With coronavirus shutting down schools, churches libraries and gatherings over 25, its impact on everyday life has been substantial. On the afternoon of Sunday, March 15, Sippican Week spoke with a few Tri-Town residents to see how the change was impacting their lives. 

“It’s a scary thing,” said Ed Martin of Rochester said on Sunday afternoon.

At age 77, he’s nervous about what’s going to happen, especially for his wife who deals with asthma. 

Nancy Kubik of Mattapoisett, she believes that she’s as susceptible as a normal person, even at 80. 

She is tired of seeing the molecular image of the coronavirus, because it isn’t a recognizable threat. Knowing what it looks like under a microscope won’t stop her from unwittingly interacting with carriers. 

For Molly Nevens of Rochester, taking care of her family members who are over 60 years old is important.

She has two children ages three and 16 months, and will have to limit their visits to see their grandparents and instead opt for video calls. 

When she dropped her three-year-old son at Rochester Memorial Daycare Center on March 13, she said that there were noticeably less kids that day, which for her, “makes you question yourself when people are doing more around us” like keeping their children home from school.

Nevens works part-time while her husband, Justin works full-time, so taking care of her children is possible. 

While she regularly works out at the YMCA, she said that she will switch to online workout videos and walking out of a precaution.

For some entrepreneurs, the virus will impact their business.

Sue Shannon of Marion secured a vendor booth at the Boston Marathon for the iceless spandex compression wrap called IceeNOW that she invented.

The marathon was supposed to be her big event for the year, but now it has to wait until October because the race date has moved.

Shannon’s daughter, Ella, plays on a travel club soccer team and training has been postponed until April 15. A tournament that was scheduled for the March 6 weekend was cancelled.

Since she works from home, Shannon is trying to adjust her family to self-distancing by putting them on a schedule.

She creates structure by having a real breakfast, reading, having her children take online classes and keeping active in the yard.

Shannon said that “if everyone could treat this like a blizzard for two weeks and stay home,” the community could prevent the virus.