Week 5 in Isolation - May 10, 2020 - The Heat Is On

This week some people are plain bored while others see crisis unfold in their regions.

BY G P Kennedy

Soaring temperatures in Pakistan; rising numbers everywhere; separating fact from fiction and propaganda in Turkey; a dangerous deterioration in Nigeria sparks action; music feeds New York City; Tokyo blossoms on lockdown; boredom envelopes London; and we start with a pain in the ass dancing with the kids in Australia.

Espe – Perth, Australia

This week has been a productive one.  I went back to work, for a planning day with the teachers (with no students).  This day was still filled with anxiety thinking I would have to send both kids back to school the following day.  Xavier had a tight chest on the weekend with mild cold symptoms.  Our doctor advised to keep him home as he was considered in the ‘high risk’ group with asthma.  Thankfully, my work organized paid carers leave from the Covid-19 resources having exhausted all other sick and careers leave up to date.

  I home schooled them for the rest of the week.  I would love to see more widespread testing with children and staff.  I am still struggling to understand the inconsistency with the social distancing rules between children in learning environments (classrooms) to break times.  The difference between children and adults with social distancing rules has baffled me throughout this pandemic journey so far.  

 This week, Australia has reached 6,783 confirmed cases, 93 deaths and 5,789 people recovered covid-19 cases.  Most schools have advised students to return to school.  The 1.5m social distancing rule does not need to be followed for in classroom learning.  Yet when socializing at recess and lunch times, the 1.5m rule should apply.  Restrictions for social distancing remains but the government has eased some of the rules and some workplaces have reopened for normal business.  Retail has started to open their doors as well.  Groups of up to 10 people can gather with the easing of social distancing rules.  The government is urging the public to use the Covi-19 app as another tool for Australians in this pandemic.  The app has raised concerns within the public on the privacy issues.  

Highlight of the week was spending quality time outside on our lawn chatting with our little family. Unfortunately, I pulled a muscle (right buttocks region) whoops, during a dance- off with kids. I tried to do the splits and look cool.  The pain was horrific and long lasting. LOL moment for kids.

Tassy – Karachi, Pakistan

The weeks are rolling into each other and I find myself often looking at my phone to see what day of the week it is. Every few weeks the government seems to be extending the lockdown by another couple of weeks. The number of cases seems to be spiraling upwards, which is frightening, considering that the country has been under some form of lock down for the past 9 weeks. Outwardly even though businesses are officially closed there seems to be a number of cars on the roads going somewhere or the other. It seems as if some businesses are open but keep their shutters down, and some people frustrated at being cooped up at home, are visiting close family and friends. There is still no public transport, but motorcycles and three wheeler rickshaws - both popular modes of transportation in Pakistan can be seen. Pillion riding on motorcycles is officially banned but it is not strictly being adhered to. The government seems to have given into pressure from clerics, and mosques are also open for prayers. Those that are sensible and more importantly can afford to stay at home, are staying put, but the large majority are trying to make ends meet in whatever way they can.

Meanwhile more than 100,000 overseas Pakistanis, mainly those stranded in the Middle East, after having lost their jobs registered themselves with the embassies seeking early arrangements for their return. As world wide recession hits, foreign remittances from Pakistanis working abroad amounting to a bulk of the country’s foreign exchange is likely to take a big knock.

The weather has already become extremely hot and the prospect of a long, hot and dry summer with temperatures up to 113f /45c is daunting. A heat wave is expected this week, and my heart goes out to those who are suffering in cramped homes and reliant on others for food and water.

I am still fasting from sunrise to sunset on account of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan. Even though I am a stickler for routines, I find myself procrastinating on projects that I had set aside to do. I’m losing enthusiasm for reaching out to people on the phone, and even baking and trying out new dishes to cook. I have been spending a lot of time on quiet activities, such as yoga, reading, painting, meditation, you tube videos linked to spirituality or my own work. I have noticed that my appetite has gone down. In my house my husband is keeping long hours with zoom calls and work, and my daughter who came to us from Canada when university went on line also seems to have her own routine going. I’m so happy that I’m not living on my own, and have their company for chats, meals and discussions. Our dog Mario has been the real savior keeping us constantly entertained and bringing the family together for laughter and cuddles. I am a little anxious as to when I will see my son who chose to stay on at his campus in Chicago but try and speak to him often through video calls.  I have not been listening to too much music. The silence has been a welcome change. I live in the heart of a bustling city so usually there is noise from the streets outside. That has changed now, and the koels–cuckoos found in the Indian sub continent, that come out at this time of the year marking the start of the mango season sit on the tree in my garden and I enjoy listening to their distinct birdsong.  I have spent a lot of time reflecting on how I would like to do things differently in a world post COVID-19. I look at my wardrobe full of clothes and personal accessories that have remained untouched since we started this crisis. This period has taught me I need far less than what I possess, so severely curtailing consumerism is going to be one such way. I am using my time in meditation to understand what this crisis is trying to teach us. Implementing some changes in my life is going to be my way forward.

Peace – Lagos, Nigeria

Our 5^th week of lockdown, some people listened to government others went out, as much possible Some people adhered, but we belong to a society where many of our people live based on daily pay so not being able to go out to work meant a lot of them suffering.

Nigeria is a difficult country to govern and this Coronavirus pandemic has shown us all we are not ready for any emergency.

The total lockdown will be eased off from Monday 4^th May, but many of us are wondering why? As the figures have started spiking up and we are running out of emergency isolation space in Lagos according to the Nigerian Center for disease control.

It seems our government has no choice but to ease the lockdown and implement a kind of workflow that would mean the country becomes dependent on herd immunity.

I had this week was the fact that the Monks at the Benedictine Monastery of EWU in Edo Estate has found a kind of cure for the COVID19, for me as someone who has survived for the last 10 years based on a major part of the medication from this monastery, directly through my spiritual directors Brother Mathew who is at the monastery, Father Anslem has helped so many people with Pax herbals, they have discovered so many cures for diseases including diabetes, cancer, BP and many more for me I have an auto immune issue which even made my skin change color, and other issues with the herbal remedies from PAX  and others I have regained 85% of my pigmentation , I still have some issues with my immunity but I have a good balance in my life after going off western medication.  I just pray that rather than wait for the usual approval from our colonial masters our Government and its people will put some time and money into looking at the work which been done by PAX herbals, the good thing with herbs is that under the supervision of a good herbalist there is not likely to be horrible side effects.

Africa has to learn embrace some of its home grown solutions, I am glad to see the work done by the government of Madagascar in finding a natural cure and giving it to his people, Madagascar has 149 cases, cured 98 and no deaths, its called COVID –Organics It is produced from the Artemisia plant - the source of an ingredient used in a malaria treatment. Now the medication may not cure Coronavirus but might prevent it, why can’t WHO put some effort into testing these remedies from Africa, is it because it will not pay the BIG pharmacies if Africa has a herbal cure? Or will it mean that we can get away from the “BILLYGATE” vaccines, For me all avenues should be exploited and not dismiss African natural remedies because of economics of making money. Conspiracy theorist will have us believe so many things, but I rather just seek that all solutions be looked into to quickly find a solution.

Nigeria has increased it’s testing figures but I still don’t think its near enough, I pray they embrace faster and less tedious testing mechanisms so that we can discover, Isolate and treat faster.

Some states are ready some states are not; I DON’T THINK WE ARE TESTING ENOUGH!!!!

#Sorry lockdown Rant over

I actually just tried to read reports on the effects of COVID19 the world.

This week I actually didn’t have much of an appetite for food,

Got pissed off with my security men at the gate who would not stop abandoning the gate to go hang out with some friends down the road. For them they won’t get the virus or am making too much of a big deal out of this virus.

My parish priests reached on Sunday that was surprising, but a nice surprise just to check on how am doing Father and I have our fights he thinks am Rebel in the church, I tend to sneak in to mass most Sundays and sit at the back. I think a part of me missed the weekly service although we all worship on line.

We hosted a Webinar for the understanding of funding the creative industry in Africa it was mainlining the Goldmine in the creative industry

Friends checking in and see how I am doing,

Reflections on the things that needs to be done to uplift the quality of life of the people in Africa

Fear that the numbers will increase and many will die because some state governments did not take this seriously they should.

I have launched MaskedUP AFRICA so will be busy raising awareness for Masks for people in Africa,

Been a very thoughtful week for me, I have yelled, I have cried and I have decided its time to stop wallowing, complaining and Start doing something $1 will mask one person so I am going to reach out to as many people as I can to make the change within my Africa, we must survive this as continent and as world

The latest stats show that, one in three Africans— 422 million people—live below the global poverty line. They represent more than 70 percent of the world's poorest people

 Over 90million Nigerians live on the poverty line so it means that most of these won’t be able to buy the required masks.

AFRICA is the initiative of the Africa Film Academy; we intend raise funds and MaskUp AFRICA for the prevention of COVID19 as we try to find a way round this pandemic

Daniel – New York City, USA

This has kind of a week of ups and downs. And let me preface this by saying that things for us are still very stable: at this point we have enough money, enough food, and our health continues to be fine. But, within that extremely privileged context, it’s been more challenging this week than it had been before.

I’m very fortunate in that my life - professional and personal - mostly revolves around creativity. And over the past few years, I’d been wondering why the process of making things had become less fun. Less playful than when I was a kid, a teenager. Not that I wasn’t enjoying it anymore, just that a lot of my creative time had begun to feel heavy. Pressured. Less joyful.

For me, the beginning of the lockdown opened a bit of a door. It seemed to provide an opportunity to make things - songs, films, pictures - in the same way that I did when I was much younger: before I did it for (very little!) money, before I felt the weight of expectation, before I found myself comparing what I was doing to what everyone else was doing. In a way, it felt again like nobody was watching. Like nothing was expected of me. It felt like play again. So that was great. I also found myself thinking about two things I often think about: collaborations and the tiny audience.

I’ve always loved collaborating. And, with the ease of email and digital files, those kinds of projects are super easy to do now (at least with music). So I started reaching out to friends and sending songs back and forth. I’d made it clear to people that this was all very low stakes, which we shouldn’t think about making masterpieces, we should just try and have fun. And, almost immediately, that’s what it was. Not only was I getting the chance to make good on years of “we should do something sometime,” but also - at this moment when I couldn’t see anybody in person - hearing their playing and singing through my headphones was incredible. Made the world a bit smaller and soothed any anxiety I was feeling about the whole COVID situation.

The other thing I’d been thinking about - and this also predates the lockdown - is the idea of the tiny audience. I’d come to this a few years ago after hearing an interview with someone - maybe a comedy writer, maybe a comedian - and they were asked who the funniest person/movie/comedian they’d ever seen was. And the answer - paraphrased very loosely here - was that it was a friend of theirs. And, specifically, the phone calls between the two of them. He went on to talk about how often the funniest moments in life don’t involve movies or TV shows or stand up comedians, but rather are about much more intimate settings. Phone calls. Dinners. An office. About how, by nature, the larger the audience, the broader the material. And it really struck me as being true, that the times I’d laughed hardest and longest were with friends: in-jokes, shared experiences, etc. I’d been thinking about this all a lot, but began to think about it more during the lockdown and decided that I’d like to make things that just a few people would, hopefully, enjoy. Songs. Videos. Pictures.

So, as the lockdown began, I did just that. And it felt great; it felt uncomplicated. I started a daily video that one friend - someone in a very difficult situation right now - said made her days a bit better. So I began to think about it as a kind of communication just to her. And that drove me to continue it. I had another (different) idea for a weekly video and started that, too. Really fun to do and more people seem to like that (but still only a dozen or so). Which is all really good.

But this was the week I finished the first of the music collaborations and shared it on my Facebook page. And, once I’d clicked “share” (or “post” or “send”), I felt that weight of expectation and need for approval again. Would people like it? Would they think I was talented? Would they think I’d tried hard enough? Everything about this stuff that had dropped away at the beginning of the lockdown came roaring back. So I spent a couple of days feeling a bit blue about it. But then, lacking the usual rats nest of concerns that accompany and complicate (and make teasing out solutions challenging) our everyday NYC 21st century lives, I spent some time talking with my wife - also an artist - about it. Thinking it through and asking myself questions about why it all mattered to me. And, while I can’t say that I’m confident that it’ll be different for all time, I can say that the experience of the last week has reminded me why I make things in the first place. I make them because it’s how I express myself. I make them because it reminds me who I am. I make them because I enjoy making them. If people like what I do that’s fine. If not, that’s fine, too. So we’ll see if that sticks, LOL.

In the US, the big story has been about the continuing divide between the idiots who don’t understand how little we still know about this virus - and so want everything put back to normal right away, health be damned - and the people who are actually concerned about the health of the population. There are people with machine guns storming state government offices, demanding at-home orders be lifted, with the approval of our child president.

There’ve been a few changes over the last week or so. We’ve noticed a lot more car traffic on roads close to the bridges and tunnels, so there does appear to be a significant increase in commuting through Manhattan. But side streets and most of the avenues still seem pretty empty.

One piece of good news is that a number of the neighborhood bodegas have re-opened. We were really concerned that all of those employees would be out of jobs, but that doesn’t seem to be the case. I also think it’s a kind of “early growth” sign: as the bodegas go, the neighborhood will go. At least that’s what I’m hoping.

 Once a week we get take out food. Thus far it’s always been from our local ramen place, Mr. Taka Ramen. And this week, when we brought our order home, we found a post-it note inside - hand-written - that thanked us at length for our continued patronage. It was a small thing, but were both incredibly moved by it.

 Things have been very challenging for my wife’s parents - both 87 years old and living on the Upper West Side.

 One thing that science and public health experts have been trying to drive home is that this could very well just be the beginning of a larger health crisis. And I think people need to think less whether or not they’ll get their summer vacation and more about how they’ll cope with 2-3 years of a version of what we’re experiencing now. And how they might prepare themselves (ourselves) for a more lethal second round.

 Sally - London, UK

 Feeling really bored and although the weeks seem to be speeding up, I feel like I am slowing down. I am tired from doing nothing; I feel fatigued almost jet lagged.  The baby is obviously keeping us going but I feel like I could lock myself in the bedroom and sleep for a week.

 The death toll in the UK is over 28,000 and although all these people had Covid 19 when they died I personally don’t believe that all of them died from this virus. A large number of people die daily anyway and we are not seeing comparisons between the before and during figures.  The government is very good at scaremongering.

 A few months ago our Prime Minister announced that he and his fiancé were expecting a child in the summer. But in the last few weeks he’s had Covid, recovered from Covid and now had a baby.  Yet no one has mentioned that the baby seems to have been born very early? No one has also mentioned that it’s his 5th maybe 6th child with 3 different women. If we had a female PM it would be a whole different media circus with a lot of name-calling!!! Just saying!

 We are getting a lot of conflicting advice from the Government - lock down maybe lifted soon - we are waiting for a second wave of the virus - go out - stay in - blah blah blah.  The UK left it too late before we were told to stay in which is why we have a high death rate so we now need to learn from other countries and stay at home for longer.

 Since lockdown most people have been going out in their cars less and less, only using them to go to the shop for a big shop. The last time I drove my car was 2 weeks ago so when we went to do a big shop a few days ago I realized my catalytic converter had been stolen from my car.  We stay at home and the thieves come out.  Because of everything that is going on at the moment the insurance company can’t source a new part and can’t give me a courtesy car as Key Workers are given priority for them. So I am stuck with a car that doesn’t work but also it means I have to go to the shops more often to do lots of little shops instead of one big one, putting my family more at risk.

 My family and friends are good.  My parents seems to be getting to grips more with the internet, my mum is doing You Tube yoga sessions and is slowly working her way through the 1000’s of different teachers and disciplines available online, not because she wants to try them all but because she can’t work out how to go back to the video she watched last time ha-ha.  My dad is learning how to bake. Him and my mum have made cakes and bread over the last few weeks.

 This week I decided to contact friends, colleagues etc. that I know are either living by themselves or that I can see from social media, are starting to feel the strain. Just a text or WhatsApp to check in on them, which has also been good for me to be chatting to more people. I have also been doing more Zoom Pub Quizzes and probably been speaking to friends a lot more than I have before this all started.

 We noticed that our daily routine was getting a bit stale. We would get up, have breakfast and then put CBeebies on the TV for the baby and then leave it on that channel all day as background noise. But over the last week we have been putting on MTV Classics, they have a quiz on in the mornings of Guess The Year, the baby has been enjoying us dancing around the room with her and me and my boyfriend have been enjoying Guessing The Year and the telling each other what the songs remind us of, where we were in life when they were released etc. which has been great fun. 

Ian and Minako – Tokyo, Japan

 We are both very well. Temperatures are rising, we are re-adjusting to the climate switching to our summer wardrobe and bedding. We may have to resort to using the aircon cooling soon.

 The number of daily reported cases for Tokyo has been very erratic this week ranging between 39 and 165 per day. There have been 141 deaths so far. Nationally there have been over 14,877 cases and 517 deaths.

 We have now entered Golden Week, so called because there are several public holidays together so by including the weekends and a couple of days holiday allocation workers can enjoy their one and only long holiday of the year. Normally families would travel to visit relatives in other parts of the country or abroad and stay at holiday destinations, go to the beach or nature areas. It’s the busiest time of year for travel. It will be interesting to see how many people refrain from travelling and going out. Roads to some popular areas have been coned off and people are being urged to cancel their flights – some 60,000 flights were originally booked to Okinawa but the Okinawa governor pleaded for them not to come so many have been cancelled.

 The Tokyo governor is repeating that this year Golden Week is “Stay Home Week” with the motto “Stay home, Stay in Tokyo and Save Lives”.

 A somewhat bizarre effect of all this is that all the beautiful flower heads are being cut off at some of the public gardens where crowds normally gather to admire them. It’s the only way to stop people coming but it looks so sad seeing videos of gardeners chopping off rows of fresh tulips, roses, lilies etc. and throwing them away.

 The state of emergency is about to be extended for a further month at least. There’s no definite news about schools returning or any loosening of our limited lockdown. Like in most other countries, the hospitals are over-stretched and many have a severe shortage of protective equipment. To ease the burden, many non-urgent cases are being moved to hotels.

 Sometimes the suburbs like ours seem busier than downtown Tokyo. People aren’t commuting to the city center but many still go out to the local parks, shops, bars etc. Children can't play on the swings and slides now so they climb trees, play sports and paddle in the stream instead.  

 Some people are still picnicking but not in large groups, too many joggers squeeze past on the narrow paths, some panting with their mouths open which is pretty gross even when there isn't a pandemic! Of course, this is only a very small fraction of the population which overall is mostly abiding by the restrictions even though it's voluntary. I can’t imagine there would ever be anything like the USA anti-lockdown movement in Japan.

 We did a seed swap with one of our neighbors, so we’re now growing carrots and rocket along with plants we already had, our little balcony is becoming like a proper garden with a wide variety of new shoots.

 A highlight for the week was – Cake! Another sort-of takeaway. Our favorite cafes are either closed completely or only doing limited takeaways now so we’ve been missing our coffee-and-cake treats. But the proprietor of one place also does special celebratory cakes. It wasn’t for any specific anniversary but we ordered a vegan strawberry and cream cake with the words “Happiness Always!” on top to celebrate, because every day is special! We met up in the park and she handed it over carefully, we took it home and enjoyed it with our own freshly ground coffee. A delicious treat!

 We’re avoiding going to shops, especially supermarkets as much as possible but online ordering is becoming more difficult as the companies struggle to cope with the amount of orders. Many food items are limited to one per household and many other items, which are probably regarded as non-essential, are unavailable. Hopefully things will improve as companies and suppliers take on more staff and adjust.

 Growing things wherever possible, even on a windowsill indoors, is good for you.

 We love music but don’t have it on all the time as it distracts us from working, talking or listening to the birdsongs outside etc. Maybe we’re listening to a bit more now but that could be because we’re at home more and we’ve also bought a few more records recently because artists we like happened to be releasing more at the moment and we want to support them as well as enjoy their new creations.

Gul – Istanbul, Turkey

 Well, we left our flat for the first time in 53 days the other day and it felt great. We wore our masks plus our face shields, walked around quiet side streets for about 30 mins.

This week has passed quickly since watching films on TV or Netflix rather than keeping updated with Covid news at all times. We really liked After Life, a brilliant British funny comedy drama.

 The numbers of people who have died in hospitals have reached 3,174 as of 1^st May; the case number is over 120,000. The Turkish Medical Association (TMA) says Turkey's official coronavirus death statistics do not include cases that strongly indicate Covid-19 but test negative. I believe we can easily double the numbers.

 In facing coronavirus, Turkey is using its own path. When you think Turkey’s case numbers, most countries are implementing a full lockdown. They say, a partial lockdown, like Turkey can balance keeping some of the economy functioning while still trying to contain the outbreak. But at the rate Turkey is going right now, there is risk this won't be sufficient.

Health Minister Fahrettin Koca argues that Turkey's mortality rate just above 2% is due to the country's large healthcare capacity and a treatment protocol that is different than other countries. Turkey uses the malaria drug hydroxychloroquine and favipiravir, a Japanese antiviral, much earlier than other countries in the onset of Covid-19. However, many medical experts oppose the use of the malaria drug. We’ll see whether this alternative strategy will be enough to control the epidemic.

 Recently, the Turkish government has been sending equipment and supplies to many developed countries, including the United States, the UK with an undertone of Turkey’s supposed power over those countries in this time of crisis.

 Turkey likes national success stories, one of them happened this week. There was a headline story that a man who lives in Sweden got coronavirus but he was sent home without any treatment. The story was immediately realized as a golden propaganda opportunity in Turkey. President Erdoğan personally got involved with, and a private plane was sent to Sweden to take the patient and his family back to Turkey. The whole process was documented and promoted on the news. Most people believe the guy’s health wasn’t really serious. I agree.

 In addition, this week a police officer has shot dead a 17-year-old Syrian teenager in Adana.

He was reportedly trying to avoid receiving a fine due to the curfew imposed on those below the age of 20. He probably was out on the street because he had to continue working to make a living. It’s so sad. With a good social media campaign, we pushed the authorities to arrest the police officer.

 My sister and my niece gave a nice surprise for me yesterday; they brought their cat, Lila. I rushed down the stairs and we had a chat in the entrance of our building. Of course we all had our masks on. I’m missing Lila so much. It was a really great moment to be able to hold her for 5 minutes. While I was out with my sister, saw the lady who lives next to our flat. I asked how they were because they have an autistic son, she said she’s been all-alone with the boy for weeks as husband went to see his family to the southern region but he’s not allowed to come back due to restrictions. How sad.

 I’m surprising that everything is becoming more and more normal. I’m not sure how we’ll go back to our ‘usual’ normal. I can’t believe I have not a single highlight of my week. I lost my identity to the virus. Despite these hard times, I admire people to stay productive and learn as much as they can. I still can’t concentrate on anything serious. I’m doing absolutely nothing. Is it bad? I just want this to be over.