Because the earlier recommendations for business curtailment and social distancing measures was not being heeded, the governor declared a much more definitive closure of physical (in person) operations for all non-life-sustaining businesses in the state, with restaurants shifting to take-out as of 8pm on Thursday evening, March 19, and all others switching over as of midnight on Friday. This page on the governor's website includes links to the full list of business categories, the declaration itself, and video of statements from both Wolfe and the Department of Health.

So it's time for some clarification. We have a mix of people in our area, some who have already fully hunkered down and are not planning to leave their houses ever, if possible; some completely oblivious to the need for these measures and indifferent or even hostile to the idea of trying to comply, including even the local state house rep. And then there are people just wondering what it all means. With the caveat that everyone has their own circumstances to take into account and it's hard to address all contingencies -- AND that this all could change again soon, here's a bit more info about the idea of social distancing and current public health best practices as referenced on the CDC, WHO, and White House websites.

First point: this is not a total lockdown. That would be even more extreme. In many parts of Italy right now, people are not even allowed to leave their houses to exercise outdoors. And they have to print and sign a permission slip to walk the dog or send the designated person for groceries or prescriptions.

Second point: the social distancing guidelines linked about are all conditioned on what level of transmission is current in your community. Given the relative paucity of testing both here and nationwide, it is all but impossible to accurately assess that. Yes, this is beyond frustrating. More like outrageous.

Third point: On exceptions. It is also important to say that the discussion below does NOT apply to anyone who is themselves sick with likely coronoavirus symptoms, which are themselves fairly non-specific. While you are unlikely to get tested for now unless you meet a few fairly stringent guidelines including known exposure and serious symptoms high fever and difficulty breathing, you should definitely keep yourself confined if you're not currently feeling well. It also does NOT apply to those who are immuno-suppressed, have other underlying health conditions (asthma, diabetes, etc), or are over 60 or who live with someone in those categories. They should be taking more comprehensive steps to isolate themselves, not gallivanting about (even carefully) if at all possible.

Discussion:

If you live in the central Susquehanna Valley, where we likely do already have a number of additional, as yet unidentified cases of COVID-19, but not yet evidence of community spread (and we won't know for another week or two on that), unless you're in any of the categories noted above, you CAN still go out to get groceries -- though curbside pickup would be ideal. You can even go out to hike or jog. Or to pick up take-out. You can even talk with other people while you're out, but practice super good hygiene and keep your (6') distance. If you do go out in public, you should be very aware of points of contact/not touching your face and vigilant about hygiene.

This does not mean playdates for kids are a good idea. They are not going to maintain physical distance or avoid infection points in any meaningful way. And note that it can be hard for anyone to maintain this distance indoors, especially in a building the size of a house. Outdoors works better. Without objects in common (i.e. not playing catch or using shared equipment).

What else does this mean? It means that (for the time being) if you are in a less vulnerable household, you are also free to internalize the hygiene and social distancing guidelines and then put them in practice as you venture forth to help out with organizations providing services and assistance locally (in particular food packing and delivery). Here's a signup to be part of the Greater Susquehanna Valley United Way's Helper Corps: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/30e0d4aafa729a5fa7-covid19

Admittedly things are fluid with respect to the current edicts, but it's great that we're going into this mode in our area now. Hopefully, by taking these measures here/now, we can avoid winding up almost entirely stuck inside our abodes later.

Maybe.

This is admittedly confusing. And even more so because it may well change in a week (or even less). This is also why it's better to otherwise keep to yourself (careful and hygiene vigilant volunteering excepted).

On the one hand, it's great advice to tell people to behave as if you assume you are infected. The catch is that if you are in fact infected, you should self-quarantine and consult your healthcare provider on next steps, whereas if you are just doing the mental trick of assuming you are infected in order to get yourself to think about points of contact, hygiene, and hand washing in much more concrete and strategic ways, you are not required to fully lock yourself down (yet). You should also assume everyone else is infected, too. It will really do wonders to tamp down on the face-touching.

So, in sum, in order to be a grown-up about this, you need to wander around maintaining your personal 6' forcefield and pretending large segments of the world are made of molten lava, just like you did when you were 7...