I was travelling in western and central Europe for a few weeks prior to a bit before the middle of February. Everything was 100% normal. I'm sure there would have been as little appetite for widespread shutdowns in Europe as there would have been in the US.
I'm pretty much as little a fan of Trump and his administration as many people are but the idea that widespread restrictions in mid-February in western democracies was remotely an option on the table is delusional.
Early-ish February is not early March. The event I was at in the first week in March I literally did a flight change to go home rather than attend a next week event. That's a lot different from assuming there would have been a widespread shutdown in Feb.
Absolutely. I admit I was in the "This seems a bit excessive crowd" when my next small-ish event was canceled in early March. And I vaguely thought of taking advantage of existing reservation to do some skiing and maybe run into some folks informally.
By the time I got home, grocery stores were packed but in pre-shortage times. (Honestly, I'm pretty well-stocked at home even in normal circumstances anyway.)
I already had everything at home from a work perspective as I'm normally remote. But a lot of people I know took months to repatriate their office stuff home.
I'm pretty much as little a fan of Trump and his administration as many people are but the idea that widespread restrictions in mid-February in western democracies was remotely an option on the table is delusional.