Meat Department, HEB – Austin, Texas

Yesterday, I finished a 2-month coverage of my Singapore trip, which I started on January 13th. A lot has happened since I started that series. Of course, I’m talking about the Coronavirus or COVID-19, a mysterious illness, back then, which I didn’t even know about in mid-January.

Part of me was hoping that this thing would blow over or stay contained in China. Obviously, it hasn’t, and I decided to briefly talk about it in a mini-series.

I made this photo on March 13th, at the HEB, a regional supermarket chain in Austin. That was the day when things became real in Austin. Schools were being shut down, and the worrying news was enough to motivate buyers to stock up. It was also like this at other grocery stores.

Since then, HEB and others have done an admirable job restocking and executing proper social distancing protocols to keep people as safe as possible. Texas Monthly wrote an excellent article on the Inside Story of How HEB planned for the Pandemic. From the looks of it, this regional chain did better planning than many governments.

My heart goes out to all that have been impacted worldwide. This is an equal opportunity virus. Rich and poor. East and West. The famous and not so famous. Prince Charles, the Prime Minister of the UK, and other world leaders have it. All are being affected. My hope is that this common enemy brings the world closer together.

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