Edited BY G P Kennedy
As people start to take their first tentative steps outside, our Storytellers maintain social distancing while trying to establish a new normal.
Some governments fare better than others in terms of financial assistance and clarity of message.
The week was punctuated by a national tragedy that killed nearly 100 people in one of our Story cities. The plane crash struck close to home for…
Tassy – Karachi, Pakistan
After a pretty dull few weeks it has been a tumultuous few days. We had a national tragedy a few days ago, with a plane carrying 97 passengers from Lahore crash landing in a residential locality in Karachi two minutes before landing. As the horrendous images and news emerged we found that we knew of a few people on the ill-fated flight, including parents of my husband`s colleague from work.
The news really shook the whole nation. This tragic incident happened a day before the end of the month long period of fasting and the end of the holy month of Ramadan, which makes the tragedy even sadder. As we marked our biggest festival of the year - Eid, celebrations were marred, and the mood has been somber and subdued.
At the same time with an ease of lockdown in the country last week, and the opening of many shops, markets, hair dressing salons and mosques, it seems to be business as usual in the country. There is traffic on the roads (although public transport is still officially not operating) and people are out and about. When I drive in my car I see a lot of people on the roads with no masks, and social distancing is also not being observed.
We as a family decided to continue to remain vigilant. We did however venture out to my parents to have Eid lunch yesterday, which was lovely. I felt like a human being again wearing
nice clothes, make up and jewelry. I never realized how much excitement there was just going to my parents for a meal. In the evening we went to a friend’s house and sat in their garden and chatted. It was just their family and ours.
Whilst we were there, a group of wandering Sufi singers came into their garden and performed a ‘qawali’ for us. It felt quite surreal listening to the group of 4 singers, with their rhythmic singing, drumming and use of the harmonium. As the sun set in the humid and sultry evening, and we sat spaced out on the grass, I felt quite emotional with an array of feelings that ranged from joy and love, to sadness and gratitude. When we came home we were excitedly welcomed back by our dog, who had not been away from us for so long over the last two months! I realized then that Mario our Shihtzu was possibly the happiest during this crisis, with all that constant love and attention showered on him having the three of us in the house 24/7!
We have holidays for Eid for the next four days and we do plan on seeing a couple of friends whilst maintaining some form of social distancing. Just being able to do this has livened up my mood tremendously.
Covid cases however continue to rise and as things are opening up we seem to be reaching new peaks in the number of cases being recorded daily. Death rates still seem to be lower in South Asia than what I am reading about in Europe and the US.
There seems to be some correlation between having a very young population, exposure to a number of existing viruses and diseases, and living under constant heat that seems to be some of the reasons for the lower death rates in our part of the world. I still think it is early days and I continue to remain wary. Cases in Pakistan have yet to peak, and hospitals have already placed signs saying they cannot accept any more Covid patients. The lockdown has been eased far too early in my opinion.
I realize I have started going out a bit now, but I am vigilant and my awareness is on high alert. After a month of fasting for 16 hours without food and water, I feel a little more energized, upbeat and optimistic. I hope it is not just the initial euphoria and that my positivity is not in for a let down.
Daniel – New York City, USA
I hate to sound like a broken record, but I’m well. Very happy - and not at all taking it for granted - to say that we’re both still healthy and, for the time being, doing fine financially. There really isn’t an hour that goes by that I don’t think about how fortunate we are to be in that position.
I’m losing track of it all to be honest. The idiot in the White House continues to shock and amaze many of us with arrogance and stupidity.
The latest news is that he’s now disputing the death numbers - without any good reason - and demanding that churches be open. Of course the latter is something he has no authority to do, but shows how willing he is to pander to idiotic churchgoers whose votes he’s so desperate for. I suppose one of the things running through my mind as of late is how, if he gets re-elected in November, there’ll be no doubt as to what this country wants and how far down the drain it’s gone.
The empire is over, people.
It’s been another week of slightly increased activity on the streets. More cars, more people. I mean, it’s still a ghost town, but it doesn’t seem quite like the post-apocalyptic streetscape it did two months ago. But the vast majority of businesses are still closed (by law) and I’m worried that many of them won’t make it.
The good news is that some restaurants - offering only take out - have re-opened and it’s been really lovely to see the people who own and staff those establishments. So that’s nice.
What’s a week? Just seems like an endless stream of days. I suppose the highlight was getting some parts for my new record - bass parts - that a friend played and sent to me. It wasn’t just the fact that I was hearing her playing through my headphones; it was the playing itself - absolutely stunning.
There was also a kind of incredible bike ride. We’d just been up on the Upper West Side seeing my in-laws and rode down West End Avenue - much of which has been closed to cars - and then 11th Avenue, which would normally be suicide on a bike. Trucks, cabs, buses. But there just wasn’t much traffic.
It provided us with a view of a part of the city - one that’s gotten very built up over the last 5-10 years -, which neither of us had really seen before. We agreed that, had you just dropped us in that spot, we wouldn’t have been to say with any certainly what city we were in. That was pretty great.
Oh, and our $1200 checks from the government arrived. Still waiting on unemployment, but there seems to have been some slight movement on that front as well.
I’m not sure how people are feeling elsewhere in the world, but it really seems to me that we’re a very long way from knowing what this virus will do next.
There’s a sense that people here are dying to get back to the mall and the shitty restaurants and Disneyworld and whatever else it is they do with the money they don’t have, but my sense is that we’d all be a fuck of a lot smarter to just figure out ways to adapt to the situation we all find ourselves in.
Yes, I know that’s easier said than done, but there seem to be a lot of white people here wallowing in self-pity.
Ian and Minako – Tokyo, Japan
The number of daily reported cases for Tokyo is now very low, less than 10 per day but 14 today, maybe a slight post-holiday surge. There have been 271 deaths so far. Nationally there have been over 16,231 cases and 821 deaths.
Japan is divided into 47 prefectures and the state of emergency has already been lifted in 39 of them, then subsequently another 3 prefectures. This doesn't seem to have caused any problems so now it is very like that it will be lifted this week for the remaining 5 which include Tokyo and surrounding areas and Hokkaido.
The Tokyo governor has announced a three-stage post-emergency exit roadmap. More places (shops, bars, galleries) are already opening up or at least preparing to soon, schools may start returning for just 1 day a week then slowly increasing, museums and indoor sporting facilities will be re-opening. There will still be as much social distancing as possible and, of course, almost everyone wears a mask.
We received our application form to claim our 100,000 Yen ($930) per person, which is being handed out to every registered resident adult. In theory it's possible to apply online but although Japan has a high-tech image it's not really very good at online stuff, they always over-complicate matters and apparently it fails a lot. Much easier to fill in the form and post it and be relieved that at least we didn't have to fax it!
We had a nervous couple of days this week as we had to visit a hospital twice. It was nothing serious but it was our first time on public transport for several weeks and we were worried that the hospital might be crowded. Fortunately it wasn't too bad at all, the bus was almost empty, they keep the windows open (unless it's raining), there is staff at the hospital entrance to check your temperature and make sure you use the hand cleaner.
We got the impression that the hospital was not over-stretched, there were very few people waiting to see doctors, no-one coughed and masks are mandatory which is re-assuring.
This period between end of cherry blossom time and start of the rainy season is ideal for long walks, warm but not too hot, mostly dry and no mosquitoes yet. So we've had a few long strolls lately and this week we went to the popular Ghibli Museum, which is in an adjacent town on the far side of the lovely Inokashira Park.
The museum is closed due to the pandemic but it's still an interesting building to see, saying Hello to Totoro and photograph from the outside. All the parks and gardens are full of sweet smelling roses and jasmines and so many bright colors right now. It was a very rewarding 9km walk.
We've been missing the times when we could really enjoy our walks around our park, as it was relaxing and quiet. It’s been a few months now and we find that it’s tiring having to feel appalled by and critical of those not adhering to the rules on social distancing, picnicking, or jogging too close without masks.
In normal times we would be pleased to see people out exercising and families having fun, we want to get that feeling back. Meantime, we tend to explore outside the park more, which is much quieter, refreshing and it’s a bonus when we discover something new!
The state of emergency in Tokyo was Monday the 25th. As learning from other countries where the lockdown restrictions are lifted, there could well be a rebound in the number of infected cases. Our glasses might get steamed up but we all should keep the masks on and we must not be complacent!
Gul – Istanbul, Turkey
I feel better these days as the epidemic is quite under control in Turkey now. I think it’s the uncertainty the hardest thing to handle. There are still so many things outside of our control.
The situation in Turkey is pretty well, when you compare to the other countries. The number of new cases, deaths and patients in intensive care are gradually decreasing There are under 1000 new cases each day and the total death is 4200. The lockdown, travel restrictions and mandatory mask wearing appear to be working.
Therefore, the travel restrictions are being lifted in most of the cities except the 15 cities, including Istanbul. Also Turkey has decided to ease restrictions for over 65 who were stuck their home more than 2 moths. Now they will be allowed travel for their second home if they wish, however the restrictions are still applying if they stay in those 15 cities.
There’s a nationwide lockdown for 4 days, during the Eid al Fitr, holly festival. People usually visit their family members, eat together and celebrate the end of Ramadan. It will be an odd one this year.
The weather was nice and sunny so you could see more people on the streets despite all the warnings. More shops and hairdressers & barbershops started to open this week. But restaurants, cafes, and mosques remain closed. My cousin’s wedding in mid June has been postponed, as all wedding venues are still remaining closed.
We were in holy month, Ramadan, the first time ever in my life, I’ve seen religious people are not allowed to go to their mosques. This would’ve seen absolutely wrong if we had a left wing government. I must mention that; Turkish people are very serious about their mosques. For example, hackers broke into the sound systems of mosques in Izmir the other day and played the protest song ‘Bella Ciao’.
An investigation has been launched for ‘publicly degrading religious values’. As a result, the people who shared a video showing the incident through social media were prosecuted and a local politician was arrested. Another thing happened in Kayseri, a very conservative city. A man (he was Iranian) has been detained after hanging a towel with the Union Jack during May 19 Youth and Sports Day. It’s obvious that the towel was out to dry but neighbors found it offensive (idiots) and had complaint to authorities displaying the UK flag was a provocative act.
I’ve been out for couple of times this week and walked to my sister’s home. I was desperate for a haircut and my sister cut my hair. She’ll do my husband’s hair too. He’s not happy but we have no other choice.
We were expecting travel restrictions would be lifted by now. We don’t know when we’ll be allowed to go to our summer place. I’m checking the news everyday to see any light of the tunnel. We might have to fly instead of renting a car but we can’t book any flights before travel restrictions are lifted.
Sally – London, UK
It’s been a funny week - the days are slipping by. We have another bank holiday this week but it doesn’t mean anything anymore. We don’t have work so the long weekends are no different from any other day of the week.
I have a ball of anxiety in my stomach that I can’t seem to shake. We are now on day 60 something of lockdown and realistically I can’t see when it will end. When will I see my family again, when will I see my friends, when will I go back to work, when will life go back to “normal”, will “normal’ ever be the same.
So lockdown has been relaxed a bit the last week, but with a lot of mixed messages. The main one being that you can meet one person, not from your household, for a walk outdoors. Many people have taken this to mean that you can meet friends and socialize. Parks have been busier with groups of people and families mixing, especially in the hot weather we are having at the moment.
Another rule is that certain people can go back to work so you can have a cleaner come in your house and clean (at a social distance) but you still can’t have family around??
There is a meme going round on social media at the moment that estate agents can bring people in to your house to view it but you can’t have family around so my parents are booked in for a viewing at 3pm!! Its crazy.
It’s no wonder that people are confused when the government is giving mixed messages.
The UK still has one of the highest death rates in Europe and if people are mixing more, then I can only see this number rising higher.
We have also been told that some schools can reopen the first week of June but it is not compulsory to send your child back. I can’t see how anyone would want to put their child at risk when the Government hasn’t even opened the House of Commons fully?
Our area has certainly gotten busier. We live opposite a park and where it has always been busy with dog walkers and cyclists, we have noticed a rise in number of cars parking outside the entrance with groups of people meeting there and having picnics.
The roads in general are busier and on the news it said lots of people have been driving to the coast and then complaining that there are so many people there. I would love to go to the beach and introduce the baby to the sea (even the cold British sea) but we know that we aren’t meant to travel far unless its for necessity and although going to the beach would do our mental health a world of good, we don’t want to put ourselves at risk.
So even though the rules have been relaxed, our lives haven’t changed yet, we are still doing exactly the same that we have been doing for the last few months.
I mentioned a few weeks ago that a friend had lost a parent due to an illness not Covid 19 related but he hadn’t been able to go home for the funeral, well today, me, my boyfriend and the baby did a ‘drive by’ his house and we had a socially distanced chat.
It was only for about 15 minutes and I was desperate to get out the car and give him a hug but we didn’t. He said we are the first people apart from his girlfriend that he has seen since his mum died and that our visit meant so much to him. It was nice to think that such a small gesture like that was so appreciated.
My lowlight is the same as it has been since this whole thing started. I miss my family, I want to hug my mum and dad, and I want to see my sister and my nieces. I want to be able to leave London for a while. I want my boyfriend to see his family. I want the baby to see her grandparents. I want this to be over.
Comments
Post a Comment