Accommodating Covid-19 In My Daily Routine
It feels like a supply run from The Walking Dead. I haven’t bathed in two days; my oily hair is tied up in a pony. I don a dirty hooded jumpsuit, cover my face with a medical mask and wear a pair of disposable gloves. I have to be on guard when going outside.
But this is a new reality to get groceries.
I am sheltered in place in the heart of Silicon Valley. On Sunday, March 8th, my phone buzzed with an emergency alert — an email from the head of human resources. All Bay Area and Seattle employees must work from home for the next 30 days due to Covid-19.
Since that first announcement, life’s daily routines are much different. I now practice conscious distancing, near-obsessive sanitizing and hand-washing and ask questions such as “who touched that last”, “should that get into the house?” and “how long does the virus live on cardboard, plastic and steel?”
I was late in stocking up that first week of March. After driving to five pharmacies one evening, only one had a stock of N95 masks and allowed only one box per customer. I went online and found reusable allergy/dust masks. It’s not N95 but it would have to do, and it’s washable. Thankfully, I managed to snag a bottle of Lysol disinfectant cleaning liquid, Clorox disinfectant wipes, and alcohol all at regular prices. But the acetaminophen tablets and vitamin C supplements were out. That was worrisome. I read about the recommendation to use acetaminophen if symptoms appeared. I found one bottle of Tylenol from Walgreens online and ordered it. I was more excited to buy a bottle of fever reducer than a bottle of body mist from those semi-annual sales.
“Who touched that last?” I ask myself as I quickly go through grocery aisles. It’s become routine to wear those vinyl gloves food preparers use during the weekly trip to the grocery. At home, I would sanitize every packaged item from the milk carton to a pack of biscuits with a disinfecting wipe before storing them away. And I would wipe the plastic grocery bags too. But before doing that, I’d leave the food in the car for a few minutes, remove all my clothing in the garage (thankfully, I always remember to first close the garage door before taking off my clothes), throw them in the washer, and run upstairs to take a shower. My dog probably thinks I lose my sanity every Sunday morning. But temporarily, I have to view the outdoors as an uncontained biohazard environment.
“Should that be in the house?” I now separate things which should remain indoors, from those which are to be used outdoors. I have a pair of jackets and slip on sneakers designated for outdoor wear. The soles of the sneakers are sprayed with Lysol before it enters the front door, where it stays. The jacket goes directly to the washer after each grocery run.
“How long does the virus live again?” Since reading about the virus’ survival rate on different materials, I changed my routine again. Clothes are washed in hot water. I’ve wiped the handles of pots and pans, faucets, the kettle, coffee maker, doorknobs, doorbell, my laptop and phone including the power cords, light switches, car keys, coffee mug handles, remote controls, lip gloss container, moisturizer container, and my dog’s leash with Clorox. I open my Amazon deliveries on the patio. With mask and gloves on, I sanitize the items and leave the boxes outside. If I ordered pizza, I’d ask delivery to leave it by the door, then I’d slide that disinfectant wipe around the box before bringing the food in.
I dug up packets of seeds tucked away in storage boxes and planted them in my small patio. I have enough dry provisions to shelter-in-place for 30 days but if it becomes longer or if the food supply chain becomes disturbed, I think I need to have a few vegetables to pick in about 100 days.
My siblings live in Manila and England. We are all middle-aged and worry about each other. Last year, we talked about pooling our vacation savings for one grand family reunion in Italy. Now, our nightly Facebook chats are about our fears and the latest preventative measures (is it vitamin D or C that increases immunity?). I feel a lump in my throat as we wonder when we will see each other again.
These days I watch the Hallmark Channel more than the nightly news. I consider this virus an enemy, and I don’t want to stare at my enemy too often or my fear might get ahead of me. It is heartbreaking to see the numbers increase every day. It is hard not to look at breaking news alerts. But I need to step back from that daily.
Is this routine my new normal? I feel it is, and for a little bit longer I think. I am grateful to the state and local leaders who applied the shelter-in-place directive early. Work continues from home. The conferencing technologies available today have made it easy to remain in contact and productive.
In the last scene of the global pandemic movie, World War Z, Brad Pitt’s voice speaks during a montage of cities recovering from the zombie virus. “If you can fight, fight…” he says.
Yes, I will fight. But far from the usual routine, I will fight by staying at home. Until my family and I are together again enjoying the great outdoors.
