Covid-19 Discussions and Stories

[aaronatthedoublef]

Colleges and universities began closing last week. Many of our friends now find themselves with kids at home they did not expect to have there. Plus, talking to a cashier at the local Whole Foods, Thursday night when the local public schools closed, the place went nuts. She said they would continue to restock shelves and they will stay open. So places like KAF and Bob's may have run out but they will restock their supply chain. It remains to be seen if this increased demand has peaked or if people will grab and hoard. At some point they will feel as if they have enough. WF had no eggs at one store and a few dozen at the second but they said they expect more to come in tomorrow. And the WF that was out of coffee Friday had restocked today...

Minneapolis schools are closing now which is new since I was there Thursday but things develop very quickly.

[Mike Nolan]

The governor in Illinois has ordered all bars and restaurants to be closed to dine-in customers. That's going to ramp up pressure on grocery stores.

[S_Wirth]

All Illinois schools close Tues. thru 3/30 and that will cause a terrific run on grocery stores. Colleges are closed locally with online classes for now.

Summers with kids not in school cause grocery stores to plan for the extra foods sold. But this just happened out of the blue. Our and other school districts filed yesterday, Saturday, a state document waiver so schools can fix a lunch and a breakfast for free thru this time of school closings. Locations will have to be worked out for handing out the meals off of school campus locations. They do not want people in the school buildings as they are doing deep cleanings while empty of kids.

Evansville, IN schools will also be handing out free lunch/breakfast meals for the kids.

I order each week from Walmart.com and the pickings are indeed getting slimmer. I got an order last Mon. that was what I needed but today they are out of most anything shoppers would want. Lots of items are store pickup rather that free NextDay delivery with $ 35.00 order. They likely ran out of shipping boxes.

[aaronatthedoublef]

A little bit of positive in all this - my oldest and I played catch for the first time in years. We used to play catch and work on batting every day. He played catcher and I marked out the distance from home plate to second base and we practiced making the through.

Then he stopped playing and we stopped playing. And yesterday he pulled out one of our gloves so I pulled out another and we played catch.

[RiversideLen]

I think it was Friday that I got the $3.14 shipping email from KAF. Since I am running a little low on AP and bread flour, I placed an order for 2 bags of bread and one of AP. Threw a couple of other items in there too. I checked a few minutes ago and see they have a tracking number on my order so at least I'll be able to bake for a while. I was able to get a bag of organic KAF white whole wheat from Whole Foods last week.

[Mike Nolan]

I've got a 12 pound bag of AP and a 5 pound bag of bread flour, plus what's in the canisters so I'm in fairly good shape for flour. I've got some older flours, including a bag of KAF Bread flour that got stuck on a back shelf and forgotten about at least two years ago, and lots of rye flour.

We heard from our younger son today (an amazing thing in itself!), he's working from home but he does that a lot anyway. What we're not sure about is what he's eating, because he's use to being able to eat at YouTube from Monday morning to Friday noon. As long as the malls stay open, there are a half dozen fast food places a few blocks away.

Several schools in Lincoln are 100% free lunch, they've got some kind of plan in place to feed their students, but I don't know the details. For some of those kids, what they get at school is often most of what they eat all day.

A poll in Great Britain had 63% of those responding in favor of some kind of food rationing. I wonder how many of those actually remember what that was like the last time it was necessary?

[BakerAunt]

Aaron makes a good point about the opportunity for families to rediscover togetherness, and perhaps in an uncertain time to stop to appreciate rather than taking each other for granted.

Two of my stepchildren were out of the country when the situation was revealed as dire. Each will return this week, one at the scheduled time (and NOT from a country on the travel ban), and the other early from a country that is. When their mother picks them up, armed with wipes and homemade hand sanitizer, we will be much calmer here.

What is daunting for everyone in the country right now is that we don't know how long the emergency will last. We wonder if we have enough or if we are doing enough. Paradoxically, we must "socially distance" ourselves while also depending on each other.

[Italiancook]

I found myself today making a meal decision based on this virus. I have a head of cauliflower. Normally, I'd steam it and have half for 2 lunches. I find that fills me up and leaves me satisfied until dinner. But with only one cauliflower and coronavirus thinking, I decided to turn the veggie into Cauliflower and Pasta Soup. That way, we have 3 or 4 lunches, if not 5. I'll make Foccacia to go with it, and there will be plenty for the freezer.

[BakerAunt]

One of my friends has a daughter who is a Physician Assistant. Her clinic has no Level 4 masks left for staff--which they need even if there weren't a crisis. I wish someone were in charge of making sure the health care providers get the equipment they need to protect themselves--and keep it away from those for whom it is not doing a bit of good.

[BakerAunt]

Indiana has closed all bars and restaurants. The local restaurants in town are turning to take-out and delivery to try to make it through the tough economic time ahead, while responding to the public health needs.

[aaronatthedoublef]

My friend just announced on Facebook that they will be turning to delivery and take out only. Most of the delivery services offer contact-less delivery.

But, most of the restaurants in town make most of their money off bar items and drinks cannot be delivered so this will put a big strain on their margins.

My friend with a liquor store has also started delivery.

[Mike Nolan]

My dentist's office is shutting down for two weeks upon recommendation from the Nebraska Dental Association.

[BakerAunt]

I talked to a friend in California who is a Dental Hygienist. She was relieved to be declared "non-essential," and to be able to stay home. Her dentist's office was still open, but that likely will change shortly, except for emergencies.

We were at the local grocery today, as Tuesdays are senior discount day, when we re-fill our water jugs and buy a few items. Their truck didn't arrive until after we left, so there were more bare shelves than usual. (We have a community-wide email list, so such matters get announced in emergencies.) Bananas would have been nice. I've told my husband that he can start eating from the supply of York apples that I had reserved for baking. We noted that the local grocery had been cleared out of toilet paper. I could make a joke, but I won't.

In the community email, a store manager said that they are having trouble getting bread and have even sent someone to drive to the distribution center to try to get more. My husband has always been glad that he married a dedicated bread baker, but if his joy could be increased, it would be now.

Like Italian Cook, I'm thinking about cooking meals that extend what we have on hand, although I'm hoping that the supply chains will settle down in a few weeks.

Restaurants in town, with one possible exception, are trying take-out and delivery, partly to support their staff members who will take a major hit. However, the people who usually come up here at spring beak may be staying home--and if home is Indianapolis and Chicago, that should be encouraged. It would have been a bustling time for the restaurants.

[skeptic7]

I was at two grocery stores today. There shelves were very bare yesterday but they have gotten in shipments of food and now there is bread and fresh meat on the shelves. I bought milk and butter and eggs. .

[aaronatthedoublef]

My new favorite COVID-19 conspiracy theory is that it was started by dogs so their people would have to stay home and spend more time with them!

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