Unofficial Academy Awards Discussion Board

Spain is now in full lockdown

Lithuania has 8 cases and has locked down as well

Czech Republic, Norway, Denmark, Austria and Hungary have closed borders

Due to work issues, we've had to live in three different towns in two different states in the past 14 months. As of today, the virus has struck two of the three towns we've resided in. Fortunately, the untouched third town is where we're now living, but I don't expect that to last more than a few days.

As for shopping... This has been freaking me out since early February. I remember I was "unfriended" on Facebook years ago because I teased someone about freaking out when that case of Ebola reached America. But this looked really bad from the beginning, and now I was the hysterical one while everyone else was chill. But being neurotic has its advantages. We ordered medicine, soup starters, etc. weeks in advance (and we have plenty of tp). If I was wrong, no big deal. The stuff will get used eventually.

I also did most of the shopping at the beginning of the week, and things were a bit busier than usual. But you can't think of everything, and I did need to get some things. I went to a small Stop and Shop this morning, and although it was missing lots of product (I did manage to snag 2 of the last 4 bottles of OJ), it wasn't an unpleasant experience. But I'm hearing the same horror stories in my area: lines extending past produce, fist fights in the aisles, yes we have no bananas today. I went to Target instead. (I do this every Thanksgiving when we run out of butter). They still had most things.
They sell Diet Coke in drugstores, and batteries too, so I also try to shop there. It may cost more, but consider it an investment on your sanity. I try to go to a non-chain, even though they're out of the way. This morning, I went to an independently owned pharmacy and grabbed the last bottle of rubbing alcohol. Liquid gold! If we need rice, we'll try an Asian market, or a bodega. (My wife knows all the Indian markets in the area.) They'll also have fruit, veggies and... Diet Coke. Worse comes to worse, there's that seedy convenience store down the block. It's the last place any snob would think of going - it's really a liquor store more than anything else - but they have medicine, they have munchies and they have toilet paper. True, the selection is very limited, it's more expensive, and the TP is Scott. But in an emergency, they'll come through. Dollar Stores may also have supplies that the standard supermarkets may be out of.

Oh, and we've been subscribers to a meal delivery service. This week, we've doubled the order. We need never leave our home again.

I haven't been in a grocery store since earlier in the week. My local Costco had run out of paper products and were low on water last week, but had stocked up over last weekend. The same was true of my local Rite-Aid. I suspect they're both out again.

I have plenty of frozen fish and vegetables as well as a few ready-to-eat frozen dinners and hamburgers. I also have some potatoes and plenty of pasta. I'm out of bread, but I have oatmeal and muffin mixes, water, Diet Coke and coffee. I'm avoiding the stores for the weekend, will check again on Monday or Tuesday. I'll be out of fresh milk and eggs (for the muffins) by then.

As administrator of the community website of our 145-home community, I'm busy sending out e-mails on meetings cancellations and the like. I have to pull notices for upcoming meetings from the community newspaper by Tuesday and come up with articles to replace them before the paper goes to press. Fortunately none of the residents in my community (from 55 to, if the rumors are correct, at least one gentleman over 100) have been in contact with anyone with the coronavirus. If that were to change, we'd be in deep shit.

I live in the San Francisco Bay area, one of the hot spots in the US. San Francisco has banned gatherings of more than 100 people. Other than grocery stores, businesses and shopping districts are fairly deserted, including restaurants. Grocery stores have been growing increasingly packed over the past few weeks, with lots of items out of stock. My husband, way more patient than I, went on Wednesday to grocery shop. He said it was at least twice as crowded as the rush just before Thanksgiving. Took him over two hours in the store. Plenty of food overall but lots of non-perishables out of stock. A colleague braved going to Costco early in the week, where there were lines going to the back of the store.

I work in an outpatient mental health clinic. We have stopped our group therapy program and are doing all but the most urgent appointments virtually, either over the phone or via video.

It’s a good time to stay home and read or watch movies.

Mister Tee wrote:And runs on bottled water and toilet paper

What we in the Muslim world find hilarious is the hysteria in the West in buying up toilet paper when it is the most unhygienic method of cleaning oneself after using the toilet. Washing oneself with good old fashioned water is not only hygienic but also saves you from spending money on all that paper

I'm curious to know what people's experiences have been with grocery shopping (especially in the U.S.).

I was, uncharacteristically, a bit ahead of the curve: I decided early Tuesday it would be a good idea to lay in provisions to cover 2-3 weeks. I went to the grocery store that afternoon, filled my freezer with many multiple meals. The store was, at that point at least, fully stocked/normal traffic. I'd forgotten a few items, so, Wednesday after dinner, I went to a closer but more expensive store (Fairway) for those. The store was more crowded than usual that time of night (generally it's deserted then, which is why I go that time), but everything I needed was in stock, and it didn't seem much out of the ordinary.

Sometime later that night, of course, was when things jumped from 3 to 11 on the panic scale, and all I see now is reports of empty shelves and massive crowds. (And runs on bottled water and toilet paper, for which...can someone give me an explanation? Why would people think the water supply would be turned off? Do they have this confused with a hurricane?)

I ask about anyone's more recent experiences, because I'm thinking I'll want to replenish some day this week. I say I have 2-3 weeks worth, but the idea is to keep some of that in the freezer in case things do turn catastrophic, so it'd be better to refill at a normal pace. (Plus, I will run out of Diet Cokes, which are essential.)

Just wanted to have some idea if the scare stories are overblown, or if I'm going to walk into a ghost town on Monday or Tuesday.

Our Government has banned public gatherings of over 500 which is to start on Monday. Schools are to remain open for now and there is actually logic to this but I can't be bothered going into the details why. Ditto universities.

However, we are running out of testing kits and like pretty much everything except for food we don't actually produce very much. No idea how they are going to resolve this one but GPs are furious because they have been told to limit testing only to people who fit a particular rigid criteria.

New cases ramp up every day but most are imported primarily from the U.S. and the EU. There have been 12 community transmissions in the country to date (11 in Sydney, 1 in Melbourne) for which they have not been able to track down the source so clearly it is starting to spread. I expect we will go the same way as Europe sometime in April unless the Government doesn't implement more stringent measures such as basically locking the country down for a few weeks. (Personally, I'd ban tourists, except from New Zealand & the Pacific Island nations, and send citizens who are currently out of the country to Christmas Island or Darwin for an extra two weeks break on their return all expense paid via the Australian taxpayer. As for short sighted selfish citizens leaving the country for holidays now and in the coming weeks I'd be letting them know that when they return they get a two week extended holiday on Christmas Island or in Darwin but they get to pay for that as well.)

From Monday anybody entering New Zealand, except for Pacific Island nations will be required to self quarantine for 14 days. That will stop tourists coming in because let's face it nobody is going to take a trip only to spend the first two weeks in a hotel room. Whilst it will smash New Zealand's economy the alternative is much, much worse.

Everything is turning to shit just as I feared on 23 January. The rising numbers, the rising death rates, economies under siege, mass unemployment, shortages of certain items, medical staff overwhelmed to breaking point. And when it finally ends the world we be a very different place and its going to take a very long time to get back to what we have become accustomed to.

Our Government has finally woken up and has shut down all educational institutions until sometime in April. A relief for parents.

Not at all, but there is definitely a longer story involved with this that is very soap opera-ish.

Okri wrote:

Sonic Youth wrote:

Okri wrote:My dad, who is almost 70, and I are going to Finland and England for a wedding. Very tempting to cancel at this point, not gonna lie.

Jesus, don’t hesitate. Cancel!

I did, but not without hesitation. Not quite sure why.

Because it's an extremely bold step to take. Same thing happened to me. My daughter's school is closing beginning Monday. I was prepared to take her out of there LAST Monday, but I just couldn't do it, and now I'm kicking myself. Part of the reason, though, was because I didn't want to give her anxiety (although - unless I manage a "Life is Beautiful" on her - she's going to be plenty anxious as it is).

Is your dad angry? I've noticed there's something of a generation gap regarding one's attitude towards the virus.

Sonic Youth wrote:

Okri wrote:My dad, who is almost 70, and I are going to Finland and England for a wedding. Very tempting to cancel at this point, not gonna lie.

Jesus, don’t hesitate. Cancel!

I did, but not without hesitation. Not quite sure why.

Alabama has closed all schools from Wednesday, March 18 through (tentatively) Friday, April 3. (I actually suspect we won't work on Monday.) Worried for a lot of my students. I won't miss a single paycheck if the world shuts down, but many of my students (my school is about 40% Hispanic) have parents who work in construction and in other fields where they may not be able to work for awhile.

Dear all

Marco has asked me to post the following:

Thanks Sabin, danfrank, and all those who have contacted me even in private to express their concern. I am fine for the moment – no coronavirus, or at least no symptoms of coronavirus: Italy has now stopped testing those who don’t have symptoms, so one never knows… But I am ok. My life isn’t – as you maybe know, now Italy is a sealed country, and we Italians are sealed in our homes. We can get out to buy food, but we can’t stay out, and everything, including of course restaurants, cinemas, and all shops except supermarkets and pharmacies, is closed. I spend my days reading books, watching movies, working at the pc. It’s not too bad, but it’s just the beginning, and I hope I won’t be too bored at the end of this two- or three-weeks period. As for the virus, it’s so strange – you can get it in a very soft way or you can die from it, or anything between these two extremes. And those who die are mostly old people – not nice considering that we all have old parents or old relatives. So the situation is undeniably sad and tense. I just hope that other countries, who have been lucky enough to be behind us, won’t lose time, and will profit from Italy’s experiences, and do soon everything to block this. And that their leaders don’t underestimate this problem, and don’t conceal (as I am sure it’s happening in some places, even in Europe) the real numbers of the infected. Italy has one of the best health systems in the world, yet our hospitals are facing an almost unbearable number of sick people and soon won’t have places for more. I hope this won’t happen in countries less ready for such an emergency.
Feel free to contact me in case you need further informations. Ciao from Italiano

danfrank wrote:

HarryGoldfarb wrote:

Sabin wrote:I hope Marco is okay.

I’ve been in touch with him. He and his relatives are fine, according to what he said to me earlier today.

I will let him know about your concern.

Thanks for that update and yes, please let Marco know that we are thinking about him.

Just told him. He thanks the concerns from everybody

HarryGoldfarb wrote:

Sabin wrote:I hope Marco is okay.

I’ve been in touch with him. He and his relatives are fine, according to what he said to me earlier today.

I will let him know about your concern.

Thanks for that update and yes, please let Marco know that we are thinking about him.