Monday, 16th of March, 2020

Monday, 16th of March, 2020

The CoronaVirus-19 is hitting, and hitting harder every day.  We've heard about panic buying on the news.  Friday, I went to do my weekly shop, and there was no ground beef, among other things.  The store was PACKED!  Normally, at 8am on a Friday morning, there are not many shoppers out.  The store first opens at 8am.  This past Friday, the car park was full, and the aisles were swamped.  Swamped with customers/shoppers, swamped with many workers stocking shelves.  There were six tills open, with I suspect many shoppers panic-buying.
Due to no ground beef available at shop #1 I visited (Aldi), I next went to Sainsbury's.  I got my ground beef!  But due to the panic situation, and all the empty shelves, both in Aldi and in Sainsbury's, I bought a box of cereal, loaf of bread, two packages of cheese, and dishwasher tabs that were not on my list.
We are so lucky that we've always been able to get what ever we want at the grocery store.  Rarely is anything unavailable.  If it's not stocked one week, the next week it will be there, for certain.  Never experienced anything like it.  Makes me feel a bit like what I imagine it was like during the war.  Most stores have put limits on items.  At Aldi, you can not buy more than 4 of any one item.  Toilet roll is limited to 1 package across many shops.

Even though the virus hit the UK first, the US has put more measures to contain the virus in place, than the UK has.  The only measures the UK has put in place, is to self isolate if you have a new, persistent cough, or a high fever.  Boris Johnson, our Prime Minister, has not communicated any information since Thursday.

The NYSE stopped trading today, just after the opening bell, d/t severe losses.

One of the things the government has hinted at is having all people over age 70, may have to stay in and self-isolate for 4 months.

More to come, I am sure.