Canada here. We're sorta just getting our feet wet with it—only 310 cases country wide so far— but it hasn't stopped people from going off the deep end with hoarding.
The biggest disruption for me thus far is that I'm not skipping classes anymore....they're all online so I don't have to leave my room to partake. I'm enough of a hermit that the recommended social distancing measures are less than I already do normally, lol.
Some concern for my family members though, who are not nearly the hermit I am capable of being, especially my grandmother. Statistically, our family is going to see a case, its just so unlikely we all dodge it, and 3 of the 10 likely to be exposed are in the high risk age group.
For me, it feels very strange with how everything is changing so quickly.
Such is the power of an exponential growth rate. At one point, it all starts with one person, and then its just a couple people after a couple days. Wait a few weeks and the same couple days means a few hundred more, instead of just a few, later a few thousand, etc.
That same power cuts both ways.
Just taking yourself out of the equation means you are less likely to be infected, and if you are not infected, you cannot pass it on, which means no one else to pass it on that would have gotten it from you. Might they get it from someone else? Sure, but that's time to grow its numbers that the virus never gets back, the curve that grows from this person is delayed, which means hospitals don't get hit so hard. If it were possible to measure both outcomes, one person will be a measurable change in the outcome a couple weeks later.
For everyone though, not panicking is the biggest thing. Panicked people make stupid decisions, forget important details, plan poorly, and they suffer most via self inflicted anxiety, if not also via the consequences of poor decisions/planning/forgetfulness during critical times. Calm people respond rationally, take the correct steps to success, and generally obtain a better outcome than those who panic.
Second by only a slim margin are the simple steps of stop going out to have fun, stop buying things you don't
need, avoid places where lots of people will be at once or over time (theaters, grocery stores, govt offices like a DMV) and step up the not touching things and washing after if you must go there. The fewer people you are near and things you touch that others touch, the less chance you are exposed, or expose others if you have it by that point. The more you wash after touching things, the less chance you get infected.
So when c# finally drops, give in to the dark side! Become a semi-permanent accessory attached to your PC via the keyboard. Never again are you likely to have the WHO backing you up on ignoring the outside world's existence to play games inside as being the best thing you could do right now. Until then, start practicing for that day, being a hermit isn't easy for everyone. A little practice now means a smoother transition into 16/7 aC#!
