Orange County Health Order

Well it’s now official, as of today my county (Orange County) is now on Health Order: Banning Public and Private Gathering until March 31st. The only time we could really go out is if it’s essential: groceries, hospitals, restaurants that can only do take outs, banks, hardware stores, businesses that supply residents materials to work from home, etc. Social distancing is highly encouraged so all social gatherings has been cancelled. It might seem scary but overall it’s not bad as bad as it seems. Well, at least for us compared to other countries. If we need food, we could still go to the groceries but probably best to go to a fast food. Overall, most people will just have to work from home.

The only thing that scares me is the panic buying. I’ve heard ridiculous stories from a mom buying almond milk even though her daughter asked her mom why since she’s allergic to almonds, to people buying out all the milk and eggs which are perishables in less than 2 weeks. The toilet papers is the number #1 I don’t get…

It’s just crazy how you can slowly see it happening. Here’s the difference in one week when I went grocery shopping at Mitsuwa (Japanese grocery store). Rice was always in full stock to the very top. Then on March 8 there was a significant difference. Following weekend it’s almost gone.

The second most empty is the instant ramens. They’re always full and this is the first time I’m seeing it like this. But this I can understand during a pandemic. There were still some left but after this order I’m pretty sure it’s empty by now.

As for American stores (Albertsons), it was shocking. I was there last Friday and everything seemed fine. But when I went again last Sunday, there were a couple of empty shelves. The hot items seemed to be eggs and party napkins since they were out of toilet papers, paper towels, tissues, milk, and meat is very limited. I didn’t even bother with the canned foods.

All in all, it’s not bad at least for me. Actually I’ve been working from home ever since the beginning of the month because I got a sinus infection but now I’m better. Personally I’m not scared of the virus because I’m young, I eat healthy, I get enough sleep and I work out. Speaking of working out, they had to call for this just when I was about to start training for my half marathon in early May. Welp, I guess I’ll be working out indoors. I wouldn’t be surprise if they changed that to a virtual run… which would be lame.

However, despite how the quarantine disrupts everyone’s daily life it just had to be done. The last thing I want is having it spread to the elderly or those with weak immune system. Better safe than sorry.