Mar 27

Mar 27 Coronavirus Update #4

The Curator

Life

The weekly coronavirus update from Auckland, New Zealand.

March 21 - There are fourteen new cases, two of which can’t be connected to travel. One of these is in Auckland, though we don’t know which part. Fortunately, all three of yesterday’s unaccounted for cases were successfully linked to overseas travel. There is real fear of community spread now.
The Prime Minister gives a public speech at noon to announce a 4-tiered alert system. According to her, we’re on Level 2, which means the risk of losing containment is growing, and we should stop all non-essential travel, try to stay at home as much as possible, and wash our hands constantly. Schools are still open because kids would likely be looked after grandparents who are more at risk of deadly complications. I’m not expecting many kids to be at school on Monday.
March 22 - There are fourteen new cases, raising the number to 66. Eleven are related to travel, one is a close contact of another case, and two more are still unaccounted for. Needless to say, people are beginning to believe community transmission is happening and are preparing for a lock down. In fact, there are petitions swirly around, one from the healthcare community one one from regular citizens, demanding that the government move to Level 4 of the new pandemic response plan that would essentially shut down the country.
However, there are tons of people still out, walking at the parks, down by the beach, getting coffee at the cafes.
March 23 - (AM) Four schools in the Auckland area are shut down due to positive tests in their communities. Shockingly, the schools only plan to shut for three days why they clean the schools. There are three students in my daughter’s class at school today. Parents are pulling their kids out of school despite the government trying to keep schools open.
(PM) - There are 102 cases now. The Prime Minister gives a speech at 1:40 that essentially gives Kiwis 48 hours until there is a complete lockdown of everything but essential services. Honestly, I think there was a collective sigh of relief. The uncertainty of not knowing when this would come was almost worse than the prospect of spending the next four weeks at home. with kids. At school pick up we take home a pack of work the teachers have prepared. We also received instructions for online learning that will begin on the 25th.
March 24 - There are now 155 cases, and people are running around like crazy trying to stock up on items that will be unavailable in a couple of days. There’s a lot of confusion about what places are considered “essential” enough to be open during the four weeks of expected lockdown. We know supermarkets, pharmacies, and gas stations will be open, but beyond that there is a lot of speculation. The Warehouse - a big chain somewhere between Walmart and Target - claims they will be open midday. I contemplate not stopping by to pick up some school supplies I discover we need after day 1 of homeschool, but decide to go later in the afternoon. It’s a good thing I did - the government quickly clarified that the Warehouse made that announcement themselves and the government was not going to let them stay open.
Our first day of homeschooling went as well as could be expected. I’ll be posting about our schedule and more resources later. Stay tuned!
March 25 - We have another 50 cases and confirmed community spread. The government declares a state of emergency, essentially giving the police and military additional powers to enforce the level 4 pandemic level that will go into effect at midnight. They are not messing around. People need to stay in their houses for the full four weeks so we can get through this.
There is additional clarification concerning which kinds of places can remain open. The Warehouse isn’t essential, and neither are liquor stores except in areas where the supermarkets don’t sell wine and beer. The home improvement stores will be open, but only for people in trades working on essential projects. The general public won’t be let in.
Schools begin their homeschool program, and we muddle our way through. One school’s website goes haywire as all of the parents crash it at 8:30 to get the day’s assignments. And my four year old was in a gigantic Zoom French class that I think we can say was a solid disaster. There are definitely some kinks to work out, but I’m cautiously optimistic my kids will learn a thing or two during this break.
March 26 - It’s the first full day of quarantine. Everything is eerily calm though there are 78 new cases reported. We managed to muddle our way through school again, and I’m slowly figuring out how to pace and time things so both kids get their work done. I’ve also realized there are quite a few activities they can do together, which makes everything easier.
In the afternoon I take the dog for a walk and go the two blocks to our local park. I was shocked at how many people were there. Most people were trying to be respectful of the two meter rule, but there were also groups of people playing soccer together. I am hopeful it was just one big family. There is a lot of social pressure to take this seriously and hunker down for the four weeks so we can all be done with quarantine. I think that type of we’re-all-in-this-together attitude is one of New Zealand’s best qualities.
March 27 - There are 85 new cases and the first case of someone going to the ICU due to coronavirus. It is also the first day someone appears in court for violating the lockdown rules. His charge is failing to comply with a direction from the medical officer of health and carries a maximum one year prison sentence. There are noticeable police patrols around - especially the beach where I’ve heard they are telling people they can walk on the beach for exercise, but they can’t sit there. People can sit at home.
I ventured out to the grocery store at 7 a.m. this morning. There was a line of about 15 carts ready to go as soon as the doors opened. I was surprised that they didn’t phase people into the store. Instead, it was a mad dash all at once, completely ruining anyone’s two meters of personal space as soon as we made it inside to the produce section. I have to imagine that they’ll be changing this process soon. I noticed that they had clearly marked lines on the floor on the way to the checkout to keep people apart and away from the checkout lines. There were new sneeze guards to protect the people working, and the checkers are no longer allowed to bag groceries. I think if I arrived at 7:10 it would’ve been better. There were no lines when I exited the store.
While there was a lot on the shelves, there were still missing items, like flour, sugar, and ground beef. There were limits on a long line of items posted at the front of the store, including bread and cat food. Pasta was back on the shelves as was toilet paper. Despite the mess at the beginning, I was in and out of the store in about 45 minutes. Also, despite the grocers claiming otherwise, my bill was definitely larger than normal. I plan on doing a Grocery Haul soon to show you quarantine pricing.