Please forgive me if I am stereotyping but I have the impression that many Frenchmen, and in particular older Frenchmen smoke or have been heavy smokers,I do not know how this compares with the smoking habits of Germans. I wonder if the smoking habits of older French people have some effect on the death rate, those cigarettes always smell so strong. I might well be completely off course here, and if so I apologise.

Walmart went to 7am to 8:30pm and HT went to 7am to 8pm. Giant is still open regular hours, and no word on Food Lion or Weis.

One other thing that can still be done here in Virginia is dine-in restaurant service, but Gov. Northam has limited it to ten inside the restaurant, including employees. Many restaurants have switched to takeout and delivery only. Maryland and DC, as well as Texas, have all ended dine-in service in restaurants for the time being.

Staples went to a 9am to 6pm operation, and many other stores have done the same. If you want to go to Dulles Town Center, you might find as many as ten stores open, so many malls have a lot of closed storefronts. Simon malls, like Potomac Mills in Woodbridge or Arundel Mills in Hanover, MD, have closed. Maryland malls in general have closed, per Gov. Hogan's mandate.

I'm sure smoking in any type thing isn't good for anyone who may contract COVID-19, since I've heard it's primarily a respiratory disease.

Sue, I have absolutely no idea whether being a smoker has an impact on death rate from corona virus. I would be of the same mindset at dg_dave and expect that as smoking already compromises your respiratory system it could only put you more at risk of serious consequences should you contract corona virus.

As for the numbers of Frenchmen who smoke, based on totally nonempirical data I have always felt that France appears to have a much higher rate of smoking than what I observed during my time in Belgium and growing up in Ireland.

I decided to check this out on Wikipedia, and the figures in 2016 indicate that on a world-scale, France ranks in 63rd place for cigarette-smoking per capita, Ireland is not far behind, in 72nd place, the UK in 80th. Belgium (contrary to my gut feeling) is right up there in 7th place and Germany 33rd.

My post was in response to pitegny's post as to wondering why French are dying more than the Germans.

I stopped smoking 20 years ago so hope that my lungs have recovered from then.

I've read several articles about why the death rate in Italy is so high and the current theories may explain France/Germany as well. One key factor is the age of the population - Italy has one of the oldest populations in the world. In addition to that, over 90% of the people who have died had a pre-existing condition, which is to be expected in older people. And the first cases in Europe arrived in Italy when few people realised the severity of the illness and at least two weeks before a case was diagnosed elsewhere in Europe so the virus had taken hold before anyone knew it was there.

Having said that, Germany has an even older population so you would think it would be worse than Italy, and certainly worse than Spain or France which are much younger. However, the difference there may lie in the testing programme. Italy started its testing programme by only testing people with obvious symptoms but we now know the virus can be present and actively contagious in people who display no symptoms at all. When Germany started testing it rapidly moved to testing 10,000 people a day, including those who were only thought to have been in contact with an infected person and/or their contacts. As a result it identified potential carriers and could isolate them early. In comparison, France has conducted far fewer tests both in terms of actual numbers and as a proportion of the population. For example, Germany has tested about .2% of its population, the UK has tested half that number (about .095%) but France, at 0.05%, has tested only a quarter of Germany's rate and presumably also isolated far fewer.

Government just announced we have lockdown until April 13th at the earliest. Had a text from the hospital that all appts are cancelled unless we receive a phone call. My husband has cancer so I am hoping they will still treat him.

I've spent a lot of my time during the last days on honing and uploading my on-ride videos from Europa Park (voted best theme park of the world 2014-19) so that everyone could enjoy them from home.

If you have your mind set on a day at a theme park, just have one in the safety of your own living room, on your smart TV or projector.

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLoWiQtA2AFeSMXKVMhumhc4HSvGGadv6_

If you intend to view this more than once (it's almost 4 hours' worth) please use a downloader to grab the entire set so that we can conserve internet bandwidth.

PS: No, I don't work for them or anything like that. But I love visiting and usually spend about 20 days there every year.

I've just watched the first one and wow, Wesley, they look fantastic! Great editing and soundtrack too. Would you mind if I sent the link to one of my great-nephews? He and his family often go to theme parks so I'm sure they'd be interested at the best of times but at present he's just closing his school down, his wife is confined to the house because she's at high risk, and their twelve-year old will probably be climbing the walls soon so somewhere in there you might get a new fan.

Spread it around, the more the merrier.

A doctor in one of the hospitals in Lyon, France is circulating a message asking people to stay home entirely for the next week as it is expected to be a pivotal week in our region.

While most people are following the restrictions, there are still large numbers who are bending the rules. We have a 70+ friend who is quite proud of the fact that he continues to take his electric bike and cycle the seven miles to swim in Lac Léman, crossing the closed border with impunity. The days he doesn't do that he is walking in the hills near us. The restrictions are that you are not supposed to do outdoor activities more than 1.5 miles from your house if you live in the countryside, half of that if you are in the city.

We also had friends with small children who live a mile from here come to our house while they were on a nature walk. My husband did not let them in, but talked with them from the door. People are so thoughtless.

I have a real beef about certain young people, who believing themselves relatively safe from the virus, continue to cluster in small groups. They do not realize that the person they may infect and even kill may be their older loved ones. One of the French news stations is running an announcement from a young woman in her twenties who is now very ill. She admits that she was one of the ones who was nonchalant about the virus in the beginning and did not understand the severity of the problem. She says that she understands now all too well as the person she infected died; it was her beloved father.

Britain's finally caught up. After threatening over 70s with lockdown but not imposing it we're all locked down from 8.30pm today with the normal exceptions. Luckily I'd done two photo trips (I don't go near any actual people now when I do), and have plenty to do here. They are reviewing the law (as the police can now punish you for breaking it) in three weeks so I hope it's wearing off by then, many people I know are already climbing the walls as their clubs and churches etc are all closed and they live on their own.

It sounds like Britain has jumped from one of the least restrictive to about the most massive any Western democracy has come up with. Just what are dog owners to do when they can leave their home only once a day for exercise?

Count all their stockpiled toilet rolls.

Wes, those with gardens can let the dogs do their poop there, and then they will surely pick up. The dog can have a good walk once a day for actual exercise.

Hopefully our government will copy the UK tomorrow.

As always it is the 'few' who ruin things for the many. Some people just wouldn't give up their 'rights' so everyone must suffer.

The company I work for has yet to suspend or shorten hours. I'm guessing unless the government steps in, we'll be open for business as per the usual.

School is cancelled here the rest of the school year. My daughter's district is going to do some online learning, and I don't think my daughter understands yet how hard that will be.

I'm concerned that the US president wants everyone back to work when we haven't even done a quarantine at all. Some states have tried, but just google spring break or the cherry blossoms... so many don't care. And I'm afraid that unless they clamp down like France, Italy, China, etc have done we will die in greater numbers than any other country.

The last time my kids were at a playground was 13 March and the last time we had delivery food was 14 March. I would love to support the local restaurants and most are doing pickup (including Melting Pot!), but I don't want to risk it, so I've been making everything at home.

I did my first grocery delivery on the 13th and got the items the 15th. I did another one on the 20th... and found ONE place with availability and will get those items (hopefully) tomorrow. Last time I was at the grocery store was the 13th and they were really only out of toilet paper.

Stores are frequently out of milk, eggs, and meat. Luckily I have ordered through other businesses and have meat, but my son really only drinks milk. I had my husband go to the grocery store on the 21st so he'd stop wasting things and understand the problem.

I went to a janitorial supply company to get toilet paper. I already had a warehouse-size container, but I don't know how long this will last and how long four people 24/7 will use it. They also had gloves, so I got a pair for getting gas or whatever.

I'm working one week on and two off, giving us time to quarantine before coming back to work. When I'm off, I'm teacher. My son is 4 and my daughter is 9... and it's hard taking care of both of them for days, let alone making them do something(s) educational. PE is easy now - we either take walks or do the Peloton app, which is free for 90 days.

I'm really scared I'm going to get it. I have asthma, which flares up when I get sick. I (accidentally) bought a bunch of cold medicine when I had two sinus infections earlier this year, so I'm grateful I have enough on hand. My work said I can sty home for the duration, but I'd rather not play that card unless people start getting sick at work or home. I have a pencil I use to touch elevator buttons and such there and wash my hands well.

Jigsaw puzzles are slow to come by via Amazon, but I just did a 1000 piece one in 2 days. I also bought a 'learn to knit' kit. And I've gone through seasons of Downton Abbey.

I have periods where I get really depressed. It would be so much easier if I knew a "this is what's going to happen, this is the plan". I really want just everyone to stay put for a couple weeks and let's get through this and get it over but especially in the US, there are so many different regulations that it won't matter much unless everyone just locks down together. But unfortunately, this is all becoming political. I really was hoping everyone would come together like they did after September 11th...

Things were very confusing here too at first but it's settled down over the last week. We're getting the same message now from the doctors and from all levels of government. Different provinces are at different levels of lockdown, but the overall message is the same. Of course politics have entered into it, but are somewhat off to the side, so to speak.

The US seems to be quickly becoming divided between people who want to just lockdown and cut the transmission off vs. people who don't want to change their lifestyle. I see people who have been sacrificing and staying home becoming more and more angry at those who continue to go out.

My state has the now-usual directives, e.g., restaurants take out only, limits on social gatherings, gyms closed, but my county is not on any sort of lockdown, and I don't think most people are staying home. And I don't think they will unless they are legally required to do so. Only 17/50 states are locked down so far. Some major cities, but what about all the suburbs of those cities?

Hubs and I have been living in separate dwellings for over 2 weeks. Since the virus transmits so readily within households, we hope to prevent both getting sick at the same time, at least. He started having symptoms 4 days ago ~ he feels like he has a typical flu, but there's no way to tell the symptoms apart. He's quarantined himself, and the good news is so far his symptoms have not progressed. It's really hard to be apart when he is sick, but of course that was the whole point. The best I can tell, he'd need to be a lot sicker than he is to even get tested here. Almost no one has been tested, so there's no way to tell how much infection is out there until it explodes.

He has been out there in the world much more than I am. I have limited my outside trips to strictly necessary and am extremely careful about cleaning things that come home with me. So, yeah, I am taking this super-seriously, but I've always been a better-safe-than-sorry kind of person anyway.

I did my first curbside grocery pickup on Sunday (ordered on Friday). Walmart had no pickup times available, so I ordered from the regional chain where I normally shop. It cost $4.95 extra, but I felt happier doing it because I know those people. I gave them permission to substitute items as needed, and I was curious to see how that came out. There were a few brand substitutions, but I got everything I asked for except bread. Apparently there was no bread of any kind, which was pretty disappointing since several other things I ordered were supposed to go with the bread.

I also forgot to order oranges, so now I have no oranges and no bread. In the pre-pandemic days, I would have popped back out to the store to get those things, but now I just automatically resigned myself to doing without those things until the next grocery order. It seems my brain has shifted into "wartime" mode.

So amazed at the speed at which the world has changed so drastically.

I'll be honest, I don't really know how much people are staying home because I'm not going anywhere so I don't see them! I'm in a central neighbourhood where everyone walks and there are certainly people out on the street, but not in groups, more just walking their dogs and going for a run, which is not only allowed, it's encouraged, to keep people's spirits up. Traffic volume on a weekday is about what you'd see on a holiday Sunday, and parking lots which are usually jammed are about a third full.

My son works at a liquor store - they haven't been ordered to shut down yet - and he says business is slow, but the people who are coming in are stocking up.

I am lucky because there's just two of us (my husband and I), and we have a grocery story and two CVS within walking distance. So, whenever I need to get some everyday essentials, I also get some much-needed exercise (I don't drive, and never have). My husband, on the other hand, has to go to work regularly, as his company (which sells professional electrical supplies) is deemed semi-essential. Thankfully, they have implemented a form of curbside pickup for their customers, and there's only four people working in the store. My husband worked as an electrician until last summer, and I am so grateful he doesn't anymore. The company he works for is also much better at taking care of their employees.

Yesterday, when I went to the grocery store, I saw quite a bit of traffic on the main road (it was between 8 and 9 am), but very few people around on foot. The store was relatively well-stocked, but there was no TP to be found - nor were disinfecting wipes.

My store continues to deem themselves "essential" and have yet to even shorten hours. The only items we have that we could be considered "essential" is water and cleaning supplies (the latter of which is out). So many places have either shortened or closed, and now with Gov. Northam's mandate in place (as of almost 10 hours ago), more places are forced closed. No county/independent city in Virginia is on a lockdown as yet, but both Fairfax and Arlington County should, because they've had the most cases, outside of James City County closer to Hampton Roads area. Alexandria has had far fewer cases than any of the aforementioned counties above.

I was driving home just after 5pm on Interstate 66, and it was strange that I was moving at freeway speed during the main rush hour.

I'm not a homebody, as I get cabin fever easily, but even I don't want to get out.

Went into a store today for the first time in well over a week. I had something to return to one of those big full service drugstores, and since they have a seniors-only hour early in the morning, thought I'd give it a try. Did a little shopping there, and then drove past a grocery store and saw the parking lot was almost empty, so decided to get some perishables. Everyone was being careful about social distance, and both stores had wipes and sanitizer at the doors. Traffic was very light.


There were some empty shelves but not too many, and they had limits on some items, like eggs. As I was checking out, I noticed there was toilet paper stacked behind the customer service desk, dozens of packs. I hadn't gone down that aisle, so I don't know if that's where they keep it now, or what.

Are you in northern VA? If so, PM me - I have a place that is stocked.

I think that's what several stores near me have started doing as well. We have a few Facebook groups tracking what's available and not and several reported the TP is at customer service so they can better enforce the limits.