It has been 15 days since the beginning of the shelter-in-place mandate for Sonoma County residents. On Tuesday, March 17, Sonoma county ordered all of its residents to remain indoors, with the rest of California following on Thursday, March 19. Since then, Seawolves and other Californians have been doing the best they can to flatten the curve by practicing social distancing and remaining indoors. 

According to an article posted by the Mercury News, California state Governor, Gavin Newsom, states that the shelter-in-place will remain “until further notice.” With experts uncertain of how long the shelter-in-place will last, it’s time for people to get creative when it comes to keeping busy and staying sane. Thankfully, our world is adapting to the situation at hand and there are plenty of resources available. 

For example, you can take a free virtual tour of a museum. According to Fast Company, Google Arts & Culture has partnered with over 2,500 museums and galleries around the world to offer virtual tours. It’s the same idea as google street view, but it allows people to go inside some of the world’s most esteemed museums. Just a few of the museums offered are Amsterdam’s Van Gogh Museum, London’s National Gallery, and the Whitney Museum of American Art. To narrow down some of the choices, google provided a list of the top ten virtual museums that can be found at: https://artsandculture.google.com/story/igKSKBBnEBSGKg?hl=en 

For any bookworms out there, it is now possible to access 1.4 million books for free through the Internet Archive. Thanks to the National Emergency Library, waitlists for books that are not already open to the public have been eliminated until June 30. “To address our unprecedented global and immediate need for access to reading and research materials, as of today, March 24, 2020, the Internet Archive will suspend waitlists for the 1.4 million (and growing) books in our lending library,” stated by the Internet Archive Blog. A link to the National Emergency Library can be found at: https://archive.org/details/nationalemergencylibrary. 

Catch a live show from artists that are streaming on Twitch Stream Aid 2020. With all the cancellations of events, artists across all genres are doing their part amidst the shelter in place. Empire of the Sun, John Legend, Kaskade, All Time Low, Cage the Elephant and many more are streaming soon! A full list of the lineup can be found at: https://streamaid.twitch.tv/#schedule 

For those who get their fix from learning, Ivy League schools have offered 450 free courses online. These courses come from some of the most prestigious colleges in America, including: Brown, Harvard, Cornell, Princeton, Dartmouth, Yale, Columbia universities, and the University of Pennsylvania. Courses offered cover a wide variety of topics including Computer Science, Data Science, Programming, Humanities Business Art & Design, Science, Social Sciences, Health & Medicine, Engineering Mathematics, Education & Teaching and Personal Development. Some of these classes even offer certifications for a fee that is a fraction of what students pay for classes at Sonoma State University. A list of the courses offered can be found at: https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/ivy-league-free-online-courses-a0d7ae675869/ 

For those who might be tired of being on their computer, there are still a few things left to do that also help support your community. Order some takeout from a local restaurant, or shop for essentials at a small business. Lots of small businesses are hurting at the moment. It is even recommended by economists to buy gift cards from small businesses that can be used in the future. 

If all else fails, those who are willing can help their community by donating blood to the Red Cross. A message from the Red Cross, posted on their website reads: “With thousands of blood drives cancelled during the COVID-19 pandemic, we are working hard to open new donation sites…The need for blood is constant – patients need your help.” For more information visit: https://www.redcross.org/.

In such unprecedented times, it’s vital to follow experts’ advice. With a shelter-in-place that may possibly last a substantial amount of time, it’s time for people to think in ways they previously might not have while keeping their health, sanity, and community in mind.