How are you being impacted by COVID-19?

E Double U

Might be a sensitive topic for some, but I am still curious how others are being affected by the virus outbreak.

The largest impact on me has been my employer's decision to split the company in half and have rotations for working remotely for one week at a time. My kids are in primary school which has not been closed yet. All of the events I had planned have been cancelled including conferences, concerts, training, and parties. No shortage at the grocery store yet and there is plenty of toilet paper. 

SteveLavoie

Here in Quebec, Canada, school have been closed on Friday for 2 weeks.  In our company, more than half of people will be working remotely for the next 2 weeks. 

We slowed some on-site customer visit and we expect a lot of support to help people working remotely. 

There is some temporary shortage of toilet paper but nothing that will last.. people don't understand that we are producting our toilet paper locally unlike Autralia.  

Neil86

Not too impacted really. Work is creating contingency plans and talking about possible work from home scenarios. No kids or marriage for me so nothing affecting me there. Just keeping my distance from the public somewhat and might stock up on some supplies

bigdogz

I do a great deal of remote work so I am not impacted. I do not see as many people out and about for obvious reasons.

In the US:

A national emergency has been issued.

One thing being stated by the CDC is that the elderly and those with low immune systems are more likely to catch the virus.

Companies like Google, Wallgreen, CVS, Walmart, and companies that provide testing are working to provide drive up testing in certain areas. This may take some time but it is going as fast as possible.

All gatherings >250 people are not preferred.

Churches have stopped having mass.

All sporting events (college / professional) have been postponed or cancelled.

There has been some acknowledgement to stop having gatherings in elderly homes.

K-12 Schools and Universities have closed for 3 weeks / indefinitely. This is a big hurt because the parents have to stay home to watch the kids in most cases.

There are metro areas that buy toilet paper and paper towel like there is no tomorrow, All I can say to that is paper towels and toilet paper cannot solve the virus.

I do not wish this on anyone but our media has hyped the nation into a frenzy.

At this time I wish the best for all and to work to get the world in a better place.

scaredoftests

I am not impacted really. Media should stop freaking people out.

VictorVictor5

My law school will be switching to all online classes promptly until the end of the semester at least. I don't even know if graduation is going on for the 3Ls.

bigdogz

I have a friend and former coworker who was told to work from home for 3 weeks.

LordQarlyn

So far I have not been impacted in any significant way. My company is still going to send me to Abu Dhabi in a couple weeks.
I agree about the media frenzy, but I feel bad for public officials. If they take minimal actions, they're accused of not doing enough. If they take strong measures and succeed in reducing the spread, the public thinks the risks are minimal and accuse governments of being too heavy handed. 

SteveLavoie

I would avoid any internationnal travel, not for the fear of catching the COVID-19, but rather of all measure who are taken (border closing...). I would hate to be forced to stay in another country because you can't find a flight or other thing like that. 

LordQarlyn

SteveLavoie said:

I would avoid any internationnal travel, not for the fear of catching the COVID-19, but rather of all measure who are taken (border closing...). I would hate to be forced to stay in another country because you can't find a flight or other thing like that. 

In my situation I am moving to the UAE, so my concern would be being stuck in the US be cause I can't get a flight over there.

scott28tt

Struggling to find stock in the supermarket, work life impacted a little.

ThadPVillani

I have been affected, but the epidemic in our country has been basically controlled

JDMurray

No impact to me now other than their being much less traffic on the highways. I'll be interested in what my impact metric is in two weeks.

Infosec_Sam

I would consider myself to be incredibly lucky here. Everyone at the company has been "strongly encouraged" to work from home, which really isn't a problem, and I'm in an online degree program, so the universities going online-only doesn't really affect me at all. If anything, I get my 1h20min commute back every day.

cyberguypr

Zero impact. My company has strong contingency plans so business as usual. On the personal side I have 30-45 days of food and water so also no impact so far.

NetworkNewb

scaredoftests said:

I am not impacted really. Media should stop freaking people out.

What else is the media supposed to talk about right now?   It is all they are talking about... but it because it was what people tune into right now.  The media are just companies trying to make money based off what people will tune into.   People need to stop watching them if they are annoyed by them... I know I barely watch them (most are just biased views on issues anyways)  All companies and governments right now are doing right now is shutting things down for a short period to slow the spread of this virus so it doesn't kill a more people and we can react to it.  I dont see a huge issue here.   As long as the government steps in and helps people in the very short time there shouldn't be a big disruption. 

And anyone else annoyed by people complaining about people buying TP? I hear it like 5 times a day about people saying how ridiculous it is.   They should realize they are just making this stupid issue even worse by talking about it constantly.   People hear there is a TP shortage everywhere so everyone else goes out and buys it when they see it since they want to have some.   

People bring the crazy on themselves.   I feel like I need to go buy a house in the middle of the woods... (and its not to get away from the virus )

Anyways... I actually work at a casino that is staying open right now.  But I can work from home whenever I want and might take that option.   Not sure if I care to be in a building where a ton of people come to gather each day atm. 

Happy Monday TE!

TechGromit

Employees that can work remote are doing so.  Were I work, two of the networks are air gaped, someone must be here to manage them. People need electric, so off to work I go. 

cyberguypr said:

On the personal side I have 30-45 days of food and water so also no impact so far.

 I have about two weeks food, maybe 30 days water. On a side note, if I run out of food, no toilet paper becomes less of a concern. 

beads

I seriously dislike having to work from home as people tend to be less productive overall given my past experiences I see much the same today while I am the only person in the office from my group. Well, most people haven't shown up today and are marked "away" from desk since 8:30 AM.

Saw lots of hoarding over the weekend with one couple with over 300 rolls of toilet paper and 40 gallons of water in various carts, etc. Truly unnecessary as far as I was concerned. My elderly mother in Michigan has asked for a shipment of TP as people from the Detroit area have come hundreds of miles North to hoard the stuff from very rural communities. I mean really? Hope they choke on the stuff, used, of course.

Does it affect me? No, not really. I do see a direct slow down in work and workflow as people take advantage of not being in the office which only makes my timelines more difficult to accomplish.

Stay safe, folks!

- b/eads

bigdogz

I think YMMV when they work from home. There is a structure that has to be in place for those working from home. Work ethic comes into play as well.

SteveLavoie

WFH is making me somewhat more productive usually. However, today is the first day of the schools quarantine and I am alone at home with my 11 years old daughter. Normally it is fine, but today it felt special for her and she wanted to to pancake.. (first time..) so I trading some productivity for nice moment with my daughter. 

E Double U

Today was the first day that my wife and I both worked from home with the kids here because school is closed. We had breakfast and lunch together plus went for a family bike ride. The Mrs helped the kids with their school work and I took the boys to play soccer when I was done with work. It was a really nice day. What did suck is due to keeping social distance we skipped our usual Monday routine of having dinner with my parents-in-law. The little ones miss their grandparents, but they did drop off a meal and we Facetimed while eating. 

Could be worse

scaredoftests

Now I am really impacted. Restaurants are closed! Though there is curbside/take out. I am headed to the liquor store..

JDMurray

Restaurants are still open for take-out in California; I assume liquor stores are too.

UnixGuy

cyberguypr said:

On the personal side I have 30-45 days of food and water so also no impact so far.

You win in life Sir!

UnixGuy

i've been working from home for the better part of last year (more days wfh that in office). I do the occasional client visit.

Now clients demand that we don't visit them on site, so I'm doing all the work remotely.

GYMs are still open where I live.

itdept

ThadPVillani

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Chrisbari14

I'm impacted somewhat. Considering that Florida is top 5 for coronavirus cases, there has been mass hysteria about the virus here. I work for a health care company where I visit around 10-15 medical clinics a day. Everyone's in full body gowns with Mask and gloves here. Haven't been given the option to work from home since I support doctors. At least if I come in contact with a office that has had a coronavirus patient, I at least get two weeks off paid.

nathandrake

I'm not impacted job wise, other than working from home.  Which isn't a big deal for the type of work I do.  However, my wife just lost her job today for who knows how long.  We're going to be losing roughly $1,000 a month income if her job stays shut down for longer than a month.  I know it's not a lot of money when you think about some salaries, but losing a $1,000 a month is a hard pill to swallow.   Having to cut back on a lot of things right now.

NetworkNewb

I work at a casino and they have closed the doors for now.   Most of the employees have been sent home and the casino has agree'd to pay everyone's salary for 2 weeks.  After that people can use their PTO and once that is gone who knows... Couple thousand people were sent home this week.  Kinda scary to think about if it goes longer.

I'm still working right now there and part of a limited group staying and keeping things running.  All the other security analysts on my team have been sent home and I am the only staying around as I am considered the technical lead on the applications we use.

stryder144

I am currently working from home but may be out of a job pretty quickly.  Our company, a startup in the healthcare arena, has three pillars...social, mental, and physical interaction...  As such, may be looking for a new job pretty soon.