survey the nation

With 24/7 news comes insanity, so I decided to leverage my reasonably wide social network of a couple thousand Facebook friends to hear from people I know and trust what the situation is where they are. It’s changing rapidly, of course, but here’s the latest from around the USA and Canada today.

The question:

And the replies (with personal information redacted):

Crazy here also, very quiet in the forest this morning!

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A bit of the same in dallas… North texas area.

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Here in Orange County, I stopped by a local grocery store to drop off some redbox movies. Parking lot was busier than normal, but not chaotic. There was meat in the meat dept, and soup on the shelves. Some items were low, but not terrible. Although my wife just ran out to the store to stock up on wine cuz she heard the wineries are closing. Even though we have 20 or so bottles at home already

Traffic is about the same as most Sundays. Restaurants are a bit lighter than normal, but not a total ghost town just yet. My work is suggested to go to WFH, wife’s work is very similar. She works in HR, so she has to go in tomorrow for a new hire, but doesn’t expect to be in the full day.

I wouldn’t be surprised if a national curfew gets implemented very soon. It’s the course of best action, but our president doesn’t seem to be ahead of the curve on many things.

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Here in Ottawa the federal government has said all nonessential employees should work from home. Many tech shops as well. Rogers, Bell, and others have eliminated overages on residential internet. Schools are closed for 3 weeks... universities as well. Grocery stores are a little busy but not crazy. Traffic is lighter.

No real panic though. Seems everyone is resigned to chilling out a few weeks

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Here in Oregon (wife and I are realtors) I held an open house yesterday and had 11 groups come through. So this isn't stopping buyers from shopping for their next home. Certain stores are a little picked through where I live but nothing crazy.

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Toronto is definitely quieter than usual.

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Outside of London, UK, silly people in supermarkets over buying, but borders are shut here in Europe, and more will be shut early next week so it’s real. Word is the over 70s will he asked/told to self quarantine themselves for weeks rather than days.

My only advice is watch what is happening to the Italians. They lost 385 people today as the number just keeps going up 

You may well watch whole series’ on Netflix in a day. Go! Hahahahahaaa

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In Gatineau, it’s mostly the same as Ottawa. People are getting outside to recreate, but not in groups. The worst part is probably the number of baguettes going stale at the grocery stores.

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Where I am in Ottawa, our government office is closed until April 5th (not work from home: closed).

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I’m an EMT working in Los Angeles. No traffic, Whole Foods was picked clean off of Coldwater canyon and like you mentioned there is a nervousness in the air. More people are walking around with surgical masks (which don't do much actually) and more people wearing latex gloves around.

My advice is to be vigilant, wash your hands. Exercise, eat healthy and all will be okay.

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I’m lucky I’m in Mexico for the Sonora Rally and life seems to be unaffected.

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In Toronto I’m seeing picked-over supermarkets. Hard to find certain things needed for medical reasons (like distilled water). Doctor's offices cancelled all non-urgent appointments. Schools all closed, and in my life all dance series cancelled and all ski areas closed (plus all community centres, etc.). Yet no screening or isolation notices at airports, nor any action to address the already severe overcrowding in shelters and respite centres.

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My apartment complex in Rancho Santa Margarita, California, is eerily quiet for a Sunday. Lots of folks hanging out on their balconies but nobody in the common areas. All of the stores are basically empty of everything - had to go to Target to pick up a prescription and it was a ghost town. Schools are all closed so half of the office is scrambling to figure out how to handle that - I expect a lot of people out this week as they try to figure out a game plan. Movie theatre has a notice that they have limited seating and won’t allow large groups. As for me, I’m well stocked with plenty of wine and a Kindle full of unread books 

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In Metro Detroit large chain stores are mostly empty. Police are keeping the peace at warehouse stores. Small neighborhood grocers are okay. I was off work for 3 weeks because of a car collision. Went back to restricted work Thursday - great timing. School and colleges closed, major events (even outdoors) are cancelled. Some business occupancies limited to 50% capacity.

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Long Beach is very chill. Just took a little walk and there are people out in small groups getting some sunshine. Everyone is smiling and friendly (from a distance) and it kinda feels nice...like ‘teamwork’ of some sort...everyone knows the deal. Curt was able to find some good groceries at a little Hispanic market by the GTFOverland shop. And earlier, the Tamale Lady came down our street and she was the hit of the neighborhood as people sprang from their apartments to buy lots of treats, no doubt to freeze and save for the next month. 

I’m off to do some at-home yoga and finish up my “corona break to-do list.”

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We flew into Sacramento yesterday. We are here for the week unfortunately. Standing in a grocery store right now and had zero issues getting anything including water. The mass hysteria is real and at first was funny, but now just frustrating more than anything that people seriously think they need to stock up for the end of the world. Not anywhere near as bad as where we live in AZ.

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I’m in Halifax, where they just announced today that public schools and daycares will be closed for two weeks after March Break — which starts tomorrow. My university (SMU) has cancelled in-person classes until the end of term (early April), and I’m waiting to hear what that means for online classes and exams.

We were the last province to have known cases of the virus (3), also announced today.

It’s going to be a long haul with an 8-year-old and nothing much to do, but that’s okay. Luckily I stocked up on books at the library (just announced that they’re closed as of now), tacky art supplies at the dollar store, and I’ll throw the daily screen time recommendations out the window. Netflix and Disney+, here we come. (And maybe throw in a few drives to the beach if the weather holds up.)

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In Lunenburg, Nova Scotia. March break has been extended for 2 weeks We are just beginning to see more changes although TP has been sold out for a week. My company is in Montreal and has just enforced work form home, but I do that anyway. Still manage to walk the dog to the beach every day as we usually have it to ourselves.

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Shelves picked clean in Colorado. I just got back from a run and a lot of people out, all very friendly walking dogs, biking hiking, running. Looks like two week of forced staycation. Shame the ski areas are closed that’s the bummer because we can all keep at a safe distance and still ski.

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The alerting system in Michigan was used at 4:57 p.m. today to let us know of outbreaks stemming from a handful of Colorado ski resorts. Self-quarantine was requested whether showing symptoms or not.

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Here in my Boston suburb, we just updated to three weeks of school closure. Restaurants and bars are now take-out or delivery only. Groceries and drugstores remain open. There are social distance guidelines asking us to keep to < 25 in a group (retail, gym, etc).

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In the province of Quebec: all schools (from kindergarten all the way up to university) are closed. So are museums, libraries, gyms, bars by order of the Quebec government. Daycare centers are open only for kids of essential services workers. Restaurants are still open but must accept only 50% of their seating capacity.

We have 33 confirmed cases and a population of 8 million.

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Minnesota just announced a two-week school shutdown. TP still hard to come by, cleaning products and hands sanitizer out of stock. Amazed by the business support, lots of restaurants offering free lunches for kids since many families rely on free/subsidized school meals... No questions, no other purchase needed, just ask.

On the work front, I'm an ER nurse in a very busy level 1 trauma center. My next shift is not until Friday. Last week was very busy (5-7 hour waits) early in the week. We commonly see lots of people for influenza like illnesses that they really don't need to come to the ER... we see them and work on educating them on when they SHOULD come to the ER. From what I've heard, it was much quieter over this weekend. Maybe some of the useful info out there is helping!! Although, it's hard to sift through the facts and fiction out there!

And the governor also mandated school districts to provide elementary school age child care for parents that are healthcare workers. Many co- workers are offering up their out of school teens for babysitting. Others are offering to pick up shifts from parents that are stuck. Restores your faith in humanity a little. 

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In Thornhill, Toronto, all public gatherings over 250 are canceled, schools closed, daycares, museums, talk of some LCBOs closing, the usual TP going fast, weekend was busy in the stores, crazy long lines, carts full of toilet paper, one news report of a gun pulled in a downtown grocery. Roads have much less traffic. Reported cases within the province are rising rapidly.

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Sunday traffic was lighter than usual in Toronto. Rona had more staff than customers. Work has asked anyone who can to work from home next week. Local grocery had empty TP shelves, but plenty of everything else.

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Central Wyoming is business as usual. Both the CBD and nutritional work loads seem to be normal. No TP, baby wipes, etc., but the grocery store has plenty of food. People have stocked up on ammunition and are more than hysterical about TP.

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In southwest Virginia, all seems pretty calm — considering. The only thing we could not find at grocery (we made three stops) was toilet paper. Finally Dollar General had some crappy (pun intended) roles... as well as Rural King. Events and schools cancelled... Even our small neighborhood gathering for this evening was turned into a Skype Wine Night... lol. Everyone is hunkering down.

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We cancelled our trip to Costa Rica so we're stay-cationing at home and cottage here in Orillia, Ontario. A friend and I worked on my Defender, drank some beer, had a campfire. I restrung my acoustic, adjusted the neck and caterwauled through my chest congestion. Still no TP on the shelves. Nice sunny day tho...

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I’m up in the NW corner of Washington state and things are a bit crazy here. Schools are closed until April 24th, no gatherings can not be more than 250 people. Medical supplies are in short supply, hospitals had to hire security just to guard the supplies. Grocery stores are pretty empty and toilet paper is hard to find. People are still friendly and kind for the most part. Delivery services are so backed up I ordered Costco this morning and the soonest available open time was Wednesday afternoon. Washington was the start of this in the states so we have many sick people and 41 deaths.

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In Windsor, Ontario, the city has closed the pools and rec centres, but not City Hall, so I'll be at work like normal tomorrow (unless something changes between then and now). The FIRST Robotics season has been suspended, so I'm seeing a lot of posts from obviously sad kids trying to take the news gracefully.

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South of Houston here, I went to Home Depot and West Marine. Nobody is wearing a mask. Businesses are busy as any other Sunday. One grocery store i went to get beers Friday had been partially raided but the Target near the marina was fine. Restaurant at the marina has been busy like every other weekend.

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In Toronto, we went to the farmers market at St. Lawrence market on Saturday to get our usual meat and veggies. Spoke to a farmer who said that there was a huge rush at 5:30 in the morning, just as they were unpacking their goods. We bought what we could find (not much!) and headed over to the regular market for the rest. It will likely be closed next week.

Our beloved YMCA is closed as of yesterday so we’ll be working out at home. All schools closed, so there goes our work as we’ve been workshopping one of our programs across the province. My university-aged daughter’s classes have moved online so she will be home with us.

We went to a deli for lunch today. Totally empty. Probably the last food we will eat out for a long while. I expect that this isolation period will last longer than 3 weeks. So I’m going to clean out all of my cupboards! And cook healthy meals. Just happy we have space in our house!

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In Brooklyn, NY, there’s strange quiet everywhere. Schools are closed till April. There are idiots still going to brunch and bars. I’m sure they’ll be closed soon. We belong to a food coop which has had a very good supply of food. We are staying in now.

Good luck all.

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I was in Peterborough, ON today and purchased a townhouse for my son and 3 other students to rent for University. We will get through this! It was 14 hours a day over the last 4 days thinking wondering talking with close friends helped me make this big decision. Take care!

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In the OC, I just drove by the mall after an afternoon coffee with a friend. All people traffic and car traffic is light. I live behind Costco and the parking lot is same as you would expect on any day.

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I’m not far from you in Los Angeles, and there is almost no food at any of our markets. Daughter’s high school closed (a parent in the district tested positive for COVID-19) UCLA is done for the year, all classes on-line and encouraging everyone to go home. Just took my puppy for a walk and everyone was happy and smiling mostly maintaining their distance but certainly not all were! Gym just closed until further notice and Restaurants are still packed. Toilet paper and feminine products are non existent, yikes! We are on mandatory work from home until further notice as are most everyone I know! Stay safe!!!

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In Campbell, California, it’s the same as where you're at. I'm happy that I see plenty of people out biking and walking, kids are sill playing at the playgrounds, but restaurants, coffee shops, etc are nearly dead.

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In westside LA, it’s been funny. Certain areas are hoarding different things. The streets have been kinda empty too.

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Here in Denver, we see the same issues with hoarding and shelves being emptied. I doubt there is a shortage of food in our country so imagine that will settle out in time. Traffic is lighter, parks are full, far fewer people eating out. The mountain ski towns seem to have been hit disproportionately so their asking anyone who had been up there in the past week to self isolate for 7-10 days. Hoping the denial to panic stage is subsiding. You already see lots of people looking to help and there seems to be a willingness to do what we’re being told to do. It feels like if we do, then we should do not much worse than China and maybe we’ll be through the worst of it by mid to end of April. Hopefully we dodged the Challenge Italy faces right now.

By the way, this is a great Facebook post. We need to be sharing experiences now. Nothing about this should be too scary if we’re all in it together.

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All public schools in Michigan area closed for the next 3-4 weeks. All Grand Rapids (Kent county) restaurants, bars are being limited to 1/2 capacity. Supermarkets have been sacked for TP (really), bread, other staples (some people's kids have no common sense...) Of course with my spare time I'll work my birddogs and drink some bourbon. And thanks for asking the question... I've wondered how my Canadian friends are. (My experience says there's more sanity to the north)

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The east side of LA is pretty quiet as well. Heard reports of an indoor children’s party with 60 people in attendance…

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Registered Nurse here in Ontario, Canada. No toilet paper in the grocery stores but its just another day at the office. We currently have no patients in hospital. There was a doctor at another hospital that tested positive and is in self isolation. Her husband was a surgeon at our hospital and so far has been negative. She became symptomatic after returning from Hawaii.

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Keeping things pretty quiet over here at our house in Toronto. Laying low, hanging with the family. Trying not to kill the teenager. Although, I’m determined to learn how to make Maritime Brown Bread over the next two weeks. And drink all the wine and quarantinis!

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I didn't see an Upper Peninsula response. You know the true Yooper is a weird breed and spots of the peninsula have influx from wannabes. I contribute the weird tp and flour shortage, oh and chicken, tortillas, and cans of baked beans to them. I found every single item I needed at the store and plenty of it. Meanwhile, I've rented a house in the woods in the Keweenaw later this week. They were concerned about a cancel and I said hell no I won't want to leave and come back to the madness of my state job, phones and pagers.

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I left Chicago on Friday hearing many stories of empty shelves at grocery stores. We are now on work from home for four weeks. On the drive to Cincinnati, grocery stores have reasonable crowds but some things are shopped down, the butcher counter at Kroger was empty, but a reasonable amount of choices in the packaged cases. Walked to a coffee shop Saturday morning, pretty standard crowd. No church services on Sunday which made our walk to a different coffee shop eerily quiet, smaller than usually line at this coffee shop. It wasn’t until a trip to Lowes that I finally realized too many people were out and about and not trying hard enough to distance themselves from each other. It made me question our trips to the coffee shops, wonder how best to grocery shop, and realize that while we are reasonable prepared to practice social distancing we really don’t fully understand the concept yet and need to work a little harder to put it into better practice.

In turning to place a few orders on Prime, we are seeing items scheduled for three days out — not the usual same or next day.

Illinois and Ohio restaurants and bars now closed except for delivery and pick up. I think the pre-St Patrick day pub crawls were the trigger in Chicago. And St Patrick’s day may have been the trigger for Ohio too.

Stay safe and calm, and walking outside is still a good activity.

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Lake Tahoe is having the first snow in a long time. People from the Bay area thought they could go skiing while schools are closed. They came up here....No chains and then all ski resorts closed so it's a mess of people trying to get over the pass... what a mess.

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Had to come in to work this morning to get my work computer etc. (The work from home announcement came out after I left on Friday). Fastest commute ever.

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Pretty much the same here in Squamish. Quiet tension. Many businesses closed or limited hours. School closed (Spring Break anyways). Lots of people out walking on the trails though as the weather is great.

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I was in the Bahamas all last week and life was normal. Apparently, people on vacation don’t panic? 

We flew to New Orleans on Friday afternoon for an event that was shut down by the local government while we were in the air. In lieu of working, we went to Bourbon Street where it was more busy than I have ever seen. (Interestingly, way more people than were gathered at the Karting event.)

By Saturday afternoon, lots of establishments posted signs about extra cleaning. Many bartenders wore rubber gloves. Lots of us fist bumped instead of shaking hands. Many of the restaurants switched to plastic cutlery; which has me concerned about their normal standard sanitizing process! 

But, business as usual in the heart of the Big Easy.

We flew back to Indianapolis Sunday. The airports seemed normal to me. People were courteous. Some wore masks. Lots of people carrying disinfecting wipes and wiped the planes down on their own. EVERY man in the restroom was washing his hands. We even flew through Orlando at the time there was a TSA worker reported infected. I never saw any panic; merely precaution.

Somehow, I feel like the experienced traveler is doing their best to protect themselves while still operating under the normal status quo.

Last night in Indianapolis my favorite restaurant was very slow, but people were there.

Like others have reported, there’s a sense of calmness or nervousness on the streets, depending upon your perception...but I think those of us who venture out are respectful & aware.

As you know, I live that bachelor lifestyle… So I have no idea what is in the grocery store! But, the bars still have whiskey! 

Thank you for this post and for your friends who have all replied with class and character. I’ve been desperate to see honest accounts and really understand what the facts are throughout our country/continent.

So there you have it. And as a friend posted last week.: “Welcome back to Facebook, everybody!”