Last night, Governor Gavin Newsom directed the closure of restaurants—other than take-away or delivery—across California. San Diego County issued legally-enforceable health orders, 11 in all, that impose tighter restrictions. Sizable group gatherings are prohibited, and residents are instructed to stay home. Six days after the World Health Organization (finally) declared SARS-CoV-2 (severe acute respiratory syndrome Coronavirus 2)—also known as COVID-19—a pandemic, commerce shutters, slows, and stops.
My wife and I take cautious walks around the neighborhood, avoiding other people as we can. Today, as we approached Park Blvd from Monroe Ave., a strange sight greeted: Closed LeStat’s. The bustling coffee shop is normally open 24 hours every day of the year. We didn’t explore the remaining portion of University Height’s main street, but for sure the many bars and restaurants are dark, too.
I used Leica Q2 to capture the Featured Image (warning: 26MB file). Vitals, aperture manually set: f/6.3, ISO 200, 1/125 sec, 28mm; 1:41 p.m. PDT.
If not for trying to avoid exposure to SARS-CoV-2, I would be out and about documenting the stuttering collapse of society as we have known it. There isn’t one pandemic, but two: Viral and economic. I predict that in the final analysis, the latter will detrimentally affect more people than the contagion. To “flatten the curve” of the Novel Coronavirus’ spread, we surely will flatten our economy, too. That’s a topic to which I must devote a fuller (and forthcoming) analysis.