Heads up, WA folks! There are new official restrictions, and new procedures put in place by local businesses, and new “please do” and “please don’t” requests by your neighbors.
What we’ll cover here, in order:
- What the new statewide official restrictions, announced yesterday by Gov. Inslee, have changed from previous restrictions.
- New procedures for transit, shopping, Meetup groups, etc., in addition to the statewide restrictions.
- A few suggestions for coping strategies, plus observations and requests from neighbors.
Stay Home, Stay Healthy
For at least the next two weeks, we are under a modified “shelter in place” restriction.
Briefly, here is what that means:
- No public gatherings, of any size.
- We can go outside, but must be careful to maintain the 6-foot social distancing.
- Non-essential businesses will be closed starting Wednesday, March 25th. That includes most retail other than food / supplies / medical. You can order online and have things delivered. If you’re not sure, call before you go out.
- Schools will remain closed. Parks and playgrounds are being closed (see more on this in the “Coping” section).
Essential workers, who can continue working outside the home, are detailed in this list (all 14 pages of it). These occupations fall into the following main industries identified as essential, but don’t include everyone working in these fields, so check the list.
- Healthcare / public health
- Emergency services
- Food and agriculture
- Energy
- Water and wastewater
- Transportation and logistics
- Communications and information technology
- Critical manufacturing
- Hazardous materials
- Financial services
- Chemical
- Defense industrial
- Other (including supporting roles)
(If your position is not on the list, and your employer says you should come to work anyway, please post in the comments. There are stories about this happening elsewhere. Lookin’ at you, GameStop...)
Since the previous WA diary lacked this one critical piece of information, and I’m sure this is the one thing you most want to know, let me just point out that in the Healthcare / public health sector, under “Essential Workforce”, there is (emphasis added):
Workers in other medical facilities (including Ambulatory Health and Surgical, Blood Banks, Clinics, Community Mental Health, Comprehensive Outpatient rehabilitation, End Stage Renal Disease, Health Departments, Home Health care, Hospices, Hospitals, Long Term Care, Organ Pharmacies, Procurement Organizations, Psychiatric, Residential, Rural Health Clinics and Federally Qualified Health Centers, biotechnology therapies, consumer health products, cannabis retailers).
And under Food and Agriculture Essential Workforce, there is:
Workers supporting cannabis retail and dietary supplement retail
So you can set your mind at ease that your means of setting your mind at ease will be available.
For more information:
Local and Business Restrictions
Local agencies and businesses are implementing safety procedures, especially around cleaning, social distancing, and worker and patron safety. Some agencies and businesses have already started on this, but with the new state restrictions on Wednesday, we can expect more of the businesses classified as essential to take measures like the following. These are just examples culled mainly from King County. Before going out to some business / office / store, check with them to see if hours have changed, if they have restrictions on number of patrons at once, or restrictions on what you can bring with you.
Kroger (Fred Meyer and QFC) stores are asking us not to put reusable bags or backpacks on counters or in carts. (The worry is that people tend not to clean these after each use. If contaminated, placing them on counters for checkers to load puts the checkers at risk. They could also transfer contamination to other people’s purchases. This information is from a QFC staff person who posted a warning on Nextdoor.) Fred Meyer will have seniors only shopping Monday-Thursday for the first hour, 7-8am, and will be open for all from 8am-10pm (note that is a reduction in hours). There are quantity limits on sanitation and cleaning supplies. Kroger stores have been hiring, especially delivery drivers.
Trader Joe’s has reduced hours to 9am-7pm. They are limiting the number of people in the store at the same time. An employee at the door directs customers to line up, leaving a 6 foot gap between. As customers exit, more are let in. They are encouraging people to use hand baskets rather than carts, and are cleaning the basket handles. Customers inside are trying to do distancing, but the aisles are not all wide enough to pass, so it’s up to customers to not shove up close. There will either be seniors-only shopping or an expedited checkout line for seniors from 9am-10am. No current restriction on bringing in reusable bags or backpacks. (Information on procedures is from direct observation and news reports. Information on hours is from the website and by observation — hours for all locations I’ve checked are reduced.)
Vons, Safeway, Albertsons hours are changing — see individual store hours. Hours for seniors / vulnerable shoppers are Monday-Friday 7-9am. Delivery no longer requires signature. Temporarily, no returns are accepted. There are quantity limits on high-demand items. They are hiring. (Information is from mailings.)
King County Metro Transit and Sound Transit are not charging fares, and are having riders enter and exit via rear doors unless they need assistance or need to use the lift. This is to protect drivers. An announcement runs periodically asking riders to maintain distancing.
Elementary schools and parks are having to cordon off their play areas due to parents allowing their children to play together, or use equipment that is not being cleaned between uses. (Information is from worried / irate neighbors.)
Meetup has requested groups to go virtual. They say, if you’re in a group, and it’s still having in-person events, contact the organizer. In WA, we can’t have in-person events, so please warn any organizer that still has a location specified for their event.
Bloodworks Northwest needs donors. They have new safety precautions. First, donations are now by appointment only, and the number of simultaneous donors is reduced, so they can maintain spacing. Go to schedule.bloodworksnw.org/… and sign up, then schedule an appointment. No-one under 16 is allowed on-site. Don’t bring family members. Folks in at-risk groups are not allowed to donate. (I’m over 65, and they let me sign up, so it’s not a restriction on seniors.) There will be new questions. They’ll be cleaning carefully between donors. They ask donors to not bunch up in the waiting area or in the after-donation area. I’d suggest not arriving too early, as they have to limit the number of people on premises. And avoid carrying a bunch of stuff with you that could be contaminated. (I was hoping to have already donated before writing this, but the appointment slots filled up...)
Coping and How-To
These tips are assembled mainly from 1) necessity (I help run a Meetup group...) and 2) neighbors . The first one has to do with said neighbors:
Get on Nextdoor. I can’t stress this enough. If you are not familiar with Nextdoor, it is a neighborhood discussion forum. They verify location, to keep out spam and bad actors (e.g. burglars wanting to know when folks aren’t home), so you really are talking to actual neighbors. You can subscribe to posts from, and post to, just your own neighborhood, or also to adjacent neighborhoods. Here are just a few reasons why you should do this:
- Local agencies post alerts and notices there. There are online conference calls, there are announcements of changes, town halls,…
- There is a Help Map (started just for CoV), where people can post needs and help offered.
- There is a banner with links to CoV information.
- You can ask, “What stores have TP in stock?” and in a short while, you’ll have 50 options. Are you trying to home-school your kids for the first time, or would just like to keep them entertained? Ask what other folks do. (Those are both real examples of lively discussions within the past few days.)
- You’ll find out what’s worrying folks, so if it’s you causing the worry, you can fix the problem. E.g. recently, someone posted, please don’t pet our cats and dogs. For one thing, you’re too close. For another, although this is an unlikely transmission route, it’s not zero probability. Or, there were multiple recent posts about parents having outings with all their kids playing together and sharing germs.
- Local emergency communications may go out through Nextdoor. If Internet access is still available in an emergency, then local emergency agencies and community emergency hubs will likely post on Nextdoor and other social media.
- But most of all, neighbors get to know each other, and look out for each other.
(Note: If you don’t live in WA, and are tempted to whine that your Nextdoor group has “Beckys”, that’s unfortunate for you. I’d recommend trying to take back your neighborhood group. But please do not tell folks they should avoid a valuable resource and a possibly-critical communication tool because someone was mean on the Internet.)
Sign up for alerts. Most state and local agencies use GovDelivery. There will be a slightly different URL to sign up for alerts for each. This one is for WA state government: public.govdelivery.com/...
The sign up form / URL can sometimes be difficult to find — start from the website for the county you’re in, or the specific agency. Once you’re signed up for one set of alerts, you can go to the URL for managing your GovDelivery subscriptions and add others. I’d suggest finding links for the following local agencies (web search...), and then hunting for their alert sign up:
- County government.
- County executive’s messages.
- County health department — the county website’s landing page will likely have a prominent COVID-19 link that will take you to the health department.
- The county’s emergency management department — this is usually for physical emergencies like earthquake / flood / fire, but it won’t hurt.
- If relevant, the local transit agency.
Do the Social Distance Do-Si-Do. So, you want to go out for a walk. Maybe go to the store. You’re walking along the sidewalk, when — uh oh! — someone turns the corner onto the same sidewalk and approaches you. There ain’t any 6 feet to provide separation. You might feel like you want to leap aside, but...you don’t want to seem rude! Horrors! What to do?
First, just shove that feeling down. It is not rude to move aside. You’re not just keeping you safe, but you’re keeping t’other party safe as well. With the Appropriate Technique, you can even defuse the imagined hurt feelings in the other person. And that other person is likely thinking exactly the same thing — how can they leap aside without seeming rude — and will be relieved if you do it first.
Second, no matter which of the following dance steps you choose, you can put a big grin on your face, sing out “Hi!!”, and wave as you pass. That means, “See, I don’t think you’re scary. We’re just following da rulez!” Special permission for Seattle folks: You are hereby granted a waiver from the Seattle Freeze. Just for now, you are permitted to acknowledge the existence of people you do not know.
Ok, now, avoidance techniques.
The best avoidance is not getting into the “oh, no!” situation inna first place. If you are walking on a small street with few cars, just walk in the street. If there are no sidewalks, you’ll be doing this anyway. The street is a lot wider than the sidewalk, and allows a lot more scope for meandering out of someone else’s path.
Now, keep an eye out for oncoming pedestrians, and listen for overtaking pedestrians. If you see people up ahead, just casually migrate to the other side of the street. Remember your wave and Hi! as you pass.
If the other person appears abruptly, and is too close for the gradual meander option, then perform the sidestep ritual: First, you both try to step aside...but you move in the same direction. Do a little hesitation waver, and then both step back. Go, Ha Ha! Wave to the side to let the other person know they can continue straight on their original path, and you’ll step aside. Now do that.
It may be that you’re stuck walking on sidewalks, e.g. if there are cars on the street. One option is the “It’s not you — I meant to do that” street crossing. Look across the street like you’re looking for an address. Get out your phone and pretend to look at a map. Step off the curb and squint. If need be, actually cross the street. Otherwise, after the other person has passed, and there’s been enough delay that the air is cleared of aerosolized virus, you can scowl at your phone, and step back onto the sidewalk.
Or, invent your own maneuver!
All those things you meant to do? Now’s the time! Woot! Woot! Woot! Do some self-cheerleading, and then dive right into it. You’ve likely already had the suggestion that now you can get to those books you meant to read. But that’s too easy, no? Amp it up a little.
- Take an online course. YouTube likes to show me ads for Udemy and Masterclass. There’s also Udacity, especially if you want to take Sebastian Thrun’s autonomous car course. But let me just suggest some others:
- Khan Academy: It’s free. The videos are often entertaining. There is a lot of entry-level material — has stuff for kids though adults.
- Coursera: This was started by Stanford profs Daphne Koller and Andrew Ng. Courses are produced and taught by actual name-brand universities. Look for ones that have sessions with all students starting together — the course forums will be more lively. I can recommend the data science courses from the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health.
- edX: Started by MIT and Harvard, and like Coursera, offers classes from many universities. There are now online Masters programs...just sayin’…
- Repairs you’ve been putting off. No matter what you’re trying to do, there is likely a YouTube video or an Instructables post showing how-to. I’d suggest browsing several, especially if the task is technical, as some folks will take shortcuts or gloss over bits, but usually not all the same bits. Now hop over to the WAYWO diaries to whine and kvetch and get advice.
- Plant a garden. Ok, this one is intended more seriously. You may not have heard yet, but because the US Consulates in Mexico, where seasonal agricultural workers would get their H-2A visas, are closed, we may not have anyone to plant and harvest vegetable crops. See: “Without These Workers, Everything Ceases to Exist”: How Coronavirus Is Coming for Your Produce. So open up a little space in your yard, or set out containers if you’re in an apartment — even a window box can be productive — and just try something simple.