Raquel Thiebes, a military spouse stationed in Germany, gives us some insight into what's going on in her local community, among the novel coronavirus, officials known as COVID-19.
Over the last few weeks, we've heard from our friends in Korea as they manage to go through weeks of children at home, digital learning with their kids and avoiding large gatherings. We've seen our friends in Italy blindsided by a mandatory quarantine. And we've heard from those who are in limbo in the middle of a PCS. We've also seen visitors banned from basic training graduations and National Guard drill weekends canceled.
Here's Raquel's perspective.
As I stand in line somewhere back behind the frozen foods and the deli, I wonder about the words uttered by our garrison commander in yesterday's town hall meeting, "the supply lines have not been disrupted. We want to make sure we get things in the hands of everyone."
Well -- either this is an extraordinary payday shopping day or we are in the midst of some panic buying, which he warned us not to do. A few weeks ago it was pretty idyllic as far as making plans for the upcoming spring break and the usual things military living overseas does in our free time.
In Germany we love taking advantage of cheap budget airfare, eating the delicacies at our nearest German-fest, taking a short drive to our nearest German castle or flea market and going to kids' soccer or taking in the local high school's latest drama production.
Oh, how things can change in just a few weeks. Yesterday, after we learned of the Secretary of Defense's announcement and President Donald Trump's travel ban, my phone lit up like a Christmas tree. Within hours many units were recalling their service members -- whether they were gone for leisure travel or other purposes. Everyone needed to report back to work and we were swiftly told servicemembers could not leave Germany.
There was an immediate stop of all PCSes in and out of Germany which confused the lot of us. After those announcements, the first wave of panic buying ensued. It was fairly mild, but random soldiers did run into the commissary just to have a look see.
Our local and spouse Facebook pages are full of angst with people asking about the cancellation of schools, how to get compensation for flights and lodging for holiday travel, which stores still had toilet paper and disinfectant wipes and what to do if they get sick?
Our garrison has been working closely with our German partners and watching what is being done locally. Many larger events on post have been canceled including our beloved annual Spring Bazaar where we could buy wine from France, olive oil from Italy, cheese from Holland and antique furniture and crafts from all over Europe. Language classes have been canceled, sponsored baby playgroups are out, as are our adult and childrens' sporting events among many other events scheduled for the month of March.
I've also noticed some physical changes around our busy post. There is a big red temporary structure erected by the clinic as a kind of mobile coronavirus unit. Gate guards checking people onto post will no longer touch our ID cards but will scan and check both sides as we continue to hold them for all passengers. There are some mobile disinfecting stations set up around post. Staff are cleaning more often.
We were asked to follow the one meter rule, and we learned a new phrase called "social distancing." No hugging and shaking hands were two daily occurrences now not recommended. Extra chairs were taken out of food courts and the bowling alley to help with this. We are encouraged to have take out at the food court rather than eat in.
It was explained what we should do if we have symptoms, where to get tested and a rundown of the routine changes we should be doing as we navigate this new world of running around with disinfectant gel and wipes and looking at what the handwashing situation is wherever we happen to be.
My time in line is almost up, and I just got an alert on my phone that the German state of Baden Wuerttemberg is closing all schools and kindergartens. I'm betting that will reverberate in our military community and our garrison commander, his staff and DODEA will be burning the midnight oil as they figure out what to do with our on post schools.
Please pray for us as we pray for our family and friends back stateside.
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