EDITOR'S NOTE: For privacy and other reasons, at the interview subject's request, we have removed their last name. (April 13, 2021)

MANHATTAN BEACH, Calif. — Kodi chose Trader Joe’s in Manhattan Beach to buy enough food to last two weeks just in case she needs to quarantine herself.

She recently changed careers to become a freelance writer. It’s work she loves, but it doesn’t come with insurance. At the same time she’s living with an incurable blood condition.

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This means if Kodi gets sick it could be devastating.

“I have had thoughts that are just like looming, but overall I’ve been really trying to practice healthy management of that stress and anxiety,” she said.

Inside the Manhattan Beach Trader Joe’s, the line for the register hits the back wall. The aisles are so tight it’s impossible to stay six feet away from others like the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends.

Some shelves have been picked clean.

There are some free preventative tools available like sanitizing wet wipes near the entrance.

Instead of chaos and panic, Haynes finds help from strangers while shopping. A man who was waiting in line offered to watch her cart while she picked up something in produce.

“I appreciate people just being human in this time and being compassionate and empathetic to others because we’re all just doing the best we can,” Kodi said.

She has been on a canceling streak—parties and trips have all been postponed.

You can’t put off eating though.

COVID-19 has been officially declared a pandemic, the World Health Organization announced Wednesday.