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With rising COVID-19 infections and deaths worldwide, people are taking extra precautions to avoid the disease.
Among these was a couple from Oregon, United States who feared entering a grocery store even if they needed food and supplies.
Rebecca Mehra, a professional runner, recalled her encounter with them in a Twitter thread on March 12.
I went to the grocery store this afternoon. As I was walking in I heard a woman yell to me from her car. I walked over and found an elderly woman and her husband. She cracked her window open a bit more, and explained to me nearly in tears that they are afraid to go in the store.
— Rebecca Mehra (@rebecca_mehra) March 12, 2020
Mehra said she was entering a grocery store when she heard a woman yelling from her car. When she approached the vehicle, she found an elderly couple; the woman told her they feared going inside because they were in their 80s and did not want to get sick during the coronavirus outbreak.
She was informed that they did not have family to help them and was asked if she could do the shopping for them. Mehra was given $100 and a grocery list.
“I bought the groceries and placed them in her trunk, and gave her back the change. She told me she had been sitting in the car for nearly 45 min before I had arrived, waiting to ask the right person for help,” the runner said.
“I know it’s a time of hysteria and nerves, but offer to help anyone you can. Not everyone has people to turn to,” she concluded.
Mehra’s act of kindness has received positive feedback, through over 507,000 likes and 106,000 shares on Twitter, as of writing.
The United States has 1,629 cases and 41 deaths, as per the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Oregon recorded its first coronavirus fatality yesterday, March 14. The patient was a 70-year-old man who had underlying health conditions. JB
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