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Cars line up at a drive through coronavirus test station in the parking lot at Citizens Bank Park.
Emma Lee / WHYY
Cars line up at a drive through coronavirus test station in the parking lot at Citizens Bank Park.
Emma Lee / WHYY
Emma Lee / WHYY
Cars line up at a drive through coronavirus test station in the parking lot at Citizens Bank Park.
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» Day-by-day look at coronavirus disease cases in Pa.
» It’s time to get serious about social distancing. Here’s how.
Like many Americans, the Marley-Williams family has been forced suddenly to adjust to life in the new normal.
During Pennsylvania’s coronavirus shutdown, the Philadelphia family is facing unexpected pressures. Maxx Stoyanoff-Williams lost his job as a bar manager at a restaurant downtown, and his wife, Heather Marley, an art director, is working from home in Roxborough — multitasking between her job and the couple’s 3-year-old daughter Charliegh, who is now out of day care.
Jessica Kourkounis / Keystone Crossroads
The Marley-Williams family in the Roxborough section of Philadelphia.
Similar scenes are unfolding across the city and state, with people being creative with how they deal with isolation and remote connection in the effort to slow the spread of the pandemic.
In the Prell household in Germantown, family members have carved out different corners of the house to focus on their work.
On Wednesday, the Archdiocese of Philadelphia canceled all Holy Week and Easter services. In the Lehigh Valley, some Christian church services have been held at a drive-in movie theater that allows people to worship from their cars.
Across the country, kids have been playing games such as rainbow scavenger hunt as a way of maintaining connection and joy while keeping social distance.
Kimberly Paynter / WHYY
Bowie Moon Porter drew this rainbow in Philadelphia’s Fishtown neighborhood
Jessica Kourkounis / Keystone Crossroads
A rainbow drawn in a South Philadelphia window.
In West Philadelphia, Geremiah Edness, 26, a freelancer in film and photography, is staying in a friend’s Airbnb during the city’s stay-at-home order. “Feeding my creativity and not becoming complacent is my biggest challenge — it’s so much easier to Netflix the day away,” he said.
Eleanor Alter, 82, is spending her time isolated at home drawing, painting and playing music. The classically trained musician lives with her husband and two German shepherds in Philadelphia. “I’m not at all afraid. If I got coronavirus, I’m very well, I’d get rid of it,” she said.
Jessica Kourkounis / Keystone Crossroads
Eleanor Alter, 82, is spending her time isolated at home drawing, painting and playing music.
The statewide shutdown order has been hard on both people and economies — including parents choosing between work and caring for their children, small businesses, front-line workers who can’t stay home, and children who rely on school for free meals.
Norristown resident Lakeyia Johnson had just reentered the workforce after a serious illness, but school closings due to coronavirus are putting the single mother in a bind.
“It’s going to be hard on my family,” she said.
Kimberly Paynter / WHYY
Norristown resident Lakeyia Johnson just reentered the workforce after a serious illness, but school closing due to COVID-19 are keeping her children and Johnson home.
Kimberly Paynter / WHYY
Kalaya owner Nok Suntaranon (right) hands out donated pizza to community members in need.
In many parts of the state, streets have seemed like ghost towns. As of March 25, Pennsylvania has 1,127 confirmed cases of COVID-19, 11 fatal. New York and New Jersey have seen surges in confirmed cases in the past week, and they now lead the nation.
Gov. Tom Wolf has ordered a shutdown of non-life-sustaining businesses in hopes of slowing the spread of the virus. Ten counties across the state are under ‘stay-at-home’ orders through April 6. Schools statewide will be closed at least through that period.
Min Xian / WPSU
A view of the nearly empty mall on Penn State’s University Park campus in March 2020. The university announced March 18, 2020, there would be no in-person classes for the rest of the semester.
Dani Fresh / Keystone Crossroads
At the Sayford Market in Harrisburg, an employee tells a customer through the glass that they’re closed for the day.
Even with stay-at-home orders in place, Pennsylvanians are allowed to leave their homes for exercise, with guidance to remain 6 feet from non-in-home-family members when walking, running or biking.
As the arrival of spring coincided with the state’s shutdown order, many trails across Pennsylvania have been full of residents trying to find natural respite from long days working at home at computer screens.
At Boyd Big Tree Preserve Conservation Area in Dauphin County, the parking lot was jam-packed over the weekend compared to what’s typical.
Matt Smith / Keystone Crossroads
Edward Zayas, Jr., of Allentown, walks with his stepdaughter Avery Green, 4, as she rides her bike near the PPL Center in Allentown. Zayas is a chef at a bistro and has been working a lot to accommodate the increased demand for takeout and delivery orders. “We just had to get out,” he said.
Wayne and Karen Achey, of Bethlehem, found a creative way to maintain social distance while visiting relatives. They talk to Wayne’s mother Marilyn as she stands at her third-floor balcony at the Moravian Village retirement community.
Matt Smith / Keystone Crossroads
Wayne Achey, left, of Bethlehem, and his wife Karen Achey, right, of Bethlehem, look up as they talk to Wayne’s mother Marilyn Achey.
Some people have found it more difficult to obey social distancing guidelines. Jessenia Almonte and Gabby Ball of Allentown are out of school, but neither has been hesitant to make contact while playing basketball.
Matt Smith / Keystone Crossroads
Jessenia Almonte, left, of Allentown, and Gabby Ball, right, of Allentown, play basketball Mar. 21, 2020, at Cedar Beach Park in Allentown, Pennsylvania. Both are staying home as schools are closed, but they enjoy playing basketball and still want to come out to play.
The road ahead for Pennsylvania and the nation is unclear. There have been nearly 60,000 confirmed cases of coronavirus in the United States, with more than 800 deaths. A worst-case scenario predicts the virus could cause more than a million deaths if strict isolation policies aren’t kept.
In the meantime, the Pennsylvania economy has already taken a major hit. A record shattering 540,000 unemployment claims were filed in the state in the midst of the coronavirus shutdown in the past week alone.
Jessica Kourkounis / Keystone Crossroads
A foggy, gray Philadelphia during the coronavirus pandemic.
Photographers Jessica Kourkounis, Emma Lee, Kimberly Paynter, Matt Smith, Dani Fresh, Min Xian and Katie Blackley contributed to this piece.
WHYY is the leading public media station serving the Philadelphia region, including Delaware, South Jersey and Pennsylvania. This story originally appeared on WHYY.org.
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