Today I naively went to three grocery stores. The first trip was around 10:30 AM . I should have known something was up as the parking lot was almost full. There was a very long line up for the cashiers.
The next store I checked in about 1:00 Pm. Again the parking lot was full and there was a buzz in the store.
I mistakenly thought the third store would not be filled but it was. The third store also had many shelves that were completely empty.
What's going on? Well, it was pay day for one thing. But more than that people seemed to be stocking up. They had very large orders. Not Toilet paper though. All the toilet paper was gone.
Yes , there's a nasty virus going around. We have to be prepared as well as possible , but today it felt like panic had set in. Our Prime Minister's wife has tested positive for the virus. Our Prime Minister is in voluntary quarantine.
I listened to my radio for most of the day. In Canada a number of major announcements were made by the government. There are two issues. One is the economy. The second is health. The Canadian government announced a number of programs to prop up the economy. They threw a dump truck load of money ( maybe it was quite a few dump trucks) into the economy to deal with the effects on the economy. The prime interest rate was lowered to stimulate the economy. Billions are available to assist small business and workers who may be laid off.
Our parliament has been closed until the end of April.
Then the hints on how to live to try and avoid the virus were endless. Things are in high gear in this country to deal with the virus. Number one is that they want to try and prevent the virus spreading. There are some very simple things that can be done. It only takes discipline to do them. Number two it that they want to restrict as much movement as possible and limit contact. So close the schools, shut down large crowds...no more sports. It seems that very little health treatment is needed for the virus but our emergencies are filled with worried people. The best thing is to stay home .
There is much speculation on what this virus could do. We'll just have to wait and see what happens.
I hope that all of you can avoid the experience of the virus.
Stay well.
