Coronavirus pandemic in Oakland: Crisis, What Crisis?

Coronavirus pandemic in Oakland: Crisis, What Crisis?

By Lynda Carson - March 30, 2020

Oakland - Sitting at home watching the local and national news about the coronavirus, you might start to believe that it is the end of the world, or that life has become similar to the film called 12 Monkeys, before the virus pandemic killed off most of the world’s population in that film.

It’s a beautiful day in the neighborhood.

It was a warm balmy day in my neighborhood today in Oakland as I took a walk to get some fresh air, and exercise. Yellow flowers are in bloom. The crows were picking away at the leftovers of McDonald french fries that they found on the street. The jets were flying overhead, heading to or leaving the Oakland airport. Trash is littering the streets as usual, including some used mattresses and furniture on the corners, in addition to some dumped e-waste Dell computer screens scattered around the area. It felt just like another typical normal day.

There’s a trail of used discarded Lotto cards along the sidewalk from a nearby corner market, and all the gamblers throwing their money away in hope of hitting a jackpot.

People were casually strolling in different directions on the sidewalks. Some were in pairs chatting with one another, some were in larger groups of three to four people that were out enjoying the moment. Then I spotted a group of people (7-10 people) hanging out in a yard drinking, smoking, chatting, and having a Bar-B-Q. The sound of rap music was in the air, as carloads of people cruised by heading into the future. No one was wearing any protective masks from what I could see.

Social distancing in action? Not hardly… from what I could tell.

Meanwhile, less than two blocks away, a cop in a black and white SUV had someone pulled over, as a jogger in blue shorts and a set of ear phones on his head passed by on his way to a destination unknown to me.

Because of the coronavirus pandemic the local Check Center is only open till 6:00PM. The nearby Vietnamese PHO restaurant remains open, but seems dark inside with chairs on top of the tables, and it only serves take out meals now. The local Lao / Thai restaurant called Champa Gardens remains open, but also only serves meals to go at this point.

Last Friday early evening at Lucky grocers near 3rd Avenue, and East 18th St., it all seemed pretty normal except for a few changes. I was wearing a new N95 respirator mask that a friend sent me in the mail. Many others shopping at Lucky grocers also wore their masks, including some of the store clerks. But most of the store clerks were not wearing any masks or protection from the coronavirus, and the people that may have the virus. Most of the shelves were stocked, except most of the bread was gone and only a few loaves were left by the time I got there. All the toilet paper and paper towels were gone also. When I went to the checkout line, to my surprise, only one person was ahead of me.

However, there was a new huge square barrier of clear plexiglass bolted to the section where the cashier works at. This is meant to separate us, and keep us from breathing on one another. Considering that customers and the cashier were exchanging cash money back and forth, I do not know how much the plexiglass barrier will help protect individuals from the virus pandemic. Additionally, Lucky grocers closes now at 10:00PM, and the Customer Service center remains closed until further notice. No customer service? A sign of the times...

Meanwhile we seem to be edging ever closer to Marshal Law in our country with around 15,000 national guard members across the states, reportedly.

In New Jersey the National Guard has been going door-to-door searching for people that may have been exposed to the coronavirus, and thankfully the ACLU is teaching people about their rights.

As we all are heading into a future that seems uncertain, while we are getting older and pushing molecules around, it’s hard to believe that this story may become a historical document someday.

The sounds of sirens just passed by heading towards nearby Highland Hospital, and I hope that is not endemic of the times to come.

Lynda Carson may be reached at tenantsrule [at] yahoo.com

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