Well, here in Minnesota, we are in our first week of the 2-week ‘stay at home’ order. It appears that most Minnesotans are trying to do their best to stay at home as much as possible and maintain social/physical distance when they are outdoors. Let us hope it is making a significant impact in our fight against the virus. Unfortunately, we would not know the impact until after the 2-week period. At that point, the governor will decide if it would be better to continue the order for another couple of weeks or it would be okay to relax the order. I believe we need to do whatever it takes to slow down the spread of this dangerous virus – if that means we need to stay home for some more time, then that’s what we should do.
Looking around the country it appears that some of the states are still not incorporating a ‘stay at home’ order or a ‘shelter in place’ order. I believe they need to learn from some of the other states (and from countries like China and South Korea) and do this now rather than later. We are clearly learning that it is very important to hunker down early to be able to beat this virus quickly. If you wait until you start seeing more cases, you are giving the virus an upper hand. I sincerely hope all the states implement this approach as soon as possible.
As we all spend most of our time at home, the children might end up spending a lot of time online and communicating with their friends. Parents should keep in mind that this can often lead to more cyber bullying, which can be stressful for the children. There are also other online threats. That’s why it is important for parents and adults to maintain a closer watch on the children’s online activities.