mockoblog

I can’t believe this!

Yesterday our Prime Minister announced that we shall be entering a lock down for four weeks, as starters.

What I can’t believe is WHY SO LATE? But we have to do it, I guess later is better than never. In my opinion, NZ should have closed its borders in February, when we had no Covid-19 cases. Anyway, now it is what it is and everyone seems to stick with this plan.

I followed the official announcement at work, with the whole office. Some of us did not believe it could be so serious. I had advocated the gravity of this pandemic even since it was first disclosed in China, but few were listening.

Yesterday we had 102 confirmed cases, today we have 155. It could be worth and it WILL be worse very soon, it just depends how bad it gets. So far, 25 of these cases are on the island where I live, two of them in my town.

We were given some 48 hours to prepare for the full lock down. Generous from the Government, I’d say. But lots of people rushed to get provisions. There were no significant shortages, with the exception of satiation products. As for face masks, I haven’t seen one for sale since the crisis begun. The general feeling was not at all negative among shoppers and fellow citizens, I saw some erratic driving, but most of the people behaved. “Social distancing” was introduced, it seems to be set at 2 meters, which are marked on the floor or pavement, so you know where to stand in the cue.

Kids’ school finished abruptly after the announcement. I took mine with me shopping (and bulk buying a bit) yesterday. Today I went to the office briefly to get some stationary, the rest of the day was WFH (working from home). This was much busier than initially expected.

I don’t think I am infected, but I might be. For the past 36 hours or so I had a funny feeling in my throat, the very back of my mouth, kind of. It feels dry and I have an occasional dry cough. It is not something you get with the flu or the cold. It feels like after you’ve smoked cheap tobacco all night at a dodgy party. (Yes, I used to be a smoker in my previous life.) Very dry feeling. And I drank a lot of liquids. No fever. Some muscle pain and blocked ears, sometimes my nose also feels very dry. It could be just a psychological reaction to all this. Visits to doctors are discouraged and I am not calling any medical help at this stage because I would waste valuable time which could be spent with really serious cases.

I have a lot of questions with no answers. My wife is a healthcare worker and will carry on interacting with many people, my kids have the other parent living in another place but we are supposed to lock down in a “bubble”, I have a mortgage and other commitments based on my income before the pandemic, etc. We are not sure how things will work out. What I am sure of, though, is that it will be tougher than we can foresee, longer than most believe, and the consequences will be severe socially and economically. I just hope it does not degenerate in anarchy.

I bought a big whiteboard, so we may set some tasks around the house and garden, maybe the kids will get involved. This could be an opportunity to bond during a strange WAR.

I’d better finish now this initial note, as it’s past midnight and we entered the last day of relative freedom. After 24 hours, we go in total self isolation. We are now on Day ZERO.