The Indian government has extended the lockdown till May 3, 2020 which was supposed to be ended on April 14, 2020. This major step has been taken to break the chain of actively increasing cases of Corona. There are few sectors like agriculture, farming that have been given a relaxation to function smoothly by following some protocols. The pandemic has affected the economic system globally which needs to keep stable. If not maintained the economic sector, it could bring the situation of global recession. To keep such points in mind, government is expecting to end the lockdown on May 3, which would be followed with safety measures. “Precaution is better than cure” would be a healthy mantra to overcome the crisis. Being a responsible citizen it is our responsibility to cooperate the government. There are some post lockdown safety measures that needs to be followed strictly at workplaces.

1.Maintain Social Distancing

Shutting down of business and workplaces has to face a major challenge in the coming days to overcome the losses due to Corona Pandemic. Now, all these industries are expected to come in force from May 3but we still have to go far to defeat the crisis. Social distancing will be maintained properly as a major precaution. The sitting arrangements for staffs and colleagues will be maintained at one meter of distance. The working schedule should be fixed on alternate basis. Staffs and employees are strictly instructed not to share lunch and food items amongst each other. Keep your food and drink bags separate and eat your lunch separately. Ensure work from home module as far as possible.

2.Avoid Social Gathering

Gathering is obvious at workplaces, especially at the giant industries. Meetings, seminars and conferences should be held online. If the workplaces are conducting one to one meetings, involve limited number of staffs at the places. Any corporate events and functions should strictly be prohibited. To avail, the facilities of cafeteria at workplaces try to keep limited gathering at one time.

3.Regular Sanitization and cleanliness

Workplaces are sanitized regularly in full-fledged manner for safety purposes. Taking care of cleanliness and maintaining a healthy environment, workplaces are cleaned regularly. Apart from that, employees are also advised to keep sanitizer in their bags before leaving for the work. Keep extra pair of clothes in your bags to work in the offices. Workplaces are need to be flexible in terms of clothing in this situation.

4.Pre-health checkups of employees

Workplaces are firmly instructed to check the health status of the employees before asking them to join the office. Unfit employees will not be allowed to come to the office. They will be asked to work from home with properly taking care of their health as well. The employees who will be coming to the workplaces are also required for regular health checkups via Arogya Setu App. Wearing mask is compulsory outside.

5.Transportation facilities to the Employees

Employees should be provided the company’s private transportation facilities to avoid the public transportation at least for a month. The employees and workers whose presence is important at workplaces and are not having their personal vehicles must be provided the company’s transportation facilities. Those who own their personal vehicle should use this to attend the office. Improvisation in economy is necessary to maintain the economic balance of the nation. There are numerous sectors that could create a major loss if closed for longer. Government has taken the initiative to active the business sectors with some preventing measures that need to be followed suitably. The global crisis corona has brought the entire world on the same floor, and we are continuously struggling to kill the virus from root. The day is not too far when our unity and dedication will defeat this virus.

                 #WorkSafely #StaySafely # TravelSafely

suspicious eyes, smiles masked

personal space means sickness or health

distance is more than social

wash hands, don’t touch face

routines abandoned, purpose questioned,

risky shopping, empty shelves

don’t touch face, sanitize hands

and every day seems like Sunday

an overwhelming weariness

dogged determination meets eroding resolve

anomalies challenge trust

nerves fray, attitudes morph

and every day seems like a tedious Sunday

like a Sunday without worship, without rest

muffled laughter, muted joy, singing hushed

vacant pews, parks empty

every day, even on Sunday

stores line up, traffic doesn’t

streets are safe, shopping isn’t

distance is more than social, hands and face

every day, every day

suggestions become warnings, warnings become rules, rules become law,

parks patrolled, fines levied

smiles concealed, distance challenged,

empty streets, risky parks,

and every day seems longer and like Sunday

weariness becomes restlessness

grocery workers, our new heroes

revered for doing their job

healthcare workers, our new gods

worshipped for their career choice

warnings, rules, laws, gods, heroes, leaders,

and every day longer lines

masks, distance, suspicion, risk, emptiness, challenges

trust undermined by anomalies, confidence eroded

and every day is long and longer, interminable

and seems like Sunday

How is everyone doing?

I hope everyone is having a nice Saturday.

I am airing out my house right now (I like do that every couple of months) and doing laundry. I am also ignoring Junior as she pads around under my chair trying to get me to pet her.

My friend came over with her little girls and they played on the lawn while we all stayed 6 feet away from each other. They dropped off a puzzle which is for "readers." I love it. I can't wait to get started on that.

I am really missing hiking right now, but since Northern VA has closed all of the parks and keeps giving out warnings because people don't understand social distancing rules and also leave garbage and park on people's property, I think the police are finally issuing fines.

It's a warm Saturday here in Alexandria and I will go for a walk around my neighborhood later. And finish up my books. 

I hope everyone is okay!

I am feeling much better and think the 72 hours I was on forced isolation last weekend definitely helped with things. 

My job is busier than ever. I’ve had to actually set up a home office instead of just plopping myself on the couch like I usually do during telework days. All praise the IT guys who helped me figure out what equipment was compatible with my work laptop.

Next up is replacing my grandmothers bedroom bench with an office chair. I ordered a cushion from purple to help with my stiffness and back for now, but I really need a chair to support my back. I’ve managed to narrow it down to three choices and will probably end up ordering one by next week.  

I feel very lucky I don’t need groceries or any supplies. Since I know a lot of people are having issues finding food I promised myself to only go shopping for essentials every three weeks. I have a huge pantry so I made sure that was fully stocked. 

I have been doing virtual workouts via my gym and it’s actually been fun and working. I have group chats going with my gym buddies so we let each other know what sessions were going to participate in. The only fly in the ointment is I had to buy equipment for use at home. And there seems to be some ridiculous price gouging going on with weights right now so I just bought a step package that included dumbbells and some yoga blocks and strap for a virtual yoga class that I joined that will start in the next week. 

How are you all coping? What changes have you made to your daily routine or homes?

... Part 1.

It started last weekend when I resolved to finally catch up with a few overdue tasks, which -- go figure -- suddenly also restored at least a semblance of order to my office.  (A colleague with whom I'm working very closely, and who is just about the only person permitted to get away with this sort of comment, had recently -- before "social distancing", of course -- wondered aloud, "What happened here?  This used to be an office once ...")

Part of the decluttering of my office involved finally inventing shelf space for all of last (and this) year's, as-yet unshelved books, a large number of which had taken residence stacked up on my office floor -- which in turn, eventually, also went a fair way towards decluttering my living room, where yet-to-be-shelved books had started taking up more and more space in the same manner.  In furtherance of their shelving, a while back I had decided to finally tumble to creating a TBR cart: something I'd so far resisted, because there's no place in my home where it can have a permanent space, so whenever it's not actively being consulted, it will have to live wherever it is least in the way at any given time.  But as a temporary expedient, and to whittle things down to a selection of those books I really do want to get to sooner rather than later, it may end up serving very well ... and at least, we're off to an excellent start in that very direction.

As per usual, "decluttering" actually started with yet more clutter, when I piled up all my stacks of unshelved books on my living room floor to then sort them by "audiobook / print edition", "read / TBR", genre, etc., in preparation of actually shelving them.

(For the record, this is obviously NOT the way these books had been stored up to then.  In fact, this is a sight so horrible to my eyes that it's the fastest and best motivator to get me to find proper shelving for my as-yet unshelved books as quickly as possible.)

I decided that in an effort to further prioritize my selection, I would stack my new TBR cart with:

* A few "comfort watching" DVDs;

* Audiobooks yet to be listened to (regardless whether I've already read the books in question or not); and

* Print editions of TBR books that I do not also have as audobooks.  Mostly these are books newly acquired in 2019 / early 2020, but I ended up going back to my shelves and pulling a few books from there as well.

And hooray, this way I actually managed to find / create shelf space for all those books not going into the TBR cart, and to stack my cart with a selection of books I'm truly looking forward to reading soon!

Now onwards and upwards to the rest of my apartment ... (ah, the things that social distancing makes us do at last!)