Coronavirus: How Tri-Citians are reacting to the outbreak

The growing coronavirus pandemic has Tri-Citians, both at home and afar, questioning what the near future holds for them with their food supply and well-being.

People have been lining up at local grocery stores for days to stockpile food, toiletries and over-the-counter medicine in case they have to settle in for the long term.

And many have school kids who will be cooped up at home for the next six weeks during a statewide school shutdown.

Some are calling it preparedness, others describe it as unnecessary panic and hoarding.

“I’m not buying for coronavirus specifically,” said Patti Scott outside the Kennewick Winco store. “But truth is I did buy extra.”

Meanwhile, travelers are jumping on low gas prices and cheap domestic fares for a vacation elsewhere in the United States, in spite of Friday’s declaration of a national emergency.

But others who were sightseeing or on business trips abroad don’t want to be stranded in another country for the next month and are scrambling to return to the Tri-Cities.

And one Richland native with a restaurant in China shared his advice online about his quarantine experience that’s slowing the virus there.

Grocery grab

Those who thought they’d make a quick trip to the grocery stores this week were in for long lines. And the wait time got exponentially longer Friday and Saturday.

People were posting videos on social media showing shoppers and carts lined up through the aisles.

“The word of the day is conundrum,” said Robert Goldstein. “Maybe of the month.”

The Kennewick father talked to the Tri-City Herald in the parking lot of the West Clearwater Avenue store. He said his biggest concern is the schools closing for six weeks.

“The ripple effects will be felt for months, if not years,” Goldstein said.

“I don’t want us to live in the spirit of fear, but the kids are going to be home,” admitted another shopper, Tom Bingeman. “Schools are now shut down until the end of April so we’re getting a little extra this time.”

Nancy Rosas of Pasco said it’s always good to be prepared. And no matter the circumstances, she will put her kids’ needs ahead of her own.

“For now, we’re doing the best we can,” said Rosas. “The stuff I have, I’m always going to give it to my kids first.”

Managers at the Kennewick WinCo could not comment Friday on the hysteria because of corporate guidelines.

However, the WinCo website says during “these unprecedented times” some locations of the normally 24-hour store are closing between midnight and 5 a.m. so employees can clean and re-stock the shelves. It listed the affected stores.

Costco also has a corporate policy that does not allow local managers to speak with the news media.

But Tri-Cities shoppers haven’t shied away from posting pictures and videos on social media and expressing their views on the crowds at the Kennewick Costco that put infamous Black Friday crowds to shame.

Kris Battles panned the parking lot outside Costco minutes before it opened Friday morning. His 15-second video on Facebook showed at least 100 people with shopping carts just waiting — some in lines, others haphazardly — to get through the large door.

The video had 221 comments and 358 shares by early Saturday.

Earlier in the week, Kimberly Kennell posted a picture to her Facebook page that showed dozens of people inside the store waiting to check out. Almost every cart appeared to be filled with toilet paper and bottled water.

Kennell asked her fellow Tri-Citians not to be stingy, noting that health care facilities really need toilet paper, antibacterial wipes and hand sanitizer to function in helping others.

“PLEASE for others ... grab what your household NEEDS for a couple of weeks and don’t act like this is the end of the world. It’s probably not,” she wrote.

Advice from abroad

Jason Boyd, a Richland native, lives in Guangzhou, China, and owns a restaurant.

He joined the discussion Friday on Facebook’s Flatten the Curve – Tri-Cities public group to share his quarantine experience. He is now on week eight, and anticipates it could last up to three months in tlhe best-case scenario.

Boyd, who answered questions from curious and nervous Tri-Citians, was clear to point out that he does not have the novel coronavirus.

He, his wife and dog are on lockdown just like everyone else in the country. He encourages people to consider adopting a rescue dog right now because going on a daily walk has helped him “stay sane.”

Asked how he has felt through all of it, Boyd says he’s mainly bored and anxious.

“I wake up and get on the internet and read stuff all day. I try to focus on science-based info and actual doctor commentary. Anything with a dramatic soundtrack in the background should be avoided at all costs,” he wrote. “... I’ve calmed down now that it’s getting better here in China. But now that it’s hitting America I’m pretty wrapped up in it again.”

Boyd says he lives on the 21st floor of a huge apartment complex that has the population of West Richland living in it. Residents are allowed to leave but must have their temperatures checked by people in hazmat suits when they return.

The city also has started tracking metadata on cellphones, which shows where a person has been in the past month based on GPS coordinates.

People who have traveled to a “hot zone” will be flagged for further follow-up.

Boyd doubts that would ever be implemented in the United States because it “would be wildly illegal,” but said it’s the choice between liberty and safety.

Boyd said people should not rush to the grocery store right now because things will calm down, especially if a quarantine goes into place. In a week or so all of the stores will be overstocked, he said, and people will be “at home sitting on a giant pile of frozen Hot Pockets.”

It is a great time to own a grocery store, and an awful time for everyone else.

“As far as the general economy though, it’s been absolutely destroyed. I’m in the restaurant business, and I think tons of places will close,” Boyd wrote on the Facebook post.

“We are trying to weather the storm, and there’s already light at the end of the tunnel. Everyone in the city is stir-crazy and wants to go out and eat Dim Sum,” he added.

“So when things fully re-open there will be a lot of good business happening. But any business that doesn’t have the capital to survive a month or two with zero revenue will probably close.”

Boyd says it boggles his mind that Americans are not wearing masks in public.

Masks help prevent the virus from spreading from sick people, he said, and also protects those working in the public sector who don’t know if the random customer in front of them is sick.

“One of the first things we worked on (in his restaurant) was making sure we had masks and hand sanitizer to protect our employees and to ensure the public that it’s safe to enter our business,” Boyd wrote. “People are not going to buy food at a place where the servers are breathing on their food.”

But he also acknowledged that in Asia, it is a part of the culture and people get mad if you don’t wear masks, while people in the United States seem to get mad if you wear one.

China also is still rationing out basic face masks at 10-a-week per person at “super-low costs.”

“Things are getting better here in China, but that’s only because we put in absolutely draconian measures across the whole country and sacrificed the economy for the health of the people,” said Boyd. “I’m concerned the almighty dollar might be too important in America. I worry America will be purely reactionary and won’t make any real change until the hospitals are overwhelmed. Hopefully I’m wrong.”

Pasco’s former mayor Matt Watkins embarked on a two-year global adventure at the end of 2019.

He has been keeping people up-to-date on his movements on his blog: “Matt’s World Expedition — Wanderlust ... with a Towel.”

Most recently he has been in Vietnam. But Watkins, a motorcycle rider, took to the same Facebook group as Boyd to talk about the “looming crisis” and efforts back home to champion the COVID-19 problem.

Watkins said he remains “connected to the Tri-Cities far more than I expected with social media,” has family and friends he worries about and is an international citizen finding his way through this global epidemic.

“Notwithstanding the muddled federal response to date, I’m heartened to see a state, local and grass-roots response doing their level-best to fill the gaps,” he wrote. “And please keep working forward, sticking to the science, seeking out advice to those that are experts, compassionately correct or help those off course ...”

Watkins also asked readers to be patient with the Benton-Franklin Health District, which has been “hammered financially and culturally for decades.”

“They are one of your biggest allies ... please be kind to them,” he added. “We all as humans on Earth have a big challenge still in front of us to help each other. I’m in! And I’m glad to see all you there too!”

This story was originally published March 14, 2020 at 11:57 AM.