Coronavirus Update
- Mar 17, 2020
- 2 min read
The coronavirus is currently at an all-time high, with President Trump considering various shutdowns of restaurants, movie theaters and gyms for many areas within the United States and even quarantines. The coronavirus can be characterized by a family of viruses that can range from the common cold to more severe diseases such as Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome and Middle East Respiratory Syndrome. According to CNN, Trump has debated isolation measures such as quarantines and curfews as the outbreak of the virus grows so rapidly. Each state within the U.S. has their specific rules that they must follow and precautions that governors and other government officials must take to keep the population as safe as possible.
As a Maryland resident, there are 37 confirmed cases according to the Maryland Department of Health. There are many canceled/postponed activities and events, schools and agencies are closed as well as a crisis within large stores such as Target and Walmart. This crisis involves an extreme shortage of materials such as toilet paper, paper towels, Clorox wipes, hand sanitizer, food, water, milk, etc. Ironically enough, while shopping I was asked if I found everything alright, which prompted me to ask one of the employees at Target how they were holding up while at work trying to be of assistance; when in actuality they couldn’t be. The employee responded, “I’m just doing the best that I can with what we have, so I still walk around to ask if I can help in any way because I know that one question can still go a long way.”
While shopping in a nearby Target in Montgomery County, there were signs posted limiting the number of items per person as well as many, many empty shelves where there should be products. This is very shocking and has happened so quickly, affecting a lot of people. With less people working at these stores, it is almost impossible to keep up with the demands of customer needs. Lines are forming around street corners for simple things such as disinfectant spray and there are many articles explaining the coronavirus panic shopping.
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