When was the moment you realised Covid was serious?

[CoverMeCagney]

I’ve just read a similar thread elsewhere, and it’s amazing how different peoples experiences were of that “oh crap” moment.

Personally, I think in hindsight I was a bit slow on the uptake, call it optimism / denial / whatever. For me it was when rumours began about schools closing, and Boris did a very serious (and uncharacteristically statesmanlike!) address to our nation. I cried on and off for days. Felt anxiety like I’d never felt before.

So, where were you and what happened the moment you realised this was going to have a massive impact on our world?

 

[SouthAussie]

For me, it was when Australia closed the international border. 19th March 2020.
When this unprecedented event happened, we knew this was some REALLY serious stuff.

I had a US friend staying with me - had been here since December - was supposed to return to the US in early April. He ended up getting a flight out to the US in June. Loaded up with sanitiser, masks, and wipes for his journey.


Australia is closing its borders to all non-citizens and non-residents.
Our government will continue to act on the best available information to keep Australians safe.
Border Restrictions | Prime Minister of Australia

 

[CoverMeCagney]

Another - lighthearted - one for me was having a minor tiff with my husband on the way to the supermarket. I wanted to buy extra toilet rolls, he thought I was being silly. Well, the debate was soon resolved - there weren’t any…

 

[WildOrchid]

January 2020- I overheard a doctor at work discussing what had not yet officially reached our American borders. He is far from an alarmist so the alarm I heard scared me. I began taking precautions. I made my own masks out of material for my household etc. I seemed to be the overreacting weirdo until they abruptly closed my child’s school in March “for up to 2 weeks”.

 

[HongKongPhooey]

When it hit Lombardy, Italy. I went to the hairdresser on 14th March and saw the deep sadness in my Italian hairdresser's eyes. Even then, I stupidly thought it had hit them hard because maybe they had multi generation families, or there were lots of apartment blocks, even busy markets! Scratching for reasons why we should be safer, using stereotype thinking (sorry, Italy ).

 

[CoverMeCagney]

When it hit Lombardy, Italy. I went to the hairdresser on 14th March and saw the deep sadness in my Italian hairdresser's eyes. Even then, I stupidly thought it had hit them hard because maybe they had multi generation families, or there were lots of apartment blocks, even busy markets! Scratching for reasons why we should be safer, using stereotype thinking (sorry, Italy ).

Italy devastated me. It’s my favourite Euro nation by a mile, and seeing them locked in their homes making videos to warn the rest of us was definitely a defining moment. Oh and the wonderful singing on balconies, who can forget that.

I also recall getting annoyed with the school mum who kept saying “this could go on for years” like the harbinger of doom, as I continued planning end-of-year school events. I have since apologised!

 

[ZaZara]

One moment the virus was far away in Wuhan, China, and the next it hit a small provincial town in the West of Germany near the border.

This also happened to be the town where I do most of my shopping.

No one knew how the virus got there. Patients zero were a medical doctor, and his wife who worked in child care. They had no ties or connections to China. They had been to a feast (Carnival) but no one there had ties to China either.

Yet the virus was there and it started to spread quickly.

I had been aware that COVID was a serious virus, but its sudden appearance creeped me out.

 

[Cool Cats]

My son said there's this virus in China we better stock up on supplies, he felt the virus would spread world wide. I was a bit skeptical.

I didn't stock up and when I had to get toilet paper from my other son's MIL I knew the jig was up.

My son was right! He predicted it correctly. After that I was careful to get supplies when I could like TP in a convenience store and the one frozen pizza left in the bottom of the store freezer.

It especially hit home when we couldn't go out to dinner and a movie so we got a bigger TV and did take out from our favorite restaurants.

We found we rather enjoyed popping our own popcorn and eating dinner with a movie.

Getting coffee and book browsing at the Barns and Noble in the mall, and doing our walking in the mall, went down the drain.

So we walked outside and got brave and made tea and downloaded books for our Kindles. We are easy going and just did our best to ride with it.

Eventually I stopped checking Covid statistics every day and came to the reality that this isn't going away when lockdown is over.

Now with my 2nd shot on for September 2nd, I am looking forward to my walk and books and coffee again over at the mall. Oh and ditching my tea for a house coffee with 3 shots of raspberry mixed with 1/2 & 1/2.

Looking forward to visiting my son's MIL and not asking for TP.

Those were the days my friends.

 

[CoverMeCagney]

I’ve got another (sorry, but this time it’s a nice one!)

Enjoying the glorious sunshine in the garden during lockdown #1. Realising the sky was empty (I live quite near an airport) and that I could hear the church bells chime clearly every hour as there was no traffic or noise. The air felt clean and it was just sooo quiet.

It felt like we were doing a shut down and restart, and I considered the potential positives of that (didn’t think we’d be stuck on the blue screen of death for this long though…)

 

[scandinavian girl]

It was very early here on WS, when the outbreak videos from china started to come out and the couple on Diamond Princess. Then it hit Italy! Sweden still thought oh we will be fine and all of us on WS covid thread were talking about a pandemic...

 

[LaborDayRN]

It was very early here on WS, when the outbreak videos from China started to come and the couple on Diamond Princess. Then it hit Italy! Sweden still thought oh we will be fine and all of us on WS covid thread were talking about a pandemic...

This is when it hit me too. When I saw the video's of them rounding up people from their homes in China and putting them in white trucks I knew it was something serious. Maybe it was because I work in the medical field or saw "Outbreak" a few too many times (I actually saw them filming it in Northern CA).

Anyway, I told my family and anyone who would listen that I thought this was serious and to make sure they had some staple foods, toiletries and basic medications in their houses in the event we couldn't go out. I stocked my pantry and freezers. But even with all that I really had no idea how bad it would get and the staggering number of lives that would be lost!

 

[BetteDavisEyes]

DH and I first learned about the Covid outbreak when we returned to Detroit following a Caribbean cruise for my late January birthday. We rarely watched or read news on the ship and were totally oblivious to the impending world health crisis. DH was stilling working at the time (retired last December), and life went on as usual until mid-March when Michigan's governor started calling for mask mandates, business closings, and lockdowns. At the beginning of April, DH started working from home, and for nearly a year, we barely left the house unless it was absolutely necessary.

 

[TexLil]

For me it was the night that the NBA shut down. Earlier that day IIRC the news about Tom Hanks came out. I decided to make a grocery run just in case and saw a few people in the store with masks. I came home and hubby was watching the Dallas Mavericks game. Right as I walked in with the groceries the game was stopped. I saw Mark Cuban's (owner) gave as he was notified. It all seemed so surreal. They weren't stopping one game. They were shutting down the league. That next day we were told not to come into the office. It all happened so quickly. And it is still happening. Everyone stay as safe as possible.

Edited to add this was March 10/11, 2020.

 

[Bit of hope]

What a "funny" question.....In the early days of the pandemic one of our dear friends (53 old mother with teen kids) died of it after being on the intensive care for 5 weeks. She was reluctant to go skying in Austria with her friends but they
persuaded her. When having a nice après ski in a so called ski hut (bar), the bartender turned out to have Covid...She was one of the first victims in the Netherlands.

 

[Bit of hope]

For me, it was when Australia closed the international border. 19th March 2020.
When this unprecedented event happened, we knew this was some REALLY serious stuff.

I had a US friend staying with me - had been here since December - was supposed to return to the US in early April. He ended up getting a flight out to the US in June. Loaded up with sanitiser, masks, and wipes for his journey.


Australia is closing its borders to all non-citizens and non-residents.
Our government will continue to act on the best available information to keep Australians safe.
Border Restrictions | Prime Minister of Australia

It's going to be a long time from now when we will see our originally Dutch friend living in Australia again.

 

[Bit of hope]

I have friends living in Spain, Portugal and Turkey, didn't see them for so long....My favorite holiday country is Italy...Decided; this year I'm not going abroad. I have taking this *advertiser censored* very serious, from the beginning. I'm so fed up with all of it.....

 

[gngr~snap]

February 21, 2020!
I put in my Amazon order in 2/21/20.
On February 27, 2020 I put in my order in at Sam's and Walmart and we went the next day to pick everything up.
This was a topic we dug deep into in nursing school.
Honestly, it has not reached the level I was afraid it would.
I never expected people to be so hard headed! To think there are nanobots in a vaccine and that their rights are being violated because health officials are urging people to get vaccinated.
Human brains are definitely shrinking!

MOO

 

[anneg]

I don't remember a specific moment when I realized things were going to be really serious.

I wrote this in my journal on February 24, 2020:
"The coronavirus...has the potential to be a pandemic that will kill lots of people worldwide. People in our age group (70s) have about an 8% death rate (based on some data from a study in China)—pretty serious stuff."

On March 7, 2020, I wrote this:
"I worked on our income tax return this afternoon. I want to get it done in case I get sick and am hospitalized or die." And also this:
"I have been spending a lot of time reading on Websleuths this week. There is a coronavirus thread that is a good way to stay up to date on the pandemic (although I haven’t heard it officially labeled as such)."

I remember being really shocked when the virus hit Italy so badly and the entire country was shut down. I told my close group of friends (in our 60s and 70s) that I was very worried about the virus. Some of them pretty much dismissed my fears, and in fact none of us have had Covid (so far).

 

[ilovewings]

February 21, 2020!
I put in my Amazon order in 2/21/20.
On February 27, 2020 I put in my order in at Sam's and Walmart and we went the next day to pick everything up.
This was a topic we dug deep into in nursing school.
Honestly, it has not reached the level I was afraid it would.
I never expected people to be so hard headed! To think there are nanobots in a vaccine and that their rights are being violated because health officials are urging people to get vaccinated.
Human brains are definitely shrinking!
View attachment 308945View attachment 308946
MOO

Here is the bottom line for all the nanobots: This is a public health crisis that is BEHAVIOR DRIVEN-- It is not about your civil rights or your freedom-- I don't understand how this concept is so difficult to grasp!!!

 

[Bit of hope]

Busy keeping myself and others safe from Covid, I had a cerebral infarction two week ago.....I'm so grateful and happy things turned out to be great. Everything is still working...thanks to my sweetheart who acted on this very accurate, calling for an ambulance. He is my hero. ...if he hadn't stopped me from going to sleep, as I wanted to, it could have turned out so bad. Angels on my shoulder all the way. Bottom line is....be safe, stay healthy, use your common sense.