Coronavirus Diary: Squeezed Slowly to Stop the Pandemic

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The restrictions gradually grew tighter. One week you could hike on the Shelf Trail along the ridge of town in Ojai, California. The next week you could still hike but a big sign at the entrance to the trail warned you to “social distance.” Then the following week the road was closed and you couldn’t hike anymore.

Same for the beaches. As the county of Los Angeles and the state of California shut down within hours of each other one Thursday last month, the beaches were still a place to escape, walk, breathe the air, stare at the vast ocean. Then one day the beaches were off limits too, blocked by yellow crime tape.

Same for grocery stores and restaurants, this gradual tightening of daily life. First, they limited restaurant seating. Then they closed restaurants entirely. You could order food for pickup but after a week or two most restaurants couldn’t deal with the loss in customers and just shut their doors altogether.

Also Read: Millions of People Get Coronavirus Updates From Fox News - This Lawsuit Says the Network Gave Them False Information

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Life as we knew it went away. Grocery stores were still open — obviously people had to eat. But then grocery stores — Trader Joe’s first, then Whole Foods, then Von’s and Pavilion — started limiting the number of patrons allowed inside. You’d stand outside in a line — six feet apart — waiting for your turn to buy lettuce and milk.

But not toilet paper. Toilet paper was mysteriously unavailable. Vast shelving in big-box stores just — empty. Maybe you’d get lucky and find a roll, one per customer. And then you disinfected your cart with an antiseptic wipe, having enjoyed your single social experience of the day.

It was like choking slowly, to stop the pandemic — a virus that attacked the lungs and mercilessly choked its victims. But the uninfected were being squeezed too – coming slowly, then with the sudden force of a noose. And then it tightened some more.

Three weeks into the great California shutdown, with the virus not yet at its peak and testing still difficult to get, we sat powerless, our individual rights sucked up into the greater good with no sign of an end. L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti told us to sit still, Gov. Gavin Newsom told us to sit still, President Trump mostly just went on television and spewed nonsense.

So we sat still with no real information, and thus no end in sight.

Spring was everywhere, the outrageous explosion of nature taunting everyone with wildflowers and the incessant chirping of birds. The mountains of Santa Monica were never greener or more inviting to explore. The blue Pacific Ocean roared and rolled its invitation to bid farewell to winter, all for naught — except in Malibu, where surfers defied the rules as expected.

Also Read: Celebrities Who Have Died From the Coronavirus (Photos)

For the first two weeks, social media — normally a cesspool of trolling and self-promotion — suddenly turned into a warm bath of compassion. Neighbors, previously strangers, reached out to one another. Long-lost friends and family reconnected. Divorced couples reconciled for the time it took to figure out child care and home schooling.

There was love and discovery, all virtual. (Even dating.) And there was time, suddenly, for all the things you were supposed to take time for and never did when life was normal. There was an outpouring of remembering what really mattered.

For a while. But then cabin fever set in and human nature returned to its nasty, brutish self. For one thing, people’s minds wandered and as isolation set in, so did paranoia (justified, not justified, whatever). So the person who dared not to wear a face mask in public drew sneers and insults. If you stepped outside the lines of staying-at-home orthodoxy, the social media scolds were there to put you (back) in your place.

Groupthink combined with fear made for a newly toxic combination and mocking the president went from sport to science. The power of social media was that much more intensified since there was almost no human interaction to soften the digital blow.

And people started running out of money. Quiet desperation became a reality. Uncertainty reigned. Government checks were supposed to come in the mail but who the hell knew if or when they might arrive?

Many of us were lucky enough to be born into the richest country in the history of the world, the most advanced, most free, most innovative, most diverse, most sophisticated in every way.

In the age of this pandemic, it didn’t seem to matter much.

Celebrities Who Have Died From the Coronavirus (Photos)

The world continues to be upended by the coronavirus pandemic, with more people contracting COVID-19 as the days pass. While many have recovered, some have died from complications of the illness. These are the names of some notable figures from Hollywood and the media that we have lost.
Terrence McNally, a four-time Tony Award-winning playwright, died on March 24 at the age of 81 of complications from the coronavirus. His works included "Master Class," "Love! Valour! Compassion!" and "Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune," which later became a film with Michelle Pfeiffer and Al Pacino.
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Italian actress Lucia Bosè, who starred in such films as Michelangelo Antonioni’s "Story of a Love Affair" (1950) and Juan Antonio Bardem’s "Death of a Cyclist" (1955), died on March 23 of pneumonia after contracting COVID-19, according to the Guardian. She was 89.
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Chef Floyd Cardoz, winner of "Top Chef Masters" Season 3, died at the age of 59 of coronavirus complications on March 25.
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Mark Blum, who starred in "Desperately Seeking Susan," "Crocodile Dundee" and the Lifetime/Netflix series "You," died on March 26 of coronavirus complications. The veteran character actor and regular on New York City stages was 69.
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Maria Mercader, a CBS News veteran who worked for over 30 years as a reporter and talent director, died March 29 after testing positive for coronavirus. She was 54.
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Grammy-winning country music singer Joe Diffie died March 29 due to complications from the coronavirus. He announced his diagnosis just two days prior.
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American rock musician Alan Merrill, best known for co-writing and recording the original version of "I Love Rock 'n' Roll," died March 29 of complications from the coronavirus. He was 69.
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Popular Japanese comedian Ken Shimura, whose career spanned decades, died March 29 due to complications from the coronavirus. He was 70.
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Andrew Jack, a dialect coach who most recently was hired to work with Robert Pattinson on the new Batman movie, died March 31 of complications from coronavirus, TMZ reports. He also appeared in "Star Wars: Episode VII" as a member of Leia's resistance. Jack was 76.
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Adam Schlesinger, Fountains of Wayne singer and "Crazy Ex-Girlfriend" contribute, died at the age of 52 from coronavirus complications on April 1.
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Ellis Marsalis Jr., New Orleans jazz legend and father of Wynton and Branford Marsalis, died at 85 from COVID-19 complications, Branford said. "Ellis Marsalis was a legend. He was the prototype of what we mean when we talk about New Orleans jazz... He was a teacher, a father, and an icon — and words aren’t sufficient to describe the art, the joy and the wonder he showed the world," New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell said also.
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Eddie Large, one-half of the comedy duo Little and Large, died April 2 after contracting coronavirus while hospitalized for heart failure. He was 78.
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Sergio Rossi, the Italian shoe designer, died at age 84 after being hospitalized with the virus, the brand confirmed in an Instagram post Friday.
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Patricia Bosworth, a stage and screen actress turned journalist who penned celebrity biographies, died April 2 from complications of the coronavirus. She was 86.
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Tom Dempsey, New Orleans Saints legendary kicker who was born without toes on his right foot and wore a flat shoe that he kicked with, died on April 4 from complications of COVID-19.
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John Prine, one of the most influential and revered folk and country songwriters of the last 50 years, died on April 6 at the age of 73 after being infected with the COVID-19 virus.
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Allen Garfield, who appeared in such films as “The Conversation,” “Nashville” and “Irreconcilable Differences,” died April 7 due to coronavirus complications, according to his sister. He was 80.
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Charles Gregory, an Emmy-nominated hairstylist who frequently collaborated with Tyler Perry on his films and TV shows, died of complications from COVID-19 on April 8.
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Hilary Heath, an actress and producer who starred opposite Vincent Price in horror movies in the late 1960s and early '70s, died in April of COVID-19 complications. She was 74.
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Rick May, a voice actor best known to gamers as the husky-throated Soldier in Team Fortress 2, died in Swedish nursing home on April 13 after contracting COVID-19. He was 79.
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Allen Daviau, a 5-time Oscar-nominated cinematographer, died April 15 at age 77. He frequently collaborated with Steven Spielberg, and worked on such films as "E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial" and "The Color Purple"
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Henry Grimes, celebrated jazz bassist, died on April 15 at age 84, according to WGBO. He worked with such legends as Thelonius Monk, Charles Mingus and Sonny Rollins.
"Knight Rider" and "Magnum P.I." producer Joel Rogosin died of coronavirus at the MPTF nursing home. He became the fifth person to die from COVID-19 complications at the facility.
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Rapper Fred the Godson died after contracting coronavirus, a representative confirmed to Complex. He wrote on social media of his diagnosis on April 6, but he did not recover.
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Art director Matteo De Cosmo, who worked on films including "Emergence," "The Punisher" and "Luke Cage," died of coronavirus complications. He was 52.
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Roy Horn, best known as half of the legendary Siegfried & Roy magic and animal act in Las Vegas, died on May 8 from complications due to coronavirus.
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Legendary Auburn football coach Pat Dye died on June 1 after combating COVID-19 and other medical conditions. He was 80.
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Chris Trousdale, a member of the boy band Dream Street, died of coronavirus complications on June 2. He was 34.
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Broadway star Nick Cordero passed away on July 5 due to complications from coronavirus. He was 41.
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Herman Cain, the former CEO of Godfather's Pizza who sought the Republican nomination for president in 2012, died July 30 from complications of the coronavirus. He was 74. He was hospitalized in Atlanta just days after attending a campaign rally for Donald Trump in Tulsa, Oklahoma, where he was seen without a mask.
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Trini Lopez, the singer of "If I Had a Hammer" and an actor in "The Dirty Dozen," died on Aug. 11 from COVID-19. He was 83.
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Tom Seaver, Hall of Fame baseball pitcher, died on Aug. 31 in his sleep of complications of Lewy body dementia and COVID-19.
Harold Budd, ambient musician and composer for several Hollywood films, died from complications of the coronavirus, his manager said Dec. 8. The Brian Eno and Cocteau Twins collaborator was 84 years old.
Carol Sutton, actress who has starred on HBO’s “Lovecraft County” and OWN’s “Queen Sugar" and appeared in such films as "Monster's Ball," "Ray" and "The Help," died of complications of COVID-19 on Dec. 10. She was 76.
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Charley Pride, one of the first Black performers to break through in the country music scene, died of complications from COVID-19 on Dec. 12, just weeks after his final performance at the CMA Awards show back in November. He was 86.
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Grammy-winning country singer K.T. Oslin, died Dec. 21. Although her cause of death was not immediately known, a friend told the Associated Press that she had been diagnosed with COVID-19. She was 78.
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Linda Torres, known as Angela Raiola's friend on VH1's reality series "Big Ang" and "Mob Wives," died of COVID-19 on April 1, 2021, following breast cancer surgery. She was 67.
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While many celebrities who contracted COVID-19 have recovered, some have died from complications of the illness

The world continues to be upended by the coronavirus pandemic, with more people contracting COVID-19 as the days pass. While many have recovered, some have died from complications of the illness. These are the names of some notable figures from Hollywood and the media that we have lost.

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