The COVID-19 Diaries: In the beginning...

I'm playing a little catch up here on what has been going on over the last week or so regarding our new life under this COVID-19 virus that has been infecting the world. The following is a diary of sorts...

I recall first hearing about the disease in early January, around the same time as everyone else. It appeared to be a uniquely Chinese problem at that time - something they would be able to control. In a worst case scenario, our international and/or national health organizations would be able to help them wrestle control of the disease, but it seemed incomprehensible that it would spread much further. However, I think we all feared that the problem may be much worse than what we were hearing, as the Chinese government is not particularly forthcoming, is it.

Now, in hindsight, I don't know that we can blame the Chinese leadership anymore than we can blame our own or those of other countries. Far too slow to respond, and far too concerned about the economic impacts, especially here in the United States. Money is meaningless without people, without stability.

Early last week (the week of March 2nd) I became aware that leadership within our company was putting together a task force to respond to the crisis. We knew at that time that the virus has begun to appear on our shores, predominantly in the state of Washington, but still, it didn't seem possible that this could turn into something serious, could it?

Thursday, March 5th

With very short notice, my boss put a notice on all our calendars, an hour out, informing us that we were going to shortly see an announcement from the CEO informing everyone at work that we were developing a tiered system of escalation for responding to the corona virus. 

• Tier 1: Awareness and preparation to work from home
• Tier 2: Permission to begin working from home
• Tier 3: Mandatory working from home - no further staffing in the office.

Essentially we were entering Tier 1,which was an easy one for me as I already worked from home frequently, especially during the summer. I had to run off to a meeting but I distinctly recall thinking that it would never get to Tier 2.

Wed, March 11th

Another last minute meeting from our boss, followed immediately from another message from our CEO - Tier 2 goes into effect immediately. Everyone is encouraged to begin working from home. While there were (as of yet) no cases reported in the office, the sense was that it was only a matter of time and that the commute, public transit dependent in NYC, was too risky to mandate of everyone. So if you could, you should work from home.

Personally I was not worried yet - my day to day routine did not feel high risk to me so long as I avoided putting dirty (re: potentially infected) hands to my face and being coughed directly on. Weekday morning consisted of:

• Crossfit at 7am: In my perspective this was not a high risk activity as membership was limited and the ones that were there were clearly healthy (and yes, I realize that it takes awhile for the symptoms to arrive - and that sometimes they never appear). So long as I washed my hands immediately after (and frequently during) the workout my exposure (while greater than not going at all, yes) was low risk. I would run home, shower and then head to work.
• Commute to Work: I take the subway everyday to and from work and to anywhere in between as required. People have begun to noticeably freak out early and ridership has already been dropping, dropping, dropping. I felt pretty safe - there weren't many people and so long as I cleaned my hands once I got to work (or home) I didn't feel concerned. I had started wearing my gloves on the train though.
• Coffee (and lunch) at Balducci's: I've been getting all of my weekday calories here for years. While I know everyone there, my physical interactions and touching of surfaces were limited. So again, low risk.
• Working 9 to 5: Much of my job takes place at my desk, on a computer, typing away or leading calls via WebEx. Many meetings are in person but we had already begun to dial those back. So unless somebody was licking my keyboard or headset each night I felt pretty secure at work. And being in a cubicle also did not feel risky.

Bearing all this in mind, I decided to go to work in the office the next day. I didn't want to have to carry all of my stuff to my writing class, which would occur that evening, and I felt safe about going into the office.

However, during the writing session that evening, where things were less in my control, I made sure to sit in a particular seat that kept my neighbors at a distance. Social distancing, a term I would become very familiar with in the coming days, had begun.