Self-induced Quarantine
Mar. 18th, 2020 11:31 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
janestarzWhile in France the news reached us about the measures being taken to halt Covid-19. As the week in France progressed, the measures went farther and farther. I found a note on the Ravelry forums that Macron would speak to the French people, and we feared the country would be locked down like Italy. Would we still be able to return home? Surely they can't stop us from going home?!
Lucky for us, the country didn't lock down; Macron spoke of the French people standing strong, but you know, with some distance between them to prevent the spread of Covid-19. Meanwhile, Brabant was a 'hot zone', with lots of people running into the virus during carnaval and plenty of infections.
As we drove home, we tried to stay away from big groups of people, washed our hands, pushed doors open with our feet so as not to re-contaminate freshly washed hands -- and had dinner at the MacDonalds in Luxembourg. *headdesk*
Once home, we imposed quarantine on ourselves. "Flatten the curve" and "social distancing" were hot phrases floating around on Social Media. To limit the number of infections and to prevent hospitals from being overcrowded people should stay home. We stayed in on Sunday, but I went out for a shopping run on Monday. I'd opened the Etsy store on Friday and three small orders needed to be shipped out. We made plans to only ship out parcels on Mondays and Thursdays, always combined with grocery runs if necessary, to limit time outdoors.
I drove to work on de Hurk industry on Monday around noon and was amazed....so many people out on the streets! People who went to work, who went for their daily lunch walk just like regular. Idiots.
The grocery store was great. Lots of employees trying to keep up with hamstering demand. A whole pallet of basmati rice, another of fusilli, and another of farfalle were set in the middle of the store. No need to chuck these in the racks, people would buy the whole pallet worth soon enough anyway. Fresh vegetables, fruit, milk aplenty. I bought slightly more than I normally would -- two packs of kale, lasagna, pancake flour etc. Stuff that would keep as well as fresh stuff. Enough to last the week, but nothing in bulk. Sensible purchases. And cookies.
On Tuesday I played games and ignored the world, but it got boring very quickly. I could very easily go to Plan-B, lock the atelier door behind me and work on some patterns. Maybe I'll do that tomorrow. There's no reason I would have to come into contact with people. But for now we're doing the smart thing and taking a few extra days off.
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jenthompson said it best on one of her Instagram Stories: "Now is the most dangerous time of all, because lots of people are already infected but they still feel fine, so they are out there spreading it to others.
I finally grasped the concept that I'm the one who might have caught it already - I could be the person spreading it if I keep leaving my house.
My non-essential errand could end up killing somebody."
Lucky for us, the country didn't lock down; Macron spoke of the French people standing strong, but you know, with some distance between them to prevent the spread of Covid-19. Meanwhile, Brabant was a 'hot zone', with lots of people running into the virus during carnaval and plenty of infections.
As we drove home, we tried to stay away from big groups of people, washed our hands, pushed doors open with our feet so as not to re-contaminate freshly washed hands -- and had dinner at the MacDonalds in Luxembourg. *headdesk*
Once home, we imposed quarantine on ourselves. "Flatten the curve" and "social distancing" were hot phrases floating around on Social Media. To limit the number of infections and to prevent hospitals from being overcrowded people should stay home. We stayed in on Sunday, but I went out for a shopping run on Monday. I'd opened the Etsy store on Friday and three small orders needed to be shipped out. We made plans to only ship out parcels on Mondays and Thursdays, always combined with grocery runs if necessary, to limit time outdoors.
I drove to work on de Hurk industry on Monday around noon and was amazed....so many people out on the streets! People who went to work, who went for their daily lunch walk just like regular. Idiots.
The grocery store was great. Lots of employees trying to keep up with hamstering demand. A whole pallet of basmati rice, another of fusilli, and another of farfalle were set in the middle of the store. No need to chuck these in the racks, people would buy the whole pallet worth soon enough anyway. Fresh vegetables, fruit, milk aplenty. I bought slightly more than I normally would -- two packs of kale, lasagna, pancake flour etc. Stuff that would keep as well as fresh stuff. Enough to last the week, but nothing in bulk. Sensible purchases. And cookies.
On Tuesday I played games and ignored the world, but it got boring very quickly. I could very easily go to Plan-B, lock the atelier door behind me and work on some patterns. Maybe I'll do that tomorrow. There's no reason I would have to come into contact with people. But for now we're doing the smart thing and taking a few extra days off.
jenthompson said it best on one of her Instagram Stories: "Now is the most dangerous time of all, because lots of people are already infected but they still feel fine, so they are out there spreading it to others.I finally grasped the concept that I'm the one who might have caught it already - I could be the person spreading it if I keep leaving my house.
My non-essential errand could end up killing somebody."
