With many children home from school and adults working from home because of concerns about the spread of novel coronavirus, or COVID-19, companies are altering the way they interact with customers and they are doing it online and through social media.
Fitness Centers
For instance, some gyms, including the Edge Fitness Clubs, are offering home workouts live through Facebook.
The club's Instagram followers will be notified when the live stream begins and classes are currently scheduled at 8:30 a.m., noon and 5:30 p.m. All classes will be 30–45 minutes and you do not need any equipment to participate. The classed to be offered include Cardio Dance, HIIT, yoga and more.
Edge Fitness will stream live classes seven days a week for members and non-members.
Planet Fitness is offering free at-home workouts for everyone. They will be streamed on Facebook daily at 7 p.m.
Norwich Fitness Center is broadcasting classes on Facebook and Instagram for the public.
“We are going to get through this and when this is over, we are all going to be back in the gym doing our thing,” said Gina Facchini, owner of Norwich Fitness Center.
Mystic Aquarium is doing an educational Facebook live every day at 11 a.m.
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Meigs Point Nature Center
To help children and families, Meigs Point Nature Center in Madison is running Facebook Live programs from Tuesdays through Fridays.
At 11 a.m., they are running a program from the Woods Room and they are running a program from the water room at 2 p.m.
Beardsley Zoo
Beardsley Zoo is also hosting a Facebook Live event at 2 p.m. on Tuesday.
Mystic Aquarium
Mystic Aquarium is offering online educational resources for children.
At 11 a.m.each day, there will be Facebook Live broadcasts on different animal care professionals and a variety of species. Story Time is another feature on Facebook that will be rolled out in the coming days and will include readings of books about Astro the Steller sea lion and Charlotte the green sea turtle, as well as other Aquarium and marine themed children’s books.
A free live feed from the African penguin habitat is also available at MysticAquarium.org.
Arts Events
Yaymaker, which brings people together for paint nights, will be offering virtual events.
Irish musicians are finding ways to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day. The Jolly Beggars, a Connecticut based band, is hosting a St. Patrick’s Day concert on Facebook live. The concert goes until 9 p.m. They say they are taking donations, as March is their busiest month and all of their gigs have been canceled, but they hope the concert will mostly bring joy during a stressful time.
“Even though you can’t go out to local pubs and restaurants and hang out in big groups to enjoy celebrating St. Patrick’s Day, hopefully tonight you will be able to at least enjoy the celebration of Irish music from the comfort of your own home,” said band member Greg Wilfrid.
Pet Adoptions
Dog Star Rescue in Canton is holding a virtual dog adoption event on March 21.
The rescue will be using a live feed on Amazon Chime from 12:30 p.m. to 1 p.m. and 1:30 p.m. to 2 p.m.
Story Time
Several schools are doing read alouds, including the Kennelly School in Hartford. You can watch their videos here.
The New Britain Police Department is also reading children two books a night via Facebook.
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What other companies are getting creative and connecting with people virtually to prevent crowds from gathering? Email us at news@nbcconnecticut.com.
