Self-isolation

[azdak]

The Austrian government closed all the shops except supermarkets as of Monday and has ordered everyone to stay indoors except for non-essential journeys (going to work, if your business is still open and you can't work from home, the doctor's, and for a walk as long as you keep 2 metres away from everyone who isn't a member of your household). So

Comments

[sartorias]

It's good to see you back, though not through this cause.

[azdak]

I'm amazed how many people are still here! I thought I would be talking to a void and that this would be more like a diary entry than anything interactive. It's a lovely surprise!

[sartorias]

I loathe facebook and twitter so I stuck it out here.

[elmey]

We're in the same boat. "Social Distancing"as of last weekend--Peter and I are in the vulnerable group and are trying to be very careful. Our county already has 18 confirmed covid-19 cases, obviously there must be more since there've been so few tests available till now. But we're getting a drive through test facility within the next few days and will know a lot more about what we're facing when that's up and running. NY has a very pro-active governor, and boy do we need that. He said today that the outbreak in NY is expected to peak in about 45 days and they're scrambling to add 8,000 (!)more beds in the state. It would have been difficult no matter what, I can't even talk about the farce in the White House

[azdak]

Good luck with the self-quarantining! You absolutely must be careful, it's horrifying how fast this thing spreads. And a house with a garden is wonderful at the best of times, but right now it's a blessing.

[elisi]

Hi. Good to see you, and hope that the social distancing works in halting the spread. My family is 'quarantined' as both husband & eldest are poorly, but we're all nerds (someone already suggested a LotR marathon), and we have nature literally at the back of our garden, so we hope to manage. :)

We have arranged that one day this week I will cycle into Vienna and we will go for a walk together on opposite sides of the road. It's been too windy for that up till now but I might go this afternoon, if the rain holds off.
What a brilliant idea!

[azdak]

I'm confident the social distancing will work as long as enough people stick to it, but I had a rather unnerving conversation with my niece in Spain about how her British friends at uni in Scotland are still partying like there's no pandemic. It's really striking how much different government policies make to people's attitudes - when you're sitting at home under lockdown, it's much harder to believe everything's going to be fine. I hope your husband and eldest recover quickly, but quarantine probably isn't a bad idea anyway.

[akane42me]

It's good to hear from you. We're in the same situation as you and it's hard to imagine not going out for a couple of months except to buy food. So far, there are no reported cases of the virus in our city, but it's appearing in nearby cities. Hopefully the lockdown will help, but who knows. We will do our best to comply with the government recommendations. I was relieved that the Governor mandated closings of bars and restaurant dining, because a lot of folks around here, especially in isolated communities, were refusing to follow precautionary guidelines.

[azdak]

Good to hear from you too! Over here it is, ironically enough, the old people who are throwing caution to the winds. There was an item about it on TV this morning and you can see from the presenter's face that he couldn't believe what he was reporting - here's the whole country sacrificing income and social contacts to keep the elderly safe, and they're the ones not sticking to the rules. It will be pretty funny if they have to get the army out to make stubborn pensioners stay indoors (at the moment the army is busy stocking supermarket shelves).

[sallymn]

Good to hear from you, do take care!

[azdak]

You too, Sally! Don't run out of toilet paper, I hear it's worth its weight in gold over there! By the way, I thought of you yesterday. We were watching TV with Hussein, a young refugee from iran who lives with us, and Kommissar Rex came on and he said "I know this! That's Rex! I used to watch it as a kid in Iran." It truly must be Austria's most successful cultural export.

[sallymn]

We have more than enough paper for the two of us :) may see if we can grab another packet on the weekend but won't worry of we can't. And without panic buying, we have ensured we have some extra foods etc stocked, so should be okay.

The idiocy over toilet paper was embarrassing in front of the whole world.

I till do love my Rex. If I end up having to isolate, I'll dig out my episodes...

[azdak]

I wouldn't say you were an embarrassment, I'd say you were an example to the rest of the world - that particular infection spread even faster than the virus *g*