goods in the garage to quarantine them for several days. Perishables got wiped down with at least some kind of sanitizing solution before being put in the fridge. It may not be effective on coronavirus, but I figure it's better than nothing.
Should be able to avoid leaving the house again for another 1.5-2 weeks. I only expect the medical conditions to get worse in that time frame. No idea what to expect for the food availability. Will people just keep hoarding as it comes in or will they eventually decide they don't actually need any more and shelves will refill?
This morning I walked down to the local Mexican Market to see if I could find some eggs. They did have eggs and a few other things I couldn't find at Safeway.
I will not be surprised to see states starting to do border closures at this point. If the federal government doesn't start actually doing something to enact isolation measures nationwide it's going to start looking like every-state-for-itself. California started earliest, so that's encouraging. It's still not going to be good, but better than it would have been. I'm shocked that Washington State still doesn't have shelter-at-home orders in place since it is one of the worst-hit places already.
We're going to get the girls outside to ride their bikes today before more rain moves in.
A picture from yesterday's walk:
