Today I noted three just released films, The Invisible Man, The Hunt, and Emma have been released digitally for “rent”, ie for $19.99 you get to rent and see one of the films for a certain amount of time (I’m not sure how long, I tend to just go ahead and buy the films I want and haven’t really investigated the whole digital “renting” thing all that much).

I read that Onward, which was just released to theaters on March 6th, may show up in a few days as a digital rental as well.

Further, there will no longer be any box office stats offered for movies in current release. Why? Well, because most -if not all- movie chains are no longer open for business.

Given the Coronavirus, confining a large(ish) group of people in a relatively small space is pretty much a recipe for spreading a disease.

Thing is, there are plenty of movies the studios have ready to be released. These films represent obvious cash investments and the investors are eager to get their money back or (hopefully) make money on said releases.

So it seems for the time being we’re likely to see more and more of these digital rentals appear.

The price isn’t that bad, I suppose, to rent a film. If you and your family, say between 2 and 5 people or so, sit down and watch the film, it comes out cheaper than the group of you going to a theater to see it.

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I headed out to the grocery stores yesterday and early this morning and while I don’t think things are quite as bad as they were a week or so ago (has it only been that long?!), there are still plenty of places where the shelves are bare of certain items.

It’s amusing to see what gets left behind and some have posted images of absolutely bare store shelves yet vegan foods are plentiful and untouched!

I get a laugh out of that but the matter of hoarding remains a stark reality.

At least one thing is for certain: We’re living through a truly unique set of circumstances, one that hasn’t happened in over a hundred years and likely won’t happen again after all this blows through.

I remain reasonably optimistic that more effective treatments and/or vaccines will be developed for this disease and there will come a time when we will finally return to normalcy, but until then, I’ll repeat what I said before:

Take care of yourselves out there.

So three days ago I wrote about the Coronavirus and the things happening in/around the disease and, as somewhat expected, things have changed quite a bit in these three days.

To begin, the streets are looking far emptier than before.

Many businesses are being ordered to either shut down or severely restrict access to the number of people within. Basically, any business, park, etc. should have congregations of no more than 10 people at any time in close proximity.

Movie theaters are essentially shut down. Gyms are shut down. Sporting events are cancelled. I read today that Ikea, at an abundance of caution, is shutting its stores. There are other stores still in business but they are curtailing hours and, I imagine, will try to limit the amount of people within at any given time.

The run on toilet paper and water is still going on, absurdly, but it is what it is. In the local grocery store, there are runs going on for certain food items, especially canned foods, but it seems like there’s more stock available of late. Could be that those who panicked early have their cupboards filled and thus the later comers are now getting what they need, and so on.

Gas prices are going through the floor, in part because people simply aren’t traveling as much, either by plane or automobile, and/or have no desire to do so. There is the very real possibility, I read, that the price of a barrel of oil might go down below $20, an almost unheard of price.

Sadly, there are also stories of young Spring Breakers, either ignorant of or ignoring the orders to keep away from groups because dammit they want their fun, flooding certain beaches.

Don’t do it, folks. You’re young and strong and the odds of this virus impacting you seriously are low but, still, why risk it? Why risk not only getting it, but giving it to others?

Speaking of which, the tourism industry, a huge industry in these parts, is taking very big hits. The fact is that no one from any foreign country is coming here, either because airlines are no longer making flights into the U.S. or their countries are closing up their borders and not allowing flights out.

It sounds crazy as hell but it’s a prudent thing to do until the Coronavirus’ spread is curtailed.

I’ve read reports here and there about drugs that have shown themselves effective against this disease and given the fact that it is the #1 Worldwide story at the moment, I suspect most chemical labs are devoting plenty of their time and resources to finding a cure for the Coronavirus and/or an effective vaccine.

Perhaps -a big if, I grant you- there will be a breakthrough and a cure will be found and we can sooner rather than later get back to our normal lives.

Perhaps.

One should try to be optimistic but also realistic and the darker side of all this is that we’re at the very, very beginning of this rather than anywhere near the end.

A frightening thought, certainly.

Stay safe out there, folks.

Ladies and gentlemen, we’re in this for the very long haul.

How long?

It seems more and more like we’re going to be living under some kind of semi-lockdown (thought given the fluidity of the news, this may change in the next hours, much less day!) where people are going to be strongly discouraged from gathering in any large or semi-large group.

Schools are, at least in these parts, effectively shutting down any actual classrooms. Relatives, and my daughter, are out of class at least three weeks, perhaps for the rest of the semester.

I’m seeing reports of movie theaters, obviously another place where large groups of people may congregate in a relatively small space, shutting down, at least in New York.

Given the ease of transmission of this disease, it seems foolish to go to any event like this and risk being close to a large group of people.

Then there are reports, here and there, of wildlife that has gotten used to tourists or visitors coming by and given them food now going hungry. In Japan, Nara deer are leaving their park looking for food as tourists who normally feed them aren’t coming around. In Thailand, bands of hungry monkeys are roaming the streets looking for food. Once again, the drop in tourism and the tourists who usually feed them is the cause.

Frankly, its both scary and incredibly sad.

On the other hand, there come reports that because of the inactivity of people and the low levels of tourism, the waters in Venice are becoming remarkably clear. Further, there are reports that smog/pollution in some of the affected areas, such as China and Italy, are greatly diminished.

But while its wonderful to think about how much cleaner the air and water are even after such a short period of time of decreased activity, both industrial and tourist, the economic impacts are on the horizon and they’re terrifying.

How many people work in tourist fields? How many in the restaurant business? How many work in industries impacted by this virus?

And the big question: How many are going to feel the economic strain of not working while we let this virus run its course?

I don’t want to be an alarmist but it seems to me there are going to be a lot of people impacted financially because of this virus. The idea that we have to effectively quarantine ourselves and/or try not to go out all that much for up to eight or so weeks is a very long time.

How many businesses will not be able to sustain themselves for that long? How many employees will lose their jobs because said businesses simply cannot keep operating as they have?

You think about other industries that employ many, many people?

For example, the movie industry. Thousands of people work in this industry, beyond simply the actors, directors, and screenwriters. There are at times many millions of dollars invested in a single feature film (the bigger ones, obviously)and we are now wondering when/if said films can be released. And when they are, will people shy away from the theaters?

Vacation spots: When will people come back in larger groups?

It feels like we’re at the beginning of this, sadly, rather than anywhere close to the end.

Of course, this could change. Scientists could come up with some effectively treatment for the Coronavirus and, just like that, we could find a way to deal with it and get back to “normal”.

Then again, it might take a while.

We’ll see.

As I wrote yesterday, it seemed people finally confronted the fact that the Coronavirus is something we need to worry about.

Today, the news continues to be rather grim. The Coronavirus is a more dangerous, potent virus versus the regular flu and now, two days later, it feels like closing off events where large numbers of people are pressed together closely (ie sport events, theme parks) is a prudent move.

Here’s the big question: How long will this go on?

Not to put too fine a point on it, but the economic impact will be both very negative and incredibly huge.

Walt Disney World and Disneyland, along with Universal, announced yesterday they would be shutting down. This not only affects the park’s owners/operators, who will lose millions of dollars each day, but more importantly also the park employees, many of whom make close to minimum wage.

I’m reading about the effects to other “mom and pop” type stores, that suddenly there aren’t many clients going to restaurants or stores in general, preferring to close themselves in at home and away from the possibility of catching and spreading this disease.

They’re not wrong in worrying even as one wonders how some of these smaller businesses and especially their employees will survive what could be an extended period of economic slowdown.

Truly we’re going through a new and very frightening situation, both for fear of catching something that could cause significant health problems, and the resulting effects it has on our bottom line.

The biggest hope is that scientists figure out in relatively short order a vaccine and/or effective treatment against this pandemic before it becomes far, far worse than it already is.

Pretty obvious stuff, I guess.

What a difference a day makes.

It felt like a wave of fear was building, from the first reports of the coronavirus appearing in China to the first reports of it being found in other places. Then, more and more, we heard of its spread, until finally it appeared in the United States.

I have absolutely no faith in the current administration and, of course, their first responses to the virus were pathetic.

Donald Trump, once again, goes to his old playbook and what we have is a “hoax”. His surrogates in the right leaning “media” took that particular ball and ran with it, some even suggesting the new of the virus was a “second impeachment”.

Those living in the real world were worried, of course, perhaps overly worried and I started noticing at my local Costco that toilet paper (why?!) and water (huh?!) were being plundered by shoppers.

I can understand wanting some of these things in case of a hurricane but, correct me if I’m wrong, but water that comes out of one’s taps is still drinkable, no? It’s not like the coronavirus is going to make its way to our ground water and we’ll be somehow made sick through it, right?

As far as toilet paper is concerned… I don’t get that either. As it so happened, we actually were low on toilet paper when this whole things started up but, thankfully, I was able to get myself a pack.

This was a few day ago, thankfully, because yesterday things really, really seemed to change.

I suppose the double news of Tom Hanks and his wife Rita Wilson contracting the coronavirus was a shock. They’re in Australia working on an Elvis Presley related film and, according to Mr. Hanks himself, they felt tired and weak and got themselves tested and found they had the virus.

A shocking thing, certainly, to read that such a well known celebrity has it.

Then came word that the NBA was suspending their season. Seems Rudy Gobert, center for the Utah Jazz, tested positive for coronavirus. Ironically enough, he made light of the disease before it was announced he had it.

Then came the Trumpster’s national address.

Ho boy.

After nixing the seriousness of the disease, he comes out, finally, and announces it is a pandemic. He sounds… man, he sounded like he was sick himself. He talked in a monotone and made a bunch of pronouncements which others had to walk back immediately afterwards (Matt Novak at Gizmodo.com offers some of the whoppers and the corrections).

These three things, perhaps taken alone, might not have been that bad, but all three in one day?

Yikes.

I planned to go to Costco this morning and then thought better of it. Finally, at 9:50 am, I realized I wasn’t doing anything better so, what the hell, let me go there. I needed to get some stuff for the house (no toilet paper, paper towels, or water, though!) and figured why not.

Man.

I don’t know if anyone else out there has gone to a store today but it looks like the panic is on. My local Costco was filled with people, the ample parking lot choked up completely.

I did go in, I did manage to get some things I needed, but there was a clutter of people at the back end of the store, where the toilet paper and water is, and I genuinely feared if I stayed too much longer I’d witness a riot.

I grabbed the stuff I wanted to get -not all, alas, some were too near that end of the store and I didn’t want to fight the crowds- and headed to the exit.

Paying for products is almost always a pain at Costco and it certainly wasn’t better because of the crowds.

One gentleman in line spotted what appeared to be an abandoned shopping cart with toilet paper and water in it and headed to it, intent on grabbing the goods there. But another gentleman approached from nearby the cart and our hopeful claim jumper asked him if it was his. He said it was and that was that.

But, jeeze, can you imagine people willing to grab items in what appears to be an unclaimed cart?!

I paid and headed to my car but the fun wasn’t quite done yet.

I parked pretty far away and found the parking lot, already pretty full when I arrived, was at capacity. Drivers asked me if I parked nearby in the hopes of getting my spot.

When I did get to my car, there was already someone with his turn signal on waiting to take my spot. I put away the stuff quickly, but getting out of the space proved a chore, with cars heading out of the lot blocking my rear and not allowing me to fully pull out.

I did manage, finally, and headed first into the heart of the lot before turning and heading out (trust me, it was the best way to do this).

All the while, I worried I’d be hit by someone not paying attention.

When I finally did get out of the lot and home, I decided that was it for me going out today.

Can’t wait to see what happens in the next few days.