Streets are barren and the silence is palpable.When you wander outside to the only open places of business — a grocery, construction store, or emergency locations such as hospitals, vets, and dentists — there are people hidden behind masks with rubber gloves concealing their hands.

There is a stand-off tension between people who maintain invisible barriers of six foot distance. Such social distancing is required by new safety measures recommended by medical officials and issued by Gov. Gavin Newsom, who ordered citizens to shelter in place.

Yet, even though the message of a pandemic has rung clear to cities that are enduring self quarantine in California, sources are reporting contrary information that indicates young people aren’t abiding by the warnings.

 One such source is ABC news in the article, “ ‘This week, it’s going to get bad’:  Surgeon General says people need to take the Coronavirus seriously” by Rebecca Shabad, which covered the interview of Surgeon General Jerome Adams on the Today show.

Shabad wrote in the article, “He warned that young people need to understand that they can contract COVID-19, the disease caused by the Coronavirus, and they can be hospitalized and potentially die from it.” 

On the Today Show, Adams expressed fear that was visible through the upset nature of his voice and faster-paced conversations which showed agitation. His  worry was that other states could become like New York. He wanted the facts to be straight to the younger population, that the youth driven demographic of ages 18-49 were the main infected parties of the Coronavirus.

Although there may be some truth to this, there is also a constant stream of support for the quarantine reaching the eyes and thoughts of young people. All their favorite shops are closed, activity-driven businesses are shut down, educational practices have transferred straight into the virtual world. To put it simply, they have nothing to do but exercise outside for less than 30 minutes.

In light of the Coronavirus outbreak the social media platform Instagram developed a stay-at-home sticker to encourage the younger demographic to head warnings and to respect and maintain the shelter in place. It works just as ads do, with a constant repetition every time you open your browser page to remind you to stay where you are.

Schools such as UC Irvine’s official Instagram have prompted questions to their followers — such as “Who are you staying home for?” — showing dutiful support in promoting the general welfare of its student body population.

Stars like Charlie Puth, Lauv, and Bazzi, amongst many others have donated to helping families eat food by challenging one another to step up thus creating an idealized support network that their younger demographic audience witnesses.

Not only is there a banner of support but there is environmental proof that America has started to even drop its carbon print showing that most of people’s footsteps being taken now are only at home. The New York Times article,“Traffic and Pollution Plummet as U.S. Cities Shut Down for Coronavirus” by Brad Plumer and Nadja Popovich, proves that people have been trying to obey the health warnings sent out by officials from both the political spectrum and the medical profession. 

In the article they wrote, “in cities, across the United States, traffic on roads and highways has fallen dramatically over the past week as the Coronavirus outbreak forces people to stay at home and everyday life grinds to a halt. Pollution has dropped too.”

But what has not ground to a halt is the need for blood. One of the ways Americans can step up to help others during this pandemic is to answer the plea of the Surgeon General that the young and healthy donate their blood. This request has been prompted by a growing blood shortage as a result of donation events being closed.

In an email to former donors, The Red Cross wrote, “There is no known end date to this fight against Coronavirus. Blood is perishable and cannot be stockpiled. The need is constant.”

The Red Cross continues to urge donors by mentioning that there are those that are hospitalized in need of blood. So if you do venture outside of the house, make it count and donate blood.

“Without enough blood on the shelves, hospitals may have to delay essential and life saving surgeries for patients of all ages,” wrote The Red Cross. “As a nation, we must come together to take care of one another, especially those most vulnerable among us.”