Coronavirus Update #6
I can’t believe its been 6 weeks since coronavirus became big enough in our world to keep these weekly updates. Also, its only been 6 weeks! I can’t believe how much the world changed in 6 weeks.
April 3 - 71 new cases for a total of 868. 103 people have recovered and we’re still at 1 death. While the infected numbers have popped up, I think everyone is pleasantly surprised that they don’t seem to be elevating wildly out of control and doubling every few days like in many parts of the world. The news is oscillating between extending the lock down period and starting to ease up in areas that seem to be unaffected. I know Auckland is clearly an affected area so we won’t be released any time soon, but there is a sign of hope.
The queues at the grocery store are long, but the stores seem to be handling the weird shopping patterns and social distancing well. Its still nearly impossible to find flour thanks to a packaging shortage, but things like pasta are back on the shelves.
April 4 - 82 new cases today for a total of 950. People are starting to get a little stir crazy, especially with the wonderful weather. Yesterday evening I went for a walk around dusk and I saw multiple groups of neighbours sitting in their yards, celebrating a little happy hour. Some of them were definitely less than 6 feet apart. There are also masses of people at the park and beach despite police efforts to remove people a couple of days ago. It is particularly aggravating when people let their dogs run around off leash. In normal times, that would be allowed, but right now that is just annoying and disrespectful to the rest of us who are trying to stay away.
The government clarifies what activities are not allowed during lockdown: no swimming, surfing, tramping, hunting - basically anything that could require you to be rescued. While most people already stopped these activities, there are some holdouts who (apparently) don’t have much common sense.
April 5 - 89 cases today and a new cluster in Auckland. There also appears to be concern that a grocery store in Kaikohe in Northland may be problematic. That last bit is scary, but fortunately, it is a grocery store that I don’t go to. Yesterday evening we saw some of neighbours while we were out on a family walk. He mentioned that for his work he had been modelling numbers for New Zealand, and we’re actually doing quite poorly when it comes to cases and population density. That was disheartening to hear, but with the sun shining it is hard to dwell on bad news for too long.
In a statement that I love, Jacinda justified the new rules surrounding lockdown by saying that there are “some [people] I would charitably describe as idiots.” I think she summed up the sentiments of all of us watching people go swimming and surfing in the ocean.
April 6 - 67 new cases today for a total of 1106. There is still just one death, with 13 people in the hospital, one in the ICU, and 176 people have recovered. The police presence is more and more noticeable at the beaches, which I’m thankful for as it doesn’t seem even remotely feasible to walk the block to the beach as there are too many people there.
In world news, the Queen gave her fourth televised speech and the world took a collective pause to enjoy an uplifting moment of leadership that seems painfully absent everywhere except New Zealand (thanks, Jacinda!) Boris Johnson in the UK is sent to the hospital for “testing.” A friend and I are laughing about how the newspapers are reporting this. Does anyone believe it is just for testing? We’re both putting air quotes around that word.
April 7 - We woke up to the news that Boris Johnson was in the ICU. In the afternoon, the latest case count in New Zealand went up 54 cases to 1160 with 241 recovered. Interestingly, while New Zealand previously cited waiting for the CDC to make a determination about wearing masks, they’ve now shifted to citing WHO guidance. I can’t decide if that’s because the CDC has lost credibility or if it is because the WHO’s guidance of not requiring masks in public is easier. Either way, I’m not going anywhere, so I won’t be wearing a mask.
April 8 - Only 50 cases today, which is wonderful news. Apparently the world is starting to take notice that New Zealand went hard early. The Washington Post put out an article today entitled “New Zealand Isn’t Just Flattening the Curve, It’s Squashing It.” It is reprinted in all the Kiwi newspapers, shared on all the social media sites, and every Kiwi I know is giving themselves a pat on the back for doing such a good job staying home and for getting some recognition for it. Frankly, the timing is perfect. We’ve got the Easter weekend coming up, and the Prime Minister is prepping everyone for tough police enforcement of the quarantine. I hope this motivates people to stay put and stay home.
At the grocery store today the line to get it is long, but the process seems better managed than before. Arrows on the floor direct people which way to travel down the aisles. There is a strict one-in-one-out policy, and no one bags their groceries at checkout anymore. Instead, I’m supposed to load everything back into the cart and transfer them to bags when I’m back at the car. It is supposed to increase the flow of shoppers, and I think it helps. The store is still out of flour and some other baking supplies, but I hear there are other shops nearby that have some, so perhaps it is only the really high-traffic stores that are out now. Most other things are on the shelf, and toilet paper is even on sale. That’s progress.
April 9 - Only 29 new cases today! Things definitely seem to be heading in the right direction. Jacinda announces that all people coming to New Zealand (and that group is limited to citizens and permanent residents at the moment) will be quarantined at approved facilities. Basically, they’ll have to stay at one of 18 hotels that are monitored by police for two weeks. While this would’ve seemed impossible just three months ago, it seems like a totally reasonable requirement so that New Zealanders can get back to a somewhat normal life.
However, the government says it won’t make a decision on extending the lockdown until the 20th, and even when the lockdown is lifted, we shouldn’t expect schools to open up right away. That part makes me want to cry as homeschooling is not my forte, especially when there are two very different levels of instruction from two different schools for our family. For public school kids, the government is rolling out lots of distance learning materials. They’re printing material for kids without access to technology, rolling out new educational TV programs for kids who don’t have fast internet, and online learning for everyone else. It’s a huge rollout that I’m interested in checking out when it begins on the 15th.
