So, a quick report from the field here in Ostrava.

Tuesday, the government announced further restrictions; namely, supermarkets and all shops will be closed on Sundays in order to maximize social distancing and all shops must close by 20:00 local time as well. Today, I walked down to my local Albert supermarket to pick up a couple things.

It was absolutely wall-to-wall packed with shoppers. Normally, on a Thursday morning (around 11:00 CET) it’d be pretty much dead with only a handful of shoppers. Picked up what I needed and out of curiosity, walked up to Hruška, another supermarket close to my home. It too was packed, and like Albert, normally it’d be pretty quiet this time of day.

Unfortunately, this is what I figured was going to happen. People are now out and about in larger-than-normal numbers and they’re packing the supermarkets to get what they need before everything closes on Sunday. While the measure was well-intended, it’s likely going to end up being counter-productive and achieving the polar opposite of what it was intended to do.

Tomorrow, I’m going to run out to my local Tesco hypermarket and I suspect that’s going to be an absolute freakin’ zoo. I’m lucky that my work schedule allows me to stay home and chill out on the weekends - but a lot of other people don’t have the luxury.