How has COVID-19 affected you personally?

zoomaniac said:
Regarding my situation, this is not clear at the moment. I have booked flight and car over an online travel service company (as a package) and believe it or not: Even I tried to reach their service center by phone multiple times (and wrote an email as well), the only reply I get was BEEP, BEEP, BEEP:(:mad:
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Although it's easy to say this, I wouldn't be too worried. Your flights have been cancelled, so they have to return that money. Because it's all in the same purchase, and with the current climate, the chances of them successfully claiming that somehow you're not entitled to the rental being refunded are pretty small. The problem is that right now there will be tens of thousands of people all trying to make the same call you made.

I went through a similar thing with my flights to China, although in fairness I did get through to the companies I used eventually.
 
FunkyGibbon said:
Although it's easy to say this, I wouldn't be too worried. Your flights have been cancelled, so they have to return that money.......The problem is that right now there will be tens of thousands of people all trying to make the same call you made.
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Things will be a shade trickier for me - my flights are still booked to happen, and the zero refund policy is therefore still in place. Lufthansa *have* announced all rebooking fees will be waived for anyone who wants to change the date of their flights to a new date within the next 9 months..... but this can only be done over the phone rather than online, and it has to be done prior to the originally booked date of departure. Cue tens of thousands of people tying up the phone lines, and comments on Twitter suggesting that people are sitting on the phone for upwards of two hours before being cut off :P

So I have to hope that at some point within the next week I manage to get through on the phones, before my original departure date of 22nd March arrives.
 
TZDugong said:
This had to be cancelled as well unfortunately, as much as I'd love to visit these places the risk is just too great at the moment. Hopefully when this has settled down I'll make a trip to see these zoos, as it is I'm visiting the Toronto Zoo tomorrow which should be fun.:)
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Toronto Zoo is now closed until April 5th. With the way my travel plans are being ruined, staring at a wall for 10 hours tomorrow is looking like a pretty appealing option:D.
 
TeaLovingDave said:
Things will be a shade trickier for me - my flights are still booked to happen, and the zero refund policy is therefore still in place. Lufthansa *have* announced all rebooking fees will be waived for anyone who wants to change the date of their flights to a new date within the next 9 months..... but this can only be done over the phone rather than online, and it has to be done prior to the originally booked date of departure. Cue tens of thousands of people tying up the phone lines, and comments on Twitter suggesting that people are sitting on the phone for upwards of two hours before being cut off :p

So I have to hope that at some point within the next week I manage to get through on the phones, before my original departure date of 22nd March arrives.
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I think we're all relieved that you decided not to go ahead with your plans.:)
 
Hipporex said:
My school is officially being closed for 2 weeks. Not sure if this means they'll tack on two extra weeks to the end of the year though.
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birdsandbats said:
Wisconsin is now closing all K-12 schools. I did not see that one coming.
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My understanding is they will not go later, at least in California. The high schools and colleges usually seem to be just swapping to online, but not all.
I feel for those playing sports for a scholarship, it will be a dull season for them... the effects of closing all the schools are going to be felt for a long time...
 
Here in Ohio, Governor DeWine has issued an emergency statement for all K-12 schools to close until April 6th (3 weeks). Thankfully, our district's spring break is the 2nd week of this period, and we have enough calamity days to use for the first week of missing school. However, the third week of this period we will have to do online schooling. We could be out of school for a longer period of time, there is no definite answer. My track season was suspended due to there being no school, which is very disappointing as I've been working hard to prepare for the season. A lot of paranoia and anxiety has built up, because I feel that there is no definite answer to many questions about the situation. Another thing that has been plaguing my community more than the fear of the virus is xenophobia against Asians. There is a fine line between jokes (which I can handle, even if it is borderline racist, I don't take it too personally and those who make them don't try to intentionally hurt) and hate crimes, cultural appropriation, etc.

People need to stay vigilant, strong and committed to the efforts taking place to "flatten the curve" of infections. Stockpiling and fighting for toilet paper isn't going to do anything for us.
 
ZooBinh said:
Here in Ohio, Governor DeWine has issued an emergency statement for all K-12 schools to close until April 6th (3 weeks). Thankfully, our district's spring break is the 2nd week of this period, and we have enough calamity days to use for the first week of missing school. However, the third week of this period we will have to do online schooling. We could be out of school for a longer period of time, there is no definite answer. My track season was suspended due to there being no school, which is very disappointing as I've been working hard to prepare for the season. A lot of paranoia and anxiety has built up, because I feel that there is no definite answer to many questions about the situation. Another thing that has been plaguing my community more than the fear of the virus is xenophobia against Asians. There is a fine line between jokes (which I can handle, even if it is borderline racist, I don't take it too personally and those who make them don't try to intentionally hurt) and hate crimes, cultural appropriation, etc.

People need to stay vigilant, strong and committed to the efforts taking place to "flatten the curve" of infections. Stockpiling and fighting for toilet paper isn't going to do anything for us.
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I'm sorry you're experiencing xenophobic reactions. As soon as our fearless leader called it "a foreign disease," I just knew there would be people taking this as tacit permission to take out their frustrations on Asians. If it helps, the way some people feel about foreignors is the way most of us feel about him. Stay well and keep a thick skin.
 
TeaLovingDave said:
Things will be a shade trickier for me - my flights are still booked to happen, and the zero refund policy is therefore still in place.
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I'm in a similar position. Korean Air has scrapped all flights into India until 1 June, but they've rebooked me to Bangkok. All return flights are still scheduled to depart -- from India. I've yet to hear how they're getting me from Bangkok to India.

While I'm entitled to a full refund now I'm hesitant to do so. With my luck the next destination I pick will close their borders too, and then I'm not only out money but I can't reschedule vacation.
 
Today morning, goverment decided to close all shops, markets, bars and restaurants with some exceptions (grocery stores, take-aways, pharmacy, pet shops, gas stations, IT equipment) for next 2 weeks. And it was said that if this doesnt stop new cases of coronavirus, more strict measures will be applied next week, total curfew for whole country, only people with masks and pressing need allowed to leave their houses to shop for food. This will destroy our economy I guess, full Wuhan mode. Thanks China.

Borders are closed tightly. No Czech person can leave the country, this includes people with permanent or temporary visa. No foreigner can come in (with few exceptions like rescue crews, truck drivers...). No trains or busses or boats can cross the border. Czech Airlines/Smartwings, the only existing local airline (10 mio passangers annually), will stop its operations on Monday, Prague airport will probably close few days later. Layoffs have started in many companies connected with travel, tourism, entertainment.

Our company (with less than 100 people) have "lost" 3 employees on Friday to formal quarantine imposed by public health office. We have reorganised seating, by using all empty rooms and spaces, we decreased number of people in one room to max 4-5 and tables were put as much apart from each other as possible. All employees got distributed face masks. Whoever can do home office stays home. I have spent half a day on line with ministeries of interior and transport, trying to get special permission to travel to Germany, no success.

It is apparent that govermental system is not coping well (this is understatement of the year). So private companies and general public started to organize itself to help out. University students in each town or city created net of volunteers who babysit children of nurses and rescue staff so they can continue work while schools/kindergardens are closed. They offer food delivery to old/ill people so they can stay home. Call centers with IT developers created system that will help/replace public healtcare officers to offer info, collect anamnesis of suspected cases, sort people for testing. Telecomunication companies have tracked +200.000 people who still are abroad and are sending them info about 14 days quarantine after return etc.
 
I have the week after next off and although I'm gutted that my options of where to go have been reduced, I haven't potentially lost any money by booking ahead.
 
ABWAK & Avicultural Society functions postponed, if my wife and I get it there's apparently a ten percent mortality rate for over 60s with heart conditions.......
Then there's issues about maintaining food supplies for a reasonable sized back garden bird collection.
Other than that it's a lovely day.
 
FBBird said:
ABWAK & Avicultural Society functions postponed, if my wife and I get it there's apparently a ten percent mortality rate for over 60s with heart conditions.......
Then there's issues about maintaining food supplies for a reasonable sized back garden bird collection.
Other than that it's a lovely day.
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Slightly off topic and I hope you don’t mind me asking, what does your bird collection consist of?
 
First of all good luck and my best wishes to all who are under any level of measures as the world attempts to stem this pandemic tide.

Belgium has gone under what I would call partial lock-down starting today, with many places closed entirely or closed during the weekend and all events canceled. All zoos are now also closed here. People who can work from home are asked to do so. Crazy hoarding by selfish people has gone on in supermarkets despite numerous messages that there will be no food shortages and that food stores will remain open.

Personally I absolutely don't mind being home and working from home at this time and I have already mostly set-up my stuff to do so. I however still worry about my own health and that of my family members. I also worry about how this will effect places that I love, like zoos, and I wholeheartedly hope they will survive these dark times.

Mentally I am still not doing very well. As I already mentioned there is still anxiety and I still feel stressed. Having an autism spectrum disorder I am having a hard time dealing with the uncertainty and rapid change this dark times are bringing and the sudden lack of normality. Reading the news that continues to get worse by the minute makes me upset so I have had to limit my news consumption to a level low enough I can deal still with it. As the coronavirus is unavoidable and mentioned everywhere, right now all I can do is find some distractions and things that help me to try and relax and keep my spirits up, like looking at animal and science-related videos or documentaries and browsing parrot and other animal-related Facebook pages. Something I already do quite a lot normally, but right now I need it perhaps even more and it provides me with some much-needed bits of normality in these upsetting times.

So yes, I am trying to keep it together and stay positive, although I naturally pessimistic. If I can get some rest and find some energy I might even start my gallery postings up again, processing some left-over materials from 2019 and maybe some older materials. But I'm not sure if or when that is going to happen. However I want to try it.

Finally a question. I have seen quite a lot of memes and cartoons about the coronavirus and the lock-down measures going around. Some of it I actually find funny but at the same time I am asking myself the question whether it isn't indelicate and inappropriate to make any kind of jokes or humorous materials about a disease that is actively making thousands suffer and killing hundreds, as well as causing massive economical damage. What do guys think?
 
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KevinB said:
Some of it I actually find funny but at the same time I am asking myself the question whether it isn't indelicate and inappropriate to make any kind of jokes or humorous materials about a disease that is actively making thousands suffer and killing hundreds, as well as causing massive economical damage. What do guys think?
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To some degree I think humour is required to best get through a murky and worrying future!
 
TeaLovingDave said:
To some degree I think humour is required to best get through a murky and worrying future!
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I completely agree. Me and my SJW friend were discussing the current predicament of the world and to lighten the mood I attempted to through a little joke in there, but boy did that backfire. She ranted to me about how inappropriate that was in these "sensitive times." She ripped me a new one. I think she's peed with me now.
 
I don't know how anyone else in the UK feels, but I'm feeling very lost, what with all the uncertainty. Will there be a lockdown/won't there be a lockdown? Will I be in the office next week, or working from home? Are we heading for Italy or Spain style lockdown, or something else? Will I ever be able to buy loo rolls again?

If there was some kind of clearer, more concrete outlines from the government, rather than the somewhat wishy-washy guidance we've had so far, I'd probably be doing better than I am right now. As it stands, I feel very baseless, unsure and uncertain about what is happening and what will happen next, with a resulting level of constant low to medium level anxiety running underneath it all.
 
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