YOUR COMMENTS
What’s it going to be like sheltering in place for the long haul?
As the shelter-at-home directive was issued last week, many assumed it would last a few weeks. But the buzz we’re getting from state government and health officials is that it could be much longer than that. We asked our Facebook friends for their thoughts:
– David Goodman: The 1918 influenza pandemic went around the world four times before it faded away, and that was before air travel. This will be around for years, possibly decades. We will all be exposed to it sooner or later. How long it stays headline news is the only real question.
– Lisa Gilreath: Which is why we can’t stay shutdown.
– David Goodman: ... It is a big deal though so if a couple of weeks helps give hospitals more time to prepare (the most profitable industry in the U.S. should have already been) I guess that’s fair. Any longer though and the shutdown is likely to be more harmful than the virus. No one is planning on keeping statistics on that however.
– Jennifer Dost: We have 3 people infected! If no other cases show up we should open some stuff! We can’t afford to stay locked down for too long. This could take us years to recover if this lasts too long.
– Carol Ann Keiser: ... this is also a timeline issue. We now have five people who are infected. They have been out in our communities for the last two weeks carrying it around and exposing others to it without knowing. Our schools have only been closed 10 days. In the next week expect the numbers to escalate exponentially! I have been a small business owner and I get the horrible impact this has on our economy, but things need to stay shut down and people need to stay home for a little longer.
– Kari Olson: Those five people have infected at least 10 others (and probably more), and so on and so on. There hasn’t been very much testing around here so there could be hundreds of people with it. However, the more people stay in, the better it will get and the sooner we can get back to normal.
– Moira Bredthauer: I just really worry if my kids don’t go back to school until after summer break how that will affect them academically. I am not a teacher, I am doing my best with the recommended online learning sites, but I know I can’t do as good a job as a teacher and my kids are young. They see me in a mom role, not the role of their teacher.
– Kristina Candy: I have a senior this year too. He has learning disabilities and has been working so freaking hard to graduate on time. And then this. With his disability he will forget everything so fast, it’s rough. It makes me sad. But he is a great kid and knows he will get to walk that stage eventually, I am so proud of him. And having him home and safe is more vital. We have positive cases in both counties now.
– Moira Bredthauer: ...I have a daughter with special needs. She has aged out of school now and I know how quickly she would forget just over summer vacation. It is a scary time.
– Natalie Hodges: They will figure out and have special ceremonies for them. Let’s just try to get through this now and figure out after when it comes. Just stay home.
– Jeannie Southard: Moms are teachers. They are the most important teacher their child will ever have. I have a saying I think is true: People basically do what they want...the rest is just a bunch of excuses.
– Deborah Hallett: No. Many of us still have to pay bills. Teachers are still getting paid so the kids should go back to school.
– Rosie Cross Kirkland: ... Tthat would just spread the virus throughout the schools, and their homes.
– Deborah Hallett: ... If they are going there every day anyway, won’t that do it too?
– Shannon Dunn: A lot of teachers are working remotely, setting up online work and classrooms for virtual learning. And even though kids might not be the most at risk group from this virus, they can still spread it.
– Aaron Watkins: It doesn’t matter if children are at risk of dying from it. Even if they are not, they are just as likely to be carriers as anyone else. Carriers back to their parents, their grandparents, their teachers, etc. wash your hands all you want but do you really think your typical seven-year-old is being that careful?
– Kathy Cook Krohn: ... Please don’t assume teachers aren’t working. I am a teacher and although I’m not in the classroom, I am putting in long days training myself in distance learning applications, writing letters to students, communicating with parents, performing online learning sessions with students, scoring and writing reports that I took home on the last day because I knew I wouldn’t be able to get back for awhile. Teachers are working furiously trying to reinvent the way we teach. I’m not an exception, I’m collaborating daily with our team. We work hard for, and worry about other people’s children. We are not on vacation.
– Deborah Hallett: If we wash and clean properly this should not be a problem. Our country is cleaner than most. The teachers should not be getting paid if not teaching, my job doesn’t pay if I don’t work.
– Scott Northrup: Anyone who believed that this would be over in a couple of weeks is naive at best, especially with what we saw happening in other countries. The fact that Japan and the IOC have postponed the Summer Olympics should give everyone a pretty good idea of how long world leaders believe this could last, and hopefully our leaders follow suit and don’t do something stupid, like lift restrictions before Easter.
– Jaek Hartley: Ummmmm, I will continue to live my normal life until I’m physically forced not to.
– Monica Marie Nelson: And hopefully someone close to you doesn’t get severely sick to make you regret that choice.
– Maryzol Love: I believe in God’s Grace and God willing this will be over by summer.
– Shelley Fesler Fregoso: Well it wouldn’t have to if people stay home! I see (because I work at an essential place) a lot of people out since Monday, like business as usual.
– Rosie Cross Kirkland: It is what it is. If Trump had acted faster, instead of worrying about the stock market, maybe we could have flattened the curve by now.