I feel pretty confident not being alone in noticing a change in people's attitudes here in Virginia about 2 weeks ago, so about April 20th. Suddenly it was as if everyone had really had enough of not seeing other people due to COVID-19 restrictions. It wasn't that everyone was unconcerned about contracting it, rather, folks started to feel like the gamble was becoming necessary. Traffic increased and people started to get creative with getting together from a safe distance without breaking the law.
Virginia shut down gatherings of more than 10 people March 17th and gave law officials the ability to enforce that; March 23rd the non-essential businesses closed and on March 30th a stay-at-home order was issued. There was no where to go other than a handful of places so people were staying in mostly anyway before the March 30th order (see how busy the governor has been here).
During this time the Governor has made it easier to have an abortion (April 10), has tightened gun control laws (April 10), has 'dramatically decreased the jail population' by reintroducing low level criminals into society en masse (April 17th), and has made Virginia the first southern state to offer LGBTQ people protections with jobs, housing etc. April 11th. (I can't see why God wouldn't ease up on our suffering here...)
Apparently 6 weeks of not being around others, 4 of those which had everyone basically house bound, was the tipping point. The occasional naysayer of anything communal will still spout off on Stafford Talk (Facebook) about how EVERYONE needs to STAY HOME forever and ever if they care at all about their fellow man, some going so far as to say health services should be denied to people who go around others and contract it (guess the initial love motivating those folks can die out pretty fast). Some people have trouble realizing how devastating this shut down is economically on their fellow citizens and our nation as a whole.
The economic impact of COVID-19 is why I think China lied to the world and kept this virus quiet in December, January and February as much as they could. I think it is why the doctor there who started to talk about letting people know this virus was dangerous suddenly contracted COVID and died even though in his age bracket he should have recovered. I believe China shut down internet searches about COVID to ensure it would spread to other nations, specifically America, so they would not be the only nation suffering so much from the virus. You've probably heard these thoughts from others; they didn't originate with me but I agree with them.
I can tell you, my memories of why I used to try to avoid buying things "Made in China" have resurfaced, albeit 25 years after their initial birth after too long of an absence. I'm reminded afresh of what Communists leaders have done in the past with propaganda and lying (Potemkin villages anyone?). We have been lulled to sleep as our schools and universities fail to teach true history and have been concerned only with the cheapest products we can find (Do you know secular colleges do not even have traditional US History courses anymore? You'll discover this if your student takes a bonafide US History course at a Christian college and seeks to transfer it to a public university--there is no direct transfer. Public universities no longer teach traditional art history classes either like someone would have had 20+ yrs ago...the prowess of our nation and Western civilizations is heavily downplayed now...)
Anyway, I can tell you that not only is there a change in our being able to continue not being with friends, I hear it in many conversations from those who have not had the opportunity to leave for anything other than the grocery store, which I think we all agree stopped being fun some time ago. Fifty-one days of essentially being on your own property is a long time. There is only so much yard work and home repairs that can be done (we've done PLENTY and hired out numerous jobs during these weeks...how nice to have strangers here hammering or soldering...fresh people!)
At first this forced COVID rest was a relief for some people; many of us were wore out with all the running, all the time. Some people didn't realize it until a few weeks in...they found they liked less obligation out of the house. Some people will never tire of being home with nothing to do. For those who needed a break, we've now had time to recover, tackle long-standing work that needed doing or which we wanted to do. Things are clean...really clean. The one thing that hasn't been made right, whether you are tired of being home or could do it forever though, is worship. Live streaming does not count as church; we need to be with other believers. God tells us to be; we are not to forsake the assembling of ourselves together. He outlines the purpose of the church and the roles within the church. There are gifts God gives us that are to be exercised within the church body. And these restrictions are preventing the church from operating as God has ordained. Church isn't optional for the believer--we are to be members of a church, accountable to one another, and under the authority of the church leadership.
So Virginia is gradually starting back up May 15th officially, but churches are still closed at this point until who knows when...It is doubtful June 10th will mean we can resume as usual given the 2-3 weeks for each of the 3 re-opening phases. Let's hope we can phase in something though, before June 10th.
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