jack healy

So I am standing outside of the Safeway supermarket in Erie, Colorado, and it is toilet paper day. There are three people standing out here in the cold around 6:30 in the morning, and I’m going to go talk to them. Hello, how are you guys?

shopper 1

Never thought in my whole life, in 63 and a half years, I’d be crawling my butt out of bed at 5:30 looking for toilet paper.

jack healy

[LAUGHS] And did you have the intel that this place got its toilet paper shipment in?

shopper 1

We were here Saturday, and one nice young lady, when Marty asked about toilet paper, said, our truck is coming Monday, and we’ll be open at 7:00 a.m.

jack healy

OK.

shopper 1

And I said, honey, guess where we’re going tomorrow morning? I’ve been rationing two squares a trip for a couple of weeks now.

shopper 2

Well, I went to Walmart —

[music]

shopper 1

The T.P. calculator on Facebook said I had three days worth, and I’m like, no, this doesn’t work for me.

jack healy

[LAUGHTER]

interposing voices

Here we go. The magic moment. Run, run.

[music]

michael barbaro

From The New York Times, I’m Michael Barbaro. This is “The Daily.” Today:

alan feuer

How are you feeling physically right now? Are people trying at all to stay away from one another? Or is that not even possible?

michael barbaro

As much of America enters its second month of lockdown to contain the coronavirus.

mike baker

So I guess, are there other patients that are there today that you are thinking about today? Is there something about them that really sticks in your mind?

michael barbaro

My colleagues speak to people in Pittsburgh, Kansas City, New York and Seattle about their new realities.

[music]

It’s Monday, April 13.

campbell robertson

Hello?

tanying dong

Hey, Campbell.

campbell robertson

Good.

tanying dong

I’m sorry. Did you say — did you ask me a question?

campbell robertson

Just saying, how are you doing?

tanying dong

Uh, you know, today was up and down. [LAUGHS]

campbell robertson

Take me around, and as we’re going, you can tell me about your day so far.

tanying dong

Let me see. Is there a way to flip up —

campbell robertson

I’m Campbell Robertson. I’m a national correspondent based in Pittsburgh. I spoke with a neighbor of mine, Tanying Dong. Well, just show me where people are stationed at the moment.

tanying dong

Oh, well, all the kids are watching TV in the basement, and I can’t really —

campbell robertson

[LAUGHS]

tanying dong

I don’t really want to deal with them right now, because they’re just, you know — they’re just them.

campbell robertson

She works in public law, and she’s been working at home for the last few weeks. Her husband works at a hospital here, so she’s basically been the lone caregiver for their three boys. They’re two, five and eight years old.

tanying dong

I don’t know. What else do you want to see?

campbell robertson

So tell me about today. How’s it going today?

tanying dong

Uh, today, uh —

tanying dong Do you want more scrambled eggs? child Oh, no!

tanying dong

It was a relatively calm morning, actually.

child [CRYING] tanying dong I’m getting your cereal, buddy. child Why? Why? Why? Why? Why?

tanying dong

Kind of a quiet morning, and then they ate, and —

tanying dong Hey. Yan? Yan?

tanying dong

I had Yan do some homework. I had the other two just watch TV.

tanying dong Before you start the TV, you got to do some homework, OK?

tanying dong

I tried to get some work done mid-morning, which I did. I finished one project. So it was fine and then —

yan [SCREAMING] No!

tanying dong

My oldest one had one major tantrum where he was just screaming, because he couldn’t find his sweatshirt.

campbell robertson

Oh.

tanying dong

It’s like his favorite sweatshirt. It turned out it was on one of the strollers outside.

yan [SCREAMING] No!

tanying dong

Why would you leave it in the stroller? It’s your sweatshirt. You’re responsible for it.

yan [SCREAMING] No!

campbell robertson

Did he have schoolwork today, your 8-year-old?

tanying dong

Yeah. So we’re on Google Classroom. I’ll show you. They post classwork here. This is math, reading, creative writing. And then apparently, they were supposed to play the Oregon Trail game, but I wasn’t able to get it to work. But at one point during his homework, he had a big mug of milk, and he spilled it all over the table.

campbell robertson

Oh no!

tanying dong

That was a lot of [EXPLETIVE] from me.

campbell robertson

[LAUGHTER]

[music]

tanying dong

There were some tantrums over division. He’s doing division now, and you know he’s still trying to grok the concept. I think he’s pretty much familiar with multiplication. I don’t know how good he is at it, but he’s been able to do it without a lot of tears. Division is still tears. So we just —

campbell robertson

It’s divisive.

tanying dong

— it’s divisive, yeah. Exactly. [LAUGHS] Yeah.

yan [SCREAMING]

tanying dong

Yeah.

campbell robertson

What’s his — I mean, he seems like a chill guy usually. I mean, am I —

tanying dong

Oh, uh, no.

yan No! What? [SCREAMING]

campbell robertson

So how were the 3 and 5-year-old today?

tanying dong

They were good. They were —

child Can you go pee-pee? [INAUDIBLE] tanying dong I can, yes. But we’re working on you right now.

tanying dong

The other two, I have been just generally letting them float along and whatever they want to do. Occasionally they’ll get sick of the TV, and they’ll want to just come upstairs and do something non-TV related, and it’s good and bad. It’s like, oh, that’s nice, you’re using your imagination. But on the other hand, it’s like, please just go watch TV and don’t destroy the house.

campbell robertson

Yeah.

tanying dong

Yeah, so the little one just likes to kind of run laps around the house, which is great, because that kind of wears him out a little bit.

child

[CRYING]

tanying dong

Or — hold on a second.

campbell robertson

Yeah.

child

[CRYING]

tanying dong

I think —

child

— milk!

tanying dong

What? What’s wrong? What?

child

[INAUDIBLE] milk.

tanying dong

You want milk? You want milk?

child

Yeah.

tanying dong

Here, I’ll get you milk. Sorry. Here you go. Want to say hi to Campbell?

child

Hi.

campbell robertson

Hi. How are you? Are you having fun?

child

I’m a baby.

campbell robertson

You’re a baby?

tanying dong

[LAUGHS] Yeah. Apparently he’s a baby again.

campbell robertson

OK. We all get there eventually.

interposing voices

[LAUGHTER]

[music]

tanying dong

I think generally, we’re settling into our routine. I mean, that first two weeks was rough, but —

campbell robertson

Why?

tanying dong

Just having a hard time accepting that, oh my god, all three of my kids are going to be home all the time, and I’m going to be pretty much by myself with them the entire time. And oh my god, how am I going to handle this? Because I haven’t had to do this in — I have never had to do this. I think by now, they’re used to being at home. They’re used to this. Whatever this is, so.

campbell robertson

Well, there’s not really a choice at this point.

tanying dong

Yep, yep. We’re all condemned to be with each other, basically. [LAUGHS]

campbell robertson

Listen, thank you, Tanying.

tanying dong

All right.

campbell robertson

Appreciate it.

tanying dong

Thanks, Campbell.

campbell robertson

Bye.

tanying dong

Bye. Take care.

campbell robertson

You too.

[car door shuts and beeps]

john eligon

Donna? Hey, it’s John.

donna danahy

Nice to meet you.

john eligon

With The New York Times. How are you doing?

donna danahy

I’m good. How are you?

john eligon

Doing well, doing well. I guess we should probably keep our distance, right? [LAUGHS] I’m John Eligon, a reporter based in Kansas City. So how are you doing? How was today for you?

donna danahy

It was good. It was actually good. I slept all day. Not all day, but I slept late, and —

john eligon

A few weeks ago, I spoke with Donna Danahy. Sleeping sometimes is a good thing, right?

donna danahy

Yeah. I needed it.

john eligon

Yeah. I can imagine. Who lost her job when the economy slowed down in the wake of the virus. So I guess, take me back to the beginning. Just tell me how you got in this position that you are in.

donna danahy

I was working at Steak ‘n Shake. I had been working there for nine months. And a couple weeks ago, they told us at midnight that night they were shutting down except for the drive-through. And my friend, which I was staying with, she went to stay with her boyfriend, which moved to Iowa. And she was going to go anyway, but she just — we lost our job, so she just went ahead and went. And that put me in my car with my cat.

john eligon

And so how long were you staying in your car for?

donna danahy

Two weeks. It’s been two weeks today, I think.

john eligon

And what was that like, being in the car?

donna danahy

It was rainy, it was cold. Some nights wasn’t so bad, but the worst thing was going to the bathroom. Because in the beginning, I could walk into, like, Walmart and go to the bathroom or the gas station. I stayed at Flying J a couple times. I parked there, and I don’t even know if they’re still offering showers, but I could pay to take a shower for $12.

john eligon

So you were going to a truck stop to shower for $12?

donna danahy

Yeah, at first I was staying there. But like today, most the bathrooms are closed. There’s just no place to go. And sometimes when I went to sleep, I just wanted to stay asleep, because I didn’t know what to do with myself. I don’t know. It was just scary. A lot of things ran through my head. I called for resources and talked to this lady. She said, well, maybe we could put you in a hotel for a day or so. And I was happy with that. She called me back and she told me that they had me a room, and I came in, and I checked in. They gave me the rules, and I’ve been here ever since. It’s awesome. It’s great to have a place to go. And my cat, just like — you should have seen her when she went into room. She was in heaven. I buy her little treats, I buy her little toys, just because she’s been through hell too. And nobody can take care of her but me, and I’m not doing a very good job. I don’t know. I leave here Friday, and I don’t know what’s going to happen. And I’m going to be back out there again, and I’m having a hard time. I’m having a hard time with that. But last week, I found a job. My friend, she worked for Cosentino’s for years.

john eligon

Supermarket?

donna danahy

Yeah. And so me and her went down there together and spoke with him. And we had to go back a couple of days later because we had talked to corporate. It took me forever to get ready. It’s hard to do in the car, especially when it’s raining. When your clothes are in your trunk, getting ready and dressed in the backseat, washing your hair out of a milk jug, water jug, brushing your teeth, trying to find something to wear out the trunk of my car. But I don’t know where my birth certificate is or my social security card. I thought that I could use my passport. My passport expired so she couldn’t accept that, but it’s just pinning my birth certificate.

john eligon

OK, gotcha.

donna danahy

And my friend that got me the job, she’s worked seven days straight right now.

john eligon

Really? Wow.

donna danahy

And so, I just see her go to work every day. I’m like, dang. I want to go. I want to go.

michael barbaro

We’ll be right back.

[music]

alan feuer

I’m Alan Feuer. I’m a reporter for The New York Times metro desk. A couple of weeks ago, I had spoken to an inmate named Foster Thompson. Foster is a 55-year-old New Yorker who was arrested and sent to prison for a murder on Staten Island in 1992. He’s been in the state prison system ever since. And recently, he’s been at Sing Sing for the last three years, where there have been, according to state officials, at least two cases of the coronavirus in the prison population. So anyhow, we’re expecting a call from Foster in the next few minutes, and he’s going to tell us about conditions in Sing Sing right now. Hello? Can you hear me, Foster?

foster thompson

Yeah. I can hear you, yup.

alan feuer

Great. So it’s Monday morning, and I just wonder if you could describe for me where you are now and what’s around you.

foster thompson

Well, right now I’m in a little phone booth room, and it’s the fourth floor in building eight.

alan feuer

Got it. Now, how long have you been in the state prison system?

foster thompson

Since ‘94.

alan feuer

How did these last couple of weeks compare to other crisis times in your time in prison?

foster thompson

People was more panicked in here. Dudes was yelling last night and a few this morning. They’re not testing nobody, but it’s corona. You know they don’t give a F about us. But yeah, last night, you had — at least it sounded like from four different areas — coughing and sneezing all night, literally all night. You know, I got asthma. I had it all my life. I also had a collapsed lung, so I worry about it all the time. I clean my cell thoroughly constantly to wipe the bars down and the gate. I wash my hands and stuff thoroughly, probably like, 50 some times a day. I mean, this is literally, seriously, not just exaggerating. Use the Dove soap and that Ajax dishwashing liquid because it does kill bacteria. That’s the best I could do. When I’m in the yard, I try to stay my distance. But when I’ve got to go to the phone, I mean, you’ve got no choice. I’ve got a couple of socks that I wash out that I use. I use the sock to cover the whole phone when I’m talking on the phone. You can’t avoid nobody here. It’s totally, totally impossible.

alan feuer

How many people have been using these phones recently?

foster thompson

The ones in the yard, everybody every day they use the phones constantly. You know, it could be 400 guys out there at a given time. And if everybody is piled up on top of each other, I mean, literally, side by side or right behind your head. You know, everybody standing up and bunch up there, waiting until they hear their name called to get on the phone.

alan feuer

Have the phone calls increased because of the decision to cut of prison visitation?

foster thompson

Yeah, most definitely. Most definitely. But they do have some bleach and water solution that they squirt on a rag, and they wiped the phones off. Every 23 guys get off, they wipe it down before the next ones get on. So they is doing that.

alan feuer

Now, you said you have washed your hands compulsively. You’re worried.

foster thompson

Yeah.

alan feuer

And yet you go out to the yard phone to use that phone. Why do those calls matter to you so much at this point, Foster?

foster thompson

Because it’s to let my wife and my kids know that I’m all right. And I can’t even express how they feel if they don’t hear from me, especially my wife and my daughters. They’d be in a panic, honestly. They need me to call. I got a need to hear from them just as much. It’s just crazy, man. I am really feeling it, man. The way it’s going in here, it just seems like it’s just a matter of time before it gets spread all through this place.

alan feuer

Well, look, Foster, we really appreciate your taking time to do this. And please stay safe. OK?

foster thompson

Yeah. Yeah, I’m trying, man. That’s number one, try to stay safe and stay healthy in this place, man.

alan feuer

Thanks, Foster. Bye.

[music]

mike baker

Is this like a normal journal for you? Or is one you’re just like —

tammy wiatrowski

No, this is a normal. You know, my dad had told me a long time ago, some of the stories that I have taking care of patients, just jot them down. It’s kind of like those old “Chicken Soup for the Soul.” You just jot down little things that took your heart or that is really special to you, or really sad or hard for you. And so I started doing that years ago — would drop down —

mike baker

I’m Mike Baker, a reporter based in Seattle. And a couple of weeks ago, I spoke to Tammy Wiatrowski, a nurse at the hospital that faced, really, the initial brunt of coronavirus cases and deaths in the United States.

tammy wiatrowski

So at the end of a night that’s hard — like an the end of a 12-hour shift — I can get my pad, get my journal, and then just sit there and kind of process stuff.

mike baker

Yeah. When the virus first hit —

tammy wiatrowski

And this hit, and it was like, [GROANS], I have this deep sinking. I just want to get this stuff out.

mike baker

Tammy began a new journal to chronicle what was happening. So I asked her to read from it.

tammy wiatrowski

OK. So this was started Friday, February 28. This was my first day of a four-day stretch as charge in our I.C.U.: That evening, we received the first two Covid-19 positive results in two of our patients, one whom had just succumbed to the virus. As the evening nurses were making their way in for their shift, our infectious disease director, Dr. Riedo (ph) came to let the staff know that the virus was here, and that we had more patients that we needed to test. I get emotional when I think about that night. We all glanced across the room with a very blank look of shock on our faces. It was very surreal. I immediately thought about my four grandsons that were supposed to have their monthly slumber party with granny in two weeks. Knowing that I would have to make that call, letting them know that I wouldn’t be able to have this month’s slumber party, or maybe even the next, that my newest little granddaughter of just a year and a half would look and act so much bigger in those next few weeks while I was unable to see her. Looking around the room at my other co-workers, I could tell they were probably thinking of their loved ones as well. Then we all nodded our head as if saying, yes. Without a word said, it was just understood. Let’s do this. The next several days and weeks at work became planned maneuvers like a well-oiled machine. The nurses and doctors working so close together to isolate and treat these patients, yet the art of nursing changed. As a nurse, I’ve always felt that if I couldn’t help save a life and that patient dies, that I could help the family through the worst day of their life, and I still would go home feeling rewarded. I might cry all the way home, or for weeks or months to come, but if I comfort the family and guide them through the process of grief, then I still feel like I’ve done something good. That I have cared, and that I’ve helped. Now with how we have to isolate these patients, we are not able to have the families be with their loved ones as they pass. They don’t get to spend the last few days of their life with them. They don’t get to hold their hand as they take their last breath. As a nurse, I can’t convey my sympathy and put my arms around them. At this point, I got mad. What can I give them? What last memory did we just change by having to protect them, both the family and the community? These changes are needed under these circumstances, but they are changing the way a nurse provides the care and compassion during this time. Now we find ways to show our care and our hearts through the phone, by telling them that we remind the patient that their family sends their love. That they called, that they checked in, and that they love them. And then later on March 20, I wrote, “My life changed.” I realized probably for the first time in my career, to help others has distanced me from the ones I love. Life is on pause. At times, I’m jealous for some of the doctors and nurses that get to go home to their families and small children. As I walk by the kids’ playroom, one of the bedrooms in my house with the bunk beds and toys and video games, it’s quiet. I don’t hear the laughs and screams as the three youngest chase each other with Nerf guns. Several times on my day off, I’ve walked by and looked into the room just to see their bunk beds empty, the pillows that say “relax” and “love,” and nobody’s little head on them. It makes me sad for a moment, but then I have to think when this is over, we’re going to have the biggest slumber party ever. And they always know granny loves them. For that, I’m grateful.

[music]

michael barbaro

We’ll be right back. Here’s what else you need to know today. A former Senate aide to Joe Biden has filed a criminal complaint over an alleged incident in which she says Biden sexually assaulted her in 1993, an allegation Biden denies. The Times reports that a friend confirmed that the former aide, Tara Reade, told her the details of the allegation at the time, and that Reade told a second friend about it in 2008. But three former Biden staff members, who Reade said she reported the incident to, said they have no memory of such conversations, and a complaint that Reade said she filed to the Senate at the time has not been found. And over the weekend, the United States surpassed Italy in the total number of confirmed deaths from the coronavirus — more than 20,000. Meanwhile in Britain, Prime Minister Boris Johnson was released from a London hospital after being treated in an intensive care unit for his infection. Finally.

archived recording (preacher) [SINGING IN LATIN] archived recording (choir) [SINGING IN LATIN]

michael barbaro

In Italy, Pope Francis led an Easter Vigil inside an almost empty St. Peter’s Basilica, calling on his followers not to succumb to fear during the pandemic.

archived recording (pope francis) [SPEAKING ITALIAN]

michael barbaro

Instead, the Pope called on Catholics around the world to be quote, “the messengers of life in a time of death.”

archived recording (preacher) (SINGING) Hallelujah. archived recording (choir) [SINGING IN LATIN]

michael barbaro