Pandemic times

From mid-March 2020, COVID-19 coronavirus was officially declared a pandemic by the world Health Organization. "Non-essential" businesses and most gatherings of people were shut down. (schools, churches, sports, etc.) So we have been having church by ourselves at home.

Some stores were kept open but the number of customers was limited and customers were asked to maintain a distance of at least 2 metres apart. This has resulted in long lines of people waiting to get into stores such as Superstore, Canadian Tire and the Big Greenhouse. We have generally tried to use stores that did not have line-ups outside. But we get our prescriptions at Superstore.

On Tuesday we were able to get into Superstore without a wait, and bought our groceries. While I was picking up the last few items, Judy went to pick up her prescription. I soon realized that the line-up waiting for a cashier stretched from the middle of the dairy products area, to the far back of the store by the lobster tanks, then down the frozen foods aisle to the front of the store. I quickly joined the end of the line. and estimated that with maybe 37 people ahead of me that I could expect a long wait. I had my phone with me and used the opportunity to get caught up on some reading. I forgot to check how long it took to advance to the front of the line, but I would estimate about 30 minutes. In the meantime, Judy had picked up her prescription, gotten tired of waiting for me, checked the car, gone back into the store, waited, returned to the car, returned to the store, and had me paged on the public address system. and finally I appeared at a cashier. Then were were back together comparing our experiences.

We had never seen interior line-ups like this one, and the line was in the west end of the store, not visible from other parts of the store. And the pharmacy is in the east end of the store. So Judy could not see the line-up.

Early-on there was a run on toilet paper, which ceased to be available for a week or two, then available in limited quantities. Other items such as some baking supplies, powdered milk and canned pineapple ceased to be available. It was a strange time to go grocery shopping. We were fortunate that we bought two bags of our favorite seed potatoes in April, because by early May, there were none available. And we do enjoy our garden,

In a few months this will be fading from my memory, but I think it is worth recording. I suggest that you record your own experiences for future generations.

Stats from https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/

Coronavirus Cases:  5,252,204

Deaths:                        336,495

Recovered:               2,120,228