California at the time of Corona .. Silicon Valley under the ban

In California before the Corona Virus pandemic, you may need any supplies and order it through the Amazon Prime Now app to reach your home in less than two hours, and you may see a plane marching over your head in the park controlled by a child having fun, and wholesale stores provide you with enough supplies for your family for months, And wedding invitations are received electronically, but most of the interests are spent by phone or the Internet.

The movement was in the midst of crowding, as the Cupertino area where Apple is crowded with employees on their way to and from work, Mountain View crowded Google and Santa Clara employees with Intel and Microsoft.

In the same region of northern California, you find "Twitter", "Facebook", "YouTube" and "Stanford" and "Berkeley" universities .. Welcome to "Silicon Valley" before the escalation of new Corona virus cases suddenly stops him.

In Northern California, seven counties with a population of 6.7 million issued an order committing homes (shelter in place), a well-known procedure used in the event of a toxic gas leak, and it means that those in a building inside take shelter and do not leave until the ban is lifted.

In the event that the Corona virus spreads, people are required to take shelter in their homes except for necessity, while basic services remain open.

"I know this is a precedent," says Sarah Cody, San Clara County health officer in the heart of Silicon Valley.

"The announcement of school closures last Friday was difficult, and our decision is more difficult ... We must unite ... We need to do this, and we need a regional approach ... We must all do our part," Cody says.

Iman Mohamed, who is a non-practicing doctor and mother of five children and a wife of a computer engineer, said, "The biggest problem appears with children with special needs. They do not accept changing routines, and even other children do not understand the reason for their staying at home due to a disease they do not know."

Panic buying
As soon as it was announced, people were terrified, running out of paper products, detergents, antiseptics and basic commodities, and crowded stores in a way that made social spacing impossible.

To address this, the stores put an end to the permissible quantities, and the authorities stressed that there is no food shortage, while many on social media platforms warned that this behavior created a crisis that may be exacerbated by the transmission of infection to more, which hinders the work of hospitals.

In this context, California Governor Gavin Newsam said, "No one will be expelled from his home for not paying the rent", and "Water, electricity, the Internet, or gas will not be cut due to non-payment of bills."

And on hospitals, Newsam announced that within two days laboratory analyzes will be available for motorists without the person entering the laboratories, and an application will be available that informs people of the closest location to that service.

For companies upset
And the number of philanthropic initiatives is increasing from large companies. T-Mobile has sent out that the open internet service is extended to all customers, and Google announced that every worker whose work hours were cut due to the virus will be compensated.

As for Zoom, the company that provides video conferencing services, it made its free services open to all nursery and secondary classes for schools in the United States, Italy, Japan, and one of the affected areas in China.

As for Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg announced a $ 1,000 bonus per employee with a "superior" evaluation for the first six months of 2020, which could result in more additions in the future.

Working mothers
Since the first cases of HIV infection were confirmed in the region, some major companies such as Apple, Google and Intel have started to choose employees between working from home or attending. But as the number of cases increased, companies ordered employees to work from their homes.

Computer engineer at "Intel" company Marwa Saleh said in her interview with Al-Jazeera Net that "the procedures are difficult to apply, especially for working mothers ... Our children are bored and need attention, and sometimes they ask things at the time of a meeting to work, this is with the follow-up of their studies and their basic needs, and we must in all of this to We take into account mental health for everyone because I feel no difference between days. "

Al-Jazeera Net also met an Egyptian student at the University of Berkeley, who preferred not to reveal her name, she says with a sigh, "The burden has increased on us ... Our responsibility is to understand the subjectively, then solve questions, exams, and work of projects .. We are at home but we are not on vacation, so I was unable to leave everything and return To Egypt before its airports are closed ... I hope it will open early next month. "

Weddings and Corona
Although the disruption of the study is considered by many students and even some parents as good news, the Corona pandemic also closed the doors of joy.

Imad and Asma are about to get married and prepared everything for their wedding, and they received the attendance confirmation, and they agreed on the wedding cake and the wedding decorations, but the wedding hall called them to apologize for the ceremony.

Raghda, the mother of the bride, says, "I do not feel it is fair to postpone the wedding, as we do not know when this situation will end ... we are still thinking about a way."

Regarding how she felt after the wedding plan changed, Raghda said, "The biggest lesson for me is trust in God and contentment ... It is beyond our control, so what we can do is to draw a positive face and take the next step."