May 1

May 1 Coronavirus Update #9

It’s our first partial week out of Level 4 - meaning we are locked down with access to take out now. In other words, we are now in a US version of a lockdown. Here’s how the week went down:

April 24 - There are 5 new cases today and another death from the Rosewood cluster. It is disappointing to see the number of new cases to go up. When we had just 3 new cases yesterday I naively thought we might be down to no new cases.
April 25 - 5 new cases again and 1 more death. That brings us to 1461 cases, but 77% of them are recovered. There are 18 deaths, all are elderly and most are part of rest home clusters. There’s even been one cluster in Wellington that is considered closed because there haven’t been any new cases associated with it in 28 days. Supposedly there will be more clusters closing soon, which is great news and gives me hope that we won’t be screwing ourselves on Tuesday when we move down to Level 3.
Today is also ANZAC day, a day of remembrance for fallen solders usually celebrated with 6:00 am gatherings and services. Today people gathered at the end of their driveways and the occasional trumpeter played taps. The Easter Eggs were replaced with red poppies in people’s windows and the government decided to take a break from their 1 pm televised updates for the holiday weekend. I take this as a good sign - things are slowing down enough that it isn’t essential news anymore.
April 26 - Just two more sleeps until we wake up in Level 3, but there are 9 new cases today. A lot of the commentary online is people staying we should STAY at Level 4 until things completely go away. It does make me wonder how all of these cases are still popping up even though they are traceable to existing clusters. Are the people related to the clusters subject to different rules and regulations than the rest of us? It seems like they should be, but I haven’t seen anything to suggest it. I Foolishly thought when we were down to 3 cases in one day that it might actually fade out, but here it is going back up again. So disappointing!
April 27 - It is our last day in Level 4. We had five new cases, but because of probably cases turning into non-cases, our total count actually went down today to 1469. Unfortunately there was one more death, another rest home occupant.
Everyone is gearing up for a big day tomorrow. I noticed a local Italian place with a new plexiglass window complete with small pass through to pick up to-go food installed. And I have a confession: I’ve already placed my first to-go order at my favorite local coffee spot. I’m going a little crazy and getting a cappuccino for me, fluffies for the kids, a chai for my husband, and some of their delicious pastries for everyone. When I walked by today, I noticed there were new instructions in fresh lettering on their window that explain the order and pick-up process. The new letters - instead of a simple sign in the window - make me think we’re going to be in this purgatory and not be back to normal for a long time.
April 28 - It’s our first day in Level 3, and fittingly we have 3 new cases for a total of 1472. I woke up to stories about long lines and gatherings for breakfast at McDonald’s. That doesn’t bode well for staying at Level 3. I’ve written a longer post about our first day at Level 3 here, but suffice it to say, there were some issues: everything from online ordering systems crashing to police called for people not observing social distancing.
April 29 - 2 new cases today, 1 of which was already in quarantine, so it makes me think that this was a Kiwi returning to New Zealand and in one of the quarantine hotels. (Thank goodness for the strict quarantine measures!) Everyone was out and about now that we’re in Level 3. It was the first day I saw the kite surfers back out on the water, and there was so much traffic! I made a grocery run and I was shocked at how many cars were on the road. I had forgotten exactly how bad Auckland’s traffic can get, and I’m not thrilled that it is back.
Yesterday New Zealand ended up getting a ton of international press about “eliminating” the virus. Today, Dr. Bloomfield is backtracking and said, "We haven't eliminated it and we haven't eradicated it. Elimination, as I say, is not a point in time. It's not 'we've got to the end of alert level four - we've eliminated it'. Our elimination goal continues into alert level three.” To be clear: there are still new cases. 87% of the infected people here have recovered, but that does not mean the virus is gone.
April 30 - There are 3 new cases today, 1 of which is connected to an existing case, but the other 2 are under investigation. These “under investigation” cases make me so nervous. Clearly they got the virus from somewhere, and since everyone’s been in their bubble, it should be very clear who they were in contact with, or it is a case of community transmission. Needless to say, I’m not going out if I can help it, I’m still washing my groceries down like crazy, and I wear my mask and gloves.