Do you know what a COVID19 stay home order means?
How about what it doesn’t mean?
My home state of California has been under a stay home lockdown order since March 19, 2020. In the beginning, many of our residents didn’t follow the order, which has resulted in stricter regulations.
It is time that we all (healthy, chronically ill, young, elderly, and everyone in between), work together to slow down the virus so that all of us can get out of the house! Look, as someone who lives with multiple chronic illnesses, I understand how difficult it can be to stay home because of something you have no control over. But it can be done! Continue reading to find out what we need to do, stop doing, and how to calm our asses down when all we want to do is to run out the door!
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It is time for the healthy, #chronicallyill, elderly, young, and everyone in between to work together! #stayhome #covid19
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What a COVID19 Stay at Home Order Means
Staying home means just that, STAY HOME!
As of April 3, 2020, at least 41 states have been told to stay home. Click here for up to date information and for details of each order. While each state has varying degrees of enforcement and ideas of what is considered an essential business, they all require that residents STAY HOME!
#stayhome so that someday we can all go out and play! #covid19 #lockdown #staythefuckhome
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What You Can Leave Home For:
- Work: Essential employees who aren’t able to work from home may travel to and from work.
- Food: Everybody is allowed to go grocery shopping and grab takeout. However, it is advised that people who fall into one of the high-risk categories have their groceries delivered, use a pick-up service, or designate a friend or family member to shop for them.
- Essential needs: You may leave home to purchase other essential living products.
- Medical reasons: You may leave home for a medical appointment, to fill a prescription, or over the counter medication. States with legal cannabis should check their state order to see if dispensaries are open during this time. At the moment, cannabis dispensaries in the state of California are open for both medicinal and recreational purposes.
- Caring for a relative: Some states allow for travel to care for a family member. Check your local guidelines.
You aren’t the only one who wants out of the house! #staythefuckathome #stayhome #covid19
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Where You May Go
Outside of the reasons given above, there is no reason to leave home! With that said, you may go to the kitchen, bathroom, living room, bedroom, closet, garage, and front and backyards. All states are encouraging exercise. This doesn’t mean driving to walk the trails at your favorite park, lake, or beach. Walk or run in your neighborhood.
The only trip you should be taking is from the kitchen to your bedroom! #staythefuckathome #stayhome #covid19
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Stay at Home Does NOT Mean
A stay home order isn’t a vacation or time to enjoy a road trip with less traffic. It isn’t an excuse to party with your neighbors, even if your group total is less than 10. Nor is it time for drive-in movies or parking lot gatherings. The point of a stay home order is to keep people at home, not find alternative ways to meet in person.
At least two Southern California counties are fining or arresting people who fail to follow our stay home order. My county has taken it up another level by adding a fine or arrest for not wearing a face-covering while shopping for groceries or essentials. Do not think for a second that this won’t happen in your state or county!
Something to Think About
You are not the only one struggling with anxiety and depression right now. Trust me, we are all losing our shit one day at a time.
I have been living with chronic pain from multiple chronic illnesses for approximately 20 years. I received my first diagnosis of psoriasis in 2001. Followed by fibromyalgia and psoriatic arthritis in 2003, and endometriosis in 2004. I also suffer from damage caused by a botched hysterectomy. I tell you this not for pity, but to give you an idea of how well I understand what it is like to be stuck at home when you don’t want to be.
Be thankful that you can leave home to grocery shop. The #chronicallyill don’t always have that luxury even when there isn’t a pandemic. #stayhome #covid19 #highriskcovid19 #autoimmunedisease
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There were a few years when I only left the house four times each year! Not because I wanted to stay home, but because my chronic illnesses forced me to. I would be a liar if I said that I am okay with going long periods of being held a prisoner in my own body and home. It’s maddening, depressing, and sometimes I just want to run from it all. But I don’t, because if I did, I would hurt my family and friends.
That is why I am pleading with people to stay home. Your desire to get out and go somewhere puts others at risk. You may not care about yourself, but how would you feel if you unknowingly had coronavirus and sent it home with a friend who gave it to her high-risk child or parent? Is that really worth a scenic drive or seeing a friend in person?
My Calm Your Ass Down Tips
Feel like the walls are closing in on you? Think you can’t take another minute at home? Here are some tips to help you calm down and make it through another day!
- If your anxiety level or depression is increasing, seek help!!! Call or find a therapist. If you are contemplating or having suicidal thoughts, contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255.
- Call or video chat with a friend or family member. Talk about anything but COVID19. Share silly memories, tell jokes, or make plans for when we come out of this.
- Dream!! Use this time to create a vision board. Don’t have old magazines lying around? That’s okay, you can do one online too!
- Journal. Release your emotions through written words. Type or write them out. It will feel great to get them out and if you choose to share them, younger generations will have a real view of what it was like for you to live during a pandemic.
Tips to help calm your ass down when you think you can’t stand it another minute. #staythefuckathome #stayhome #covid19
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Do Something
- Resume or take up a new hobby.
- Play games. Board games are great for entertaining the whole family. Virtual games are awesome for playing with current and new friends at any hour of the day or night.
- Tackle a project. You’ve got a lot of time on your hands, use it to do things that you didn’t have time to do before. Facetime with a friend and have them help you decide what clothing you should ditch or hang on to.
- Get some exercise! You don’t need a gym to exercise. There are online yoga and pilates classes! My mom, who is in her 70’s, has rallied members of her exercise group to meet on Zoom to go through their gym exercise routine together! If she can do it, so can you! Other ideas are to set up an obstacle course in your backyard or to run/walk around the block. Just don’t go far and always remain six feet away from others on your path.
- Play with your pets!! They are thrilled to have you home and would be more than happy to entertain you!
Related Posts
- What COVID19 and Social Distancing have Returned to the Lives of the Chronically Ill
- How COVID-19 has Changed the Lives of the Chronically Ill
Are you struggling to relieve chronic pain from an injury or an illness such as fibromyalgia and arthritis? Here are some posts to help you find relief!
I have been cleaning my basement! I’m a pack rat so I have plenty to go through. I have been trying to keep a schedule. I get up, shower, watch the news, eat beakfast, then work in the basement. I feel like I’m getting things done. I have to take care of my Mom so I go to her house and help her. And every Sunday I watch the service on youtube. This has kept me very but at least I don’t feel stressed out. Make a schedule for what you want to get done and the time will go faster.
Keeping a schedule is an excellent tip!!! Enjoy every moment you get to spend with her. I can’t help mine because she’s in another state and it breaks my heart.
This is an awesome post with really valuable tips. It’s so important for us to follow all the rules now, so that we can all get back out at some point.
I live in England and at the moment, we’re also allowed to go out for exercise once daily. But people have been gathering in groups, so this might be cancelled – I hope not!
Ugh! It’s so frustrating. And all it takes is a few to ruin it for the rest of us. Here’s to hoping people wake up.