A few miles away yet worlds apart, 2 families wait out virus

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — One week in isolation. Two families. Only a few miles away, yet a world apart.

For San Francisco lawyer Rebecca Biernat, a mother of three, "sheltering in place" started out in a panic, but her family is now adjusting. She is working from home. Her kids are keeping busy with online school and regular video chats with teachers and friends. The family is finding silver linings in the slower pace of life and time together.

For hotel housekeeper Sonia Bautista, the world is spiraling out of control. She and her husband have lost their jobs, they can’t afford their rent and their teenage son is feeling both bored and overwhelmed by the lessons his school is posting online. The family is afraid of becoming destitute.

California’s Bay Area has been shut down for more than a week, the first region of America to order its residents to stay home, work remotely and homeschool their children in a desperate bid to slow the spread of the coronavirus pandemic. Much of San Francisco now feels as empty as a Gold Rush ghost town, its streets cleared of people, of cable cars and most other cars, making a rush-hour drive through the hilly cityscape feel like a roller coaster with no traffic to slow things down.

No life has been unchanged. For the two families, like millions across America, there are constant anxieties and nerve-wracking moments to navigate. But their ability to cope is dramatically different. They are two extremes in a region full of them. And they remind us, that while a global pandemic may know no boundaries, how you survive the upheaval may depend in part on your paycheck.

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There is no rushing to get kids up and out the door to school.

No commute.

No hurrying home from work to get dinner on the table.

At their spacious, tidy 2-story home...