The coronavirus came to the Netherlands a few weeks ago. Yesterday, we had the first case in the care facility’s town. The care facility hasn’t yet been affected as far as I know, but still, I grow more scared as the days go by.
I’m not scared of falling seriously ill or dying from the virus. Though some of my fellow clients are in their sixties, we don’t have anyone in my home who is otherwise at risk of serious illness or death as far as I know. I am not really sure whether I should worry about my family in this respect. So far, the thought has only fleetingly crossed my mind.
What I do worry about though is the consequences this will have for our society at large. I worry about people stockpiling food. I know my husband got some extra stuff a few weeks ago already when he saw it coming.
I worry about another economic meltdown. My husband has a pretty secure income, having just been hired indefinitely at his job a month ago. He might be forced to take time off, leading to a significant decrease in income, but he won’t be jobless. I am not sure about my income, as I’m on benefits. I don’t know that I will be able to handle yet another round of budget cuts to health care though.
More importantly in the short term, I worry about the need to isolate if you’re infected. What if I get the virus and need to stay in my room 24/7 for two weeks, not being allowed any human contact? Some other blogger idealized this by writing they’d finally have time to read all the books and binge watch all the Netflix series they wanted. As much as I’d like to escape the day center at times and just hide out in my room, I don’t think I could make this work for two weeks straight.
I also worry about staff needing to self-isolate if they get infected. Will this mean there won’t be staff to care for us? My staff has been trying to reassure me, but the letter sent out to clients’ family yesterday, had no information about what if the virus enters the facility in it. Which seems to be more of a “when” than an “if”.
I’m linking up with today’s RagTag Daily Prompt, for which the word is “Isolate”.
A Multitude of Musings 
Let’s just hope that nothing serious comes your way or ours. It’s scary but we can make it though.
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I wrote my own post about it today after my sister sent me a picture of our super walmart’s completely empty paper product aisle. I thought since we live in the middle of nowhere, we’d have another week people went bonkers but I was wrong. I am trying to hold off the panic attacks cos if I lose it, my kid will,too, and above all else, she has to know mom’s in charge, and mom will keep her safe.
When it hits. That sounds more accurate than if, at this point.
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Wow, that’s crazy, even in the middle of nowhere. It’s really weird, the supermarket I usually go to has never run out, but the other ones have. I usually go to that one because it’s less busy, but it’s also better. Strange! More important to stockpile water! You can always find a way around lack of toilet paper in a crisis, haha. Many other cultures manage it.
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My sister went bonkers and charged up $600 on her credit card for doomsday supplies. I am concerned, but I’m not that insane yet.
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600!! Doomsday suppliesβ lol. Yeah I’ve spent nowhere near that :).
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Thanks so much for commenting. Iβm so sorry youβre struggling with anxiety too, but so proud of you for trying to keep it together for your childβs sake.
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I feel you, yes it will be difficult. I expect the social gardening project I usually go to will shut down soon, and that’s my only source of social contact. I’m also certain I will pick up coronavirus from my unhygienic housemates.
I do plan to focus more on writing creatively, and interacting with people on here. Can you do video calls at least with your husband? I know these aren’t the same, but can go along way to alleviating it in a crisis. Your mindset does change a bit with the circumstances.
Also, people who’ve already recovered from coronavirus do have an immunity. So even if everybody became infected, then beyond the deaths it wouldn’t be that bad. There has to come a point where getting the economy running again is safer than national isolation.
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Iβm not too scared of the virus, but Iβm annoyed by the hoarding. Some people (like me) canβt afford to buy a ton of stuff at once. When we have money, everything we need is gone.
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Agree. I guess like most crises, economically this will hit poor people the hardest. Iβm not scared of the virus as much as I am of its economic consequences. I donβt necessarily feel annoyed though.
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Yours is an excellent read! Stay positive!
Consider this,
What if a coronavirus could talk to us?
Read to know.
https://nidoswords.wordpress.com/2020/03/15/virally-yours-corona/
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