In late January we started to hear reports about an illness spreading in China. It started in Wuhuan and was a virus thought to have jumped from animal to human. Many people in China were ill. These types of illnesses have occurred before (Zika, SARS, Ebola, H1N1) so we paid attention but were not overly concerned. On January 31 President Trump suspended entry into the US from China. By mid-February, the virus had spread to Europe and we started hearing about outbreaks on several cruise ships. We took a little extra precaution on our flight to Naples on February 19, wiping down all tray tables, seatbelts, etc and making sure the kids were washing their hands more frequently.
On February 23 the crisis started to ramp up in Italy and new cases were being reported daily in countries across the globe. On February 26 we started stocking up on a few essential supplies like toilet paper, clorox wipes, frozen foods, and other nonperishables. We were watching what was happening in China and paying attention to the infection rate as well as the death rate. The illness seemed to be highly contagious and early reports were saying the death rate was in the 4% range compared to 0.1% for seasonal flu. There were still a lot of unknowns and a lot of people were calling the illness a hoax or something that the media was exaggerating. President Trump compared it to the seasonal flu and brushed off the idea of it being serious. In turn, several of his supporters did the same. On February 29 we learned about an outbreak at a nursing home in Seattle.
Scott was at track practice with Evy and Will on March 8 when we learned of the first cases of COVID-19 in Iowa. A group of 20 people went on an Egyptian cruise with Hills Bank and returned to Iowa on March 3. It was later discovered that several people on that cruise had tested positive for COVID-19. 15 out of the 20 people from Iowa were tested for COVID-19 and they all tested positive. All of them resided in Johnson County. We learned that 5 of the individuals on the cruise had not been tested nor had anyone that had been in contact with these individuals. This confirmed the suspicion that the U.S. was lagging in testing for COVID-19. At this point we knew the disease was more widespread than being statistically reported. Tests were not available and were not being used.
The week of March 9 was weird. State and Federal governments were not issuing any restrictions on domestic travel or really anything else. We all knew that the virus was in our community and no one knew who had it. The schools were still open and some people were starting to catch on that this was a big deal. Others were still thinking it was something being overdramatized by the media and many referred to it as "media hype" or "hysteria." Spring break for Iowa City schools was to start on March 16 and many people were starting to cancel their trips. By March 12 and 13 people were voluntarily taking their kids out of school. Schools were running out of hand sanitizer and disinfecting wipes. By then panic buying had started and you couldn't purchase toilet paper, hand sanitizer, bleach or disinfecting wipes anywhere.
We traveled to Illinois for Camryn's birthday on March 14 and by then schools across the country were starting to close. The news continued to be grimmer with projections. The data from China showed that about 20% of the people who contracted the illness needed to be hospitalized and it quickly became apparent that the US was not equipped to care for that surge in hospital demand. In Italy, they were running out of hospital space and ventilators. We returned home on March 15. By then much of the country was being asked to socially distance themselves from others. Concerts, sporting events, school, you name it - everything was canceled in an effort to slow the infection rate and flatten the curve. Many people had already left for spring break and Florida officials started to close beaches in an attempt to reduce the crowds.
We started our self-isolation on March 15 and things ramped up quickly during the week of March 16. Everything closed, travel has been further restricted. Scott and I have left the house only to grocery shop or run other errands. The kids haven't left the house other than to walk the dog. Our schools are closed through April 12. All activities have been canceled. Gyms, restaurants, hair salons, retail stores everything is closed. Will's preschool is doing 3 online classes each week via Zoom. Iowa City schools haven't provided any direction for homeschooling so we've been doing our own thing. My gym is offering daily at-home workouts. Many stores and restaurants are offering delivery or curbside pick up in an attempt to keep their businesses afloat. We've been trying to support our local businesses and are ordering out food, ice cream, books or anything else that we can do to help. We are continuing to pay for all of our services; preschool, dance, art, track, gym memberships in an attempt to help our local businesses. The kids are using FaceTime to connect with their friends and spending lots of time on their iPads. Will is spending most of his day playing Fortnight.
The girls watched the first season of Survivor and it seemed pretty applicable to our situation.
The weather has been cold and rainy so we've been using the home gym to get some physical activity in.
Ordering from our favorite restaurants has been a much-enjoyed treat!
I have been preparing a list of school activities for each kid every day. Here is their stack of activities for day 1 of homeschool. They are doing great! They typically work on chores or educational activities from 10 to 2 each day and then are free to hit the electronics or do whatever else they want.
Zoom has played a big role in our life!
Online music class.
Quick at-home groom for Bo.
We bought headphones so that Will could take his game to the next level. And because we could hear him screaming at his friends via iPad while playing.
The weather finally shaped up enough for us to take a hike in the woods. It was odd. The trails were busy and people were being very careful about maintaining 6-foot spacing. Sometimes we had to stop on the trail to wait for the people in front of us to move along. Not an overly relaxing experience.
