Life in the Time of CoVid-Day 4 Lockdown
South Africa: 1,280 confirmed positive for CoVid; 2 deaths; 31 recovered.
So, so so impressed with the US Embassy in South Africa! Twice daily they send reassuring email updates telling us they are working on repatriating. I sent a private email in return asking if we might be able to obtain either a letter from the Embassy or permission from the police to return to Port Alfred.
The fired-back response was polite by firm:
“Thank you for your message. We urge you to abide by the South African government's travel restrictions and remain where you are, which is much closer to Cape Town International Airport.”—American Citizen Services, U.S. Mission to South Africa
USA: CoVid-19 number has doubled in 3 days; at least 136,880 infected; 2,414 have died—965 of those in New York. A 1000-bed Navy ship, ‘The Comfort’ will serve as a hospital for NY’s non-CoVid-19 patients.
Italy: 97,689 cases (3906 severe); 10, 779 dead; 13,030 recovered.
China: Who knows? Officials aren’t reporting asymptomatic positive results.
Circuit Training includes Laundry Limbo
Meanwhile back home, the Westhampton Neighborhood Facebook group has blown up with reports of the hoards swarming in from NYC—spreading virus and panic…
Meanwhile, I’ve created a circuit trail in the sunny, green breezy backyard which includes neck stretches beneath the clotheslines—especially challenging on laundry day.
Meanwhile creatives are cranking out new CoVid-19 diddies. Today’s hit: “We’re All Home Bound” by Claire & Mel
Meanwhile, Curtis & I, down to 2 cans of tuna and a grapefruit walked to the mall for a few days of supplies. Mall security & store staff managed the queues (with help of meter-spaced X and bottles of sanitizer at the ready.)
Who decided hair & leg containment, plucking or decorating was non-essential?
Inside and outside shoppers spoke only when needed in tight-lipped whispers and turned backs to each other. As only “essential goods” are allowed to be sold, the drugstore, CLICKS, had barricaded the hair decoration/hosiery/sundries aisle.
Do not even glance at those clothes…
Woolworth, likewise, has cordoned off a path through all the enticing clothing, home-goods, etc. etc. to the grocery section. No sneak shopping allowed in the time of CoVid.
I may not like, but I totally get why the government decided to ban liquor sales during Lockdown, but I do wonder about its decision to ban cigarette sales. Locked down, shut in with kids, wife, no money, no work…and no smokes??? Even to my non-smoker sensibilities seems foolish.
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Life in the Time of CoVid-Day 3 Lockdown
March 29, 2020—Lockdown Day 3
USA: 103, 321 confirmed cases; 1,668 deaths
Italy: 86 498 confirmed cases (finally numbers are decreasing); 9,136 deaths
It amazes me how some creatives spurt out brilliant, funny, clever responses in crisis. When the chips are down the funny get funnier, the clever get cleverer.
I am definitely not in that category. Friends I’m hearing from have set up offices and figured out how to work from home—and tackle lists of Honey Dos. (Charles has washed both cars, straightened the garage, and finished a puzzle.) Those with kids—wow! cook/ cleaner/ supervisor /teacher /entertainer/ referee rolled into one…Writer friends are zooming forward with stories. Homeless, I am not even a snail. I am a slug. A slug with Internet. An inert slug.
However, I have a room and a small garden to circle. I forced Curtis up from his computer to take laps around the tiny yard. 29 strides per circle. He clocked them on his fitbit, humored me through 25 laps; I jollied him through 20 toe touches before he cut bait.
But, while we circled, my thoughts turned to all the families and children Lockdown in the Townships living 5 or 8 or 12 to a 10x10, without a bathroom, maybe a clothesline to circle.
From what I’ve seen of South Africa in the 9 years and thousands of road trip kilometers, the country is largely rural. There are several major cities: Johannesburg, Durban, Capetown among them, these are like cities anywhere—buildings, businesses, highways, traffic, mixed with suburbs. And on the outskirts, crowded clusters where laborers, domestics, hourly workers and their families live.
Think tenements, barrios, kampungs—shanty towns. Whole extended families crowded into one tiny room with no running water, some no electric or TV, shared toilets at the end of a row.
whole families living in one room
Hundreds of tiny tin or cinder block homes squished side to side, thousands together—Social distancing??? Six-feet-apart???
…and my big complaint is internet speed and “only” getting to circle this lovely garden…
South Africa: Confirmed CoVid cases have risen to 1187, 2 deaths
Meanwhile…Headlines in this morning’s paper:
LOCKDOWN? What Lockdown? “Capetonians continue to shop and walk their dogs.”-timeslive.co.za
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Life in the Time of CoVid-Day 2 Lockdown
Saturday, March 28th: Day 2 of Lockdown
The sun is shining, birds chirp, and the small garden outside our window awaits. Last night, after a long day and night spent sitting—mostly reading through Corona Virus news and updating family and friends. And of course clicking on posts marveling at the quick-witted jokes and parodies this pandemic is inspiring.
By nightfall, my rump was so sore, I felt as though I’d been paddled (not in a good way.) I woke committed to changing that. I mentally scheduled exercise breaks, which include a daily socially-responsible walk. Curtis and I made a plan to only buy enough food for each day so we would have an excuse to walk to the shops.
During the Lockdown movement outside the home is restricted to shopping for food, pharmacy, doctor visits and Government aide offices.
“Gloria” our hostess at Manderley Lodge
This morning, Gloria greeted me then followed with “This is the third day, you must wear a mask when you go to the shops.” I started to respond, “we don’t have masks,” then stopped. It dawned on me what she meant by “3rd day.” This was the 3rd day after we flew here from Port Elizabeth. The third day—one of the contagious days—if we had contracted the virus during our time at the airport, in the airplane, or the taxi to her guest house….the 3rd day since we arrived at her door. Had she taken us in, fed us breakfast and sorted us out since Wednesday night beneath a threat that we might be carrying the virus?
I looked at Gloria with renewed gratitude. It dawned on my then why the travel agent had had such a difficult time finding us a place to stay. Were we carrying CoVid-19?
A short-while later, Gloria passed me her phone by laying on the table and calling to me. “You should read this,” she said.
“Do not leave home for bread/rations/or for anything, unless it is of DIRE NECESSITY because THE WORST PHASE BEGINS, the Incubation Period gets Over and may Positives will start to come out...From March 23 to 7th April we must take care of ourselves. The Peak of the Virus is two weeks, normally in these two weeks all infected will appear then there are two weeks of calm and then two weeks it will decrease . . .TILL 7th of APRIL do not receive visits from anyone, not even from the same family. This is all for the good of all.”
The time difference between South Africa and the US is at least 6 hours, so I had until about 1:00 pm, when the digital NYT arrived in my inbox to feel a tad claustrophobic and sorry for myself that we were confined to the yard, that we hadn’t stayed with Shona & Charles—that I had only 1/2 a bottle of wine.
Then I read this article: “We Take the Dead from Morning to Night" by FABIO BUCCIARELLI and JASON HOROWITZ.
So what if we spend the next week eating sandwiches and drinking water? We will stay in for as long as we could be contagious. WE WILL NOT PUT ANYONE ELSE AT RISK! We may have sore rumps, but they will heal.
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Life in the Time of CoVid-Lockdown
Lockdown Countdown—Better Get Ready!
We had watched President Ramphosa’s speech, and listened as others discussed what National Lockdown meant curiously, as one watches Survivor programs. After all, this was our last full day in South Africa. We were still on schedule to fly out the next evening…
Monday morning brought a text message from British Airways. Our flight had been cancelled. We scrambled to devices. While I sat on hold waiting for an airline rep to come on the line, Dave and Les, set to depart Tuesday for Australia called Qantas to check their flights. They were on schedule and proceeded to pack. We set about rebooking on another airlines. A few hours later, we had it all worked out, again: We were rebooked on Ethiad from Johannesburg, set to leave Tuesday, about the same time as Dave and Les. Even better, we could all drive to the airport together. Problem solved. When we told our kids about the change in flights, they said maybe we should stay. We laughed, “hah-hah.”
The next day, spectators in the mad-dash to stockpile, we did a little exit-buying. A dress for me; chutney and rusks for Curtis; Easter eggs for the grands. Lockdown-schmockdown we’d be gone by then…
Tuesday night Ethiad cancelled our flights. We rebooked on Ethiopian Airlines and took a walk to the beach. By dinnertime, that flight was cancelled, too.
Break for Backstory:
We have been in South Africa since March 3. What began, as a jolly holiday-spurred by an invitation to our friend, Charles’ 60th Bash and the 42nd Cape Argus Cycle Tour, the world’s largest timed 110 KM cycling event, has morphed into a new challenge. We were due to depart from Port Elizabeth in the Eastern Cape on March 23rd. For most of our holiday, while the US and much of the world wrestled and worried and battled effects of the Corona virus, we frolicked.
Yes, along with 30,000 from all over the world, we had swapped sweat and the highway and pre-festivities with cyclists, friends, and fans during the Cape Argus ride. Shortly after we’d driven to the Eastern Cape where in a tightly confined, co-mingled group we cavorted largely symptom and worry free. (Of course, every sneeze, wheeze, cough—dry or otherwise—came under suspicion but none of us, and noone we knew of, had or has contracted the virus.)
Port Alfred, where Shona and Charles live, is a gorgeous seaside community. Their home is on a marina even farther removed from the town, an hour or more from the nearest city, and a flight or long day’s ride from Johannesburg (where the CoVid cases until then had been reported.) Furthermore, what we’d read on Corona Virus said that heat and sun destroy it. Our hope was that the warmer temperatures we enjoyed would keep it at bay—at least until vaccines, etc. can be created. This is still my hope.
Back to Monday:
With flights set and days only a few days until Lockdown, I joined Shona on a trip to the “shops.” (The “shops” is what grocery stores, et al are called. “I’m going to the shops.” “What do you need from the shops?” “No loo paper left in the shops.”) That day, after SA President Ramphosa announced the National Lockdown, felt like the days before Christmas. Everyone had rushed to the shops to buy, buy, buy supplies. Even though every news report promised food stories and pharmacies would be open and food would be available during the lockdown, the frenzy was on. Rosehill mall, has two big shops: Woolworths or “Woolies” which, like a smaller version of Walmart with groceries and a little of everything else and Spar which is like any regular grocery store, with many boutiques in-between. Several of the smaller shops were already closed. Woolies shelves were wiped out. The meat fridge empty. The produce gone. The toilet paper…never mind. Spar, likewise, had picked over. There was plenty of milk and milk products, but not much else.
Masked, gloved attendants with hand-sanitizer at the ready, guarded every entrance & exit. As, along with everyone else, I slathered myself, I wondered what effect injecting & digesting so much hand sanitizer will have later…
That evening, our last night all together, Charles, Dave, Curtis and I went out in the sea fishing.
The fishing wasn’t much: we caught nasty poisonous stingy fish called barbles or “seacatfish” that didn’t give much of a fight but gave Charles a nasty poke as he tried to pull them off the hook, and nasty barbed sharks. The highlight of the trip was a rookery of penguins which appeared bobbing and flapping past.
Sure we played, that just as Nero played while Rome burned, we were acting callously—for folks like Charles and Shona, with cars and savings, a 21-day lockdown would be an inconvenience. Their staff, Gloria, Eunice, Edward were freaked. They’d all been worried about catching the virus from us, and rightly so. It had jet propelled to South Africa. But now, their worry was more for their families, what to do with their children trapped in tiny houses for 3 weeks, and how to get food with no buses running…But beneath the fun, we were all worried, worried about them, our families, and the world-wide economy.
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Life in the time of CoVid-1 Day to Lockdown!
At 11:59 Thursday March 26 Lockdown Begins*
Pen poised: Was a time I posted musings on my blog Kelly’s Fishbowl regularly. But like many others who “blogged,” with so many other social media platforms taking attention—especially the more visually-focused—my “read this” missives were superfluous. So, instead I turned my focus to creating/exploring poetry and for the past 132 weeks have been posting, with Cindy Faughnan, poetry prompts called The 7-Minute Challenge.** (If you’re a subscriber, you’ve been receiving—and trying out the prompts yourself.) But that was Life before the time of CoVid-19.
With those of us considered “non-essential” now housebound, “sheltering and “social distancing,” and scratching around for things to do, I’m thinking time might be on my side. Especially as my wings, as of midnight, will be officially clipped. We are in South Africa, have been since March 3rd.
On the day we departed, March 1st, the first case of CoVid in New York was confirmed. The victim was a woman who had flown in from Iran, she was isolating at home with “no serious complications.” Govern Cuomo wasn’t worried, so why should we?
“There is no reason for undue anxiety—the general risk remains low in NY. We are diligently managing this situation &will provide info as it becomes available.”
Must confess having arrived in Capetown, South Africa feeling fortunate to be escaping the Corona “Hype.” Certainly we were concerned. We felt compassion and sadness for all those people in China, Italy, and the Northwestern U.S., but we were feeling mostly immune, removed. After all, we can count the “epidimics” we’ve avoided: Legionnaires in 76, SARS in ‘02, Swine Flu in ‘09, Avian Flu in Indonesia, Zika in Trinidad, even Relapsing Tick Fever in good ole Austin, Tx. Besides, as every one was repeating “The ‘common flu’ kills 250-500 thousand people world wide—every year!”
We’d come to South Africa for holiday, specifically to celebrate with friends and cycle the Cape Argus. A tad giddy upon landing in this then warm, sunny, Corona Virus free country, I was more worried about riding—and finishing The Argus than I was CoVid.
Cheesing at the Start
March 5th we took a long practice cycle in preparation for The Argus. My big complaint: a sore bum. March 5th, the first CoVid-19 case in South Africa was confirmed. The victim was a man who’d flown in from Italy. The man was in quarantine in far off Johannesburg (870 miles away.)
March 12, 16 Confirmed Cases of CoVid in South Africa.
March 15, Sunday, the first locally-transmitted case is reported.
March 15, NYC Schools, Restaurants, Bars closed; number of cases tops 700.
The day after Charles Birthday Bash (an evening of pure revelry), the South African President, Cyril Ramphosa, gave a speech declaring a national state of disaster. We gathered in at the TV to watch as he detailed the measures the government was taking to contain the virus. These included cancelling gathering of more than 100 people, including school, all sporting events & concerts, hand sanitization, social distancing and elbow bumps (with 2 demonstrations). The elbow bump was immediately dubbed “The Cyril.” Laughing we practiced it along with the Chinese hand-shake alternative: Foot Taps.
Later, while speaking with our family back in the US, who were housebound in self-isolation, with school’s already cancelled, we considered ourselves very lucky to be so far from danger. In fact, our kids jokingly suggested (or maybe not so jokingly) that we would be better off staying put. Especially as the number of CoVid-19 cases in New York mounted.
March 22, with 51 confirmed cases in South Africa; 33,334 cases* had been reported in the United States of COVID-19, with 415 deaths.
The South African Government took action. This evening President Ramphosa addressed the nation again. In an eloquent, clear and comprehensive speak, he announced the plan for a national 21-day lockdown. The plan included suspension of travel except to essentials: grocery, pharmacy, doctor, bank & public assistance offices, and no gathering except for funerals (limited to 50 attendees.) All non-essential establishments & places including parks, beaches, etc. Liquor sales were suspended, too (and anyone caught with liquor in their car would be arrested.) Domestic airports would be closed and domestic flights cancelled. All beginning at 11:59 pm on Thursday, March 26th. The country had 4 days to prepare for lockdown.
Following the animal trail to Rhinos
We congratulated the President on taking swift action (much swifter than the US had) and watched as Shona, Charles, their relatives, Port Alfred and the rest of the country stocked up on supplies. The big joke was “toilet paper.” All their Australian friends and family were complaining about the lack—paper printers were even printing blank newspapers to fill in as “loo paper.”
We Expats listened and watched with curiosity but not personal concern. We had been “quarantining” with the same group (pretty much) for weeks. And besides, we were scheduled to fly out in a matter of days: Curtis and I were set for Monday, Port Elizabeth to Capetown to London to JFK departure; Dave & Les were scheduled to leave from Port Elizabeth to Johannesburg and then Sydney on Tuesday. We planned a few last things to do: river cruises, beach walks, fishing, card games, “what’s for dinner?”
March 23rd we were faced with a new reality:
“Breaking: Confirmed coronavirus cases surge to 402 in SA”
*I know, this post is long. Consider it more of a catch up. I plan to post daily through the lockdown, the rest will be shorter promise. (And yes, the 7-Minute Poetry Challenge will continue too.
**The 7-Minute Poetry Challenge officially began March 17, 2016. I can’t say my interest in adding poetry to my days began with Trump, but I do credit Trump for it becoming habit. Creating a poem-a-day began as a challenge between myself and fellow writer, VCFA classmate, Cindy Faughnan. When pledging to devote 7 minutes each day to creating a poem (7 being the magic number of minutes because 5 was too few and who had 10 minutes to spare?), we needed to set a penalty for failing. Then, in the heat of the 2016 Presidential Elections, we could not think of any penalty more horrific that for Donald Trump to win the election. Thus with the penalty for not writing and sending a poem by midnight was set: whoever missed must donate $50.00 to Trump’s campaign and announce it loudly and publicly on all social media platforms. 7-Minute Poetry Challenge set, we commenced writing poems. Needless to say, we DID NOT miss a day and have committed to continue creating a poem-a-day as long as he is in office. (Frankly, I’d be happy to quit, so please help dethrone him.) After more than 400 days of the challenge we began creating prompts to share. Poetry Lab was born.
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