Thanks to everyone who responded. To those of you who are shut-in by health or living in the midst of a government imposed lock down, I hope that a lively set of discussions on this forum can help make life a little more stimulating.
Being shut-in is probably a 12th house phenomenon.
My situation is that I live in a rural area. My PO box is for a small unincorporated community. The nearest town has about 5,000 people, with more like 15,000 in the valley as a whole. It's about 1.5 hours drive either east or west to a bigger town, and then one of them requires a journey over a high mountain pass, which can close in the event of a heavy snowstorm. We're not so far from the US border to the south, but this border is soon to close to all non-essential traffic. Not much north of us for a very long distance.
No COVID-19 cases in our community so far, although I doubt that we'll be spared. It would take only one infected person from another area passing through or returning home, to set up a chain reaction.
We are something of a retirement community, and the elderly are a high-risk population. We have one small local hospital and doctors who are mostly in family practice with ER qualifications. Anyone who was seriously sick (and not in hospice) would probably be airlifted to a bigger medical center. So while isolation probably offers short-term protection, we don't have the medical support services of a city.
When this is feasible, local doctors are now consulting with patients by phone, vs. office visits. As precautions, a lot of social gathering places like the library and senior center have closed.
Yes, the Great Toilet Paper Shortage of 2020 has hit our 2 supermarkets, as well. Along with shortages of flour. (People bake here.) While there is an active local food movement here, I heard from a local farmer/market grower the other day. (I'm on her customer list.) She expressed frustration that she's getting a lot of calls now for their eggs and meat. Which is good for her business in a way, but it shouldn't take a national emergency for people to consider buying natural locally grown products.
So in one way, if you're in a rural area with a local food culture and gardening capability that's good. On the other hand, a lot of goods are trucked in from afar, and they can't bring in goods that are unavailable at the urban distributors'.
Rural people are not disconnected from the greater society. My son and family live in the US. They are keeping their little son home from preschool, which is playing havoc with their work-from-home arrangements, as demanding work must still be done, regardless of a toddler underfoot. Normally I would offer to babysit but the US/Canada border is closing to all non-essential travel, and I probably stand some risk of picking up the virus and transmitting it. (My son is an asthma sufferer.)
I don't know what is the astrological explanation. My sense is that it has to do with Saturn and Pluto's long sojourn in Capricorn, but in and of itself, that doesn't seem like an adequate explanation.
Anybody?
Please stay well, everyone.