Like most Americans, I’ve spent a lot of time over the last week thinking about what’s going on with the Coronavirus / COVID-19. The situation has evolved and changed almost on a daily basis. Until the past week, it didn’t seem likely to have much impact on my daily life as I wasn’t planning to visit China and didn’t have any planned international travel until hopefully late in 2020. I had a few concerns, but thought it would probably be possible to continue with a planned trip to Arizona at the end of this month.

As the week progressed, a state of emergency was declared, then the virus was labeled a pandemic, then a national emergency was declared, and it became increasingly obvious that the virus would require significant action to lessen the potential consequences and “flatten the curve.”

For me, and probably a lot of other Kentuckians, the reality began to hit home when the SEC Tournament, NCAA Tournament, and Sweet 16 basketball games were all cancelled in successive order. That doesn’t even mention the host of other event cancellations, closings, and postponements that have occurred. Although there’s no doubt that public health is more important than basketball games, I can’t help but experience the feeling of “March Sadness” at missing one of my favorite times of the year.

Things started to get even more real when Governor Beshear encouraged churches not to have services. Politics aside, this is not something any governor in a conservative state like Kentucky would do lightly. While I have plenty of differences of opinion with Governor Beshear, I do appreciate how he’s handled this situation with frequent press conferences to update the media and the public. He’s encouraged people to stay calm but also to take the situation seriously.

Unfortunately, for a lot of people, there seems to be very little middle ground between not taking the virus seriously and panic buying supplies in mass quantities. I worry about people who weren’t able to get items they actually need because others stockpiled unreasonable amounts, and I worry about people who struggle to get by under normal circumstances, much less deal with the kind of economic disruption we’re facing. I hope the stockpiling folks will show a willingness to share with others who may be in need.

As a healthy person under 40, I’m not actually very worried about getting the virus myself, but I do worry about all those in our communities with a higher risk of infection or death. I was one of the people who initially believed it was fair to compare coronavirus to the flu. That’s just wrong. It’s much more contagious, and also more deadly.

So, I plan to do my part to flatten the curve. That means watching church today on Facebook. It means staying home and reading a book or watching Netflix instead of going to a movie theater. It means having take-out or delivery instead of eating in a restaurant. It means more tele-work and “Social Distancing” in the workplace and the rest of daily life.

And, sadly, I think it means travel will have to be cancelled as well, at least for a bit. It may put a damper on travel blogging, but it won’t keep me from planning the next adventures. As a reminder that “this too shall pass,” here’s one of my favorite photos of a rainbow after a storm.

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