Livin' La Vida Lockdown Day 40

There is a lot to be said about the number 40. Spanning many religions and cultures - it is the number that represents transformation, purification and...

"Quarantine, the practice of isolation to prevent the spread of epidemic disease, derives from a Venetian dialect of the Italian 'quaranta giorni' meaning 'forty days', the period that ships were required to be isolated before passengers and crew could go ashore during the Black Death."

( Nerd up and read https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/40_(number) for all the 40's references)

What has 40 days of this quarantine shown? No pain, no gain. Malaysia's figures are declining very steadily - we are flattening the curve. For real. But we have all collectively had to endure a lot to do that. And it is not over yet.

Meanwhile, as some of Australia seems to struggle with how "strict" their lockdown is - I sit back quietly horrified and not at all surprised at the lack of community-mindedness. After 40 days and having been in this reality now for months it takes a lot to shock me - but the levels of complacency on display in Sydney and parts of NSW is really very concerning.

Do people not read the international news anymore? Do they not see the death toll in the UK, Spain, Italy or the refrigeration units that are now mobile morgues dotting beautiful New York City? Did we miss the memo - are they now somehow immune? What part of this picture is not getting through to folks there?

For those of us who are expats looking in from other parts of the world - we all shake our heads and say 'you actually are not even in a lockdown yet - so why is this so hard to manage or understand?' we simply can't comprehend it. I am also pretty sure the cops of Australia have way more important things to be doing right now too - like dealing with the spike in DV. But hey let's get them to spend their valuable time telling entitled dickheads who cant measure in metres to get off the beach. Priorities people - check your privilege.

So let's get some perspective and see what actual strict social distancing measures and restrictions can look like:

- Thailand, Philippines and South Africa have a booze ban in place during lockdown. Some have banned cigarettes too. If this happened in Australia there would be a revolution.
- Curfews are par for the course.
- Some South American countries have shopping based on set days and gender. Tuesday for the ladies Wednesday for the gents. Imagine.
- Most countries in the world have made masks mandatory and for some, it's a criminal offence if you don't wear one eg India. Meanwhile, Australian's are often still debating their effectiveness. Just wear one.
- Where roadblocks, army and cops are present at every single intersection and bridge crossing - they are not just there to tell you to turn around and go home during the Easter holidays or to stop swimming at Bronte. They want to know why you are even outside. And you better have all your ID with you or you will be detained.
- Where staying home means exactly that. At HOME. No contact deliveries. Queuing once a week for a food shop at the most. Written authority to go from one area to the next. No schools open. Only essential businesses open. (And no - buying bath mats, clothes and toys at K Mart is not 'essential' nor is that trip to JB Hi Fi - most of the world has proven all that can be done online, if at all ).
- Standard 1 hour allocations for groceries a week are commonplace - where only one person per family can shop. 1. Not the whole extended tribe including your second cousin.
- One passenger per car and temperature checks at every single point of contact are also standard.
- 100 m dog walks for 10 minutes maximum - if at all. Yep pooch is in lockdown too in a lot of places.
- And no, in case anyone was wondering you can’t just queue up for food or coffee as an excuse to stand around with your mates in your activewear.

This is the reality of a real rona stopping lockdown. And it is the reality for a lot of the world right now. Essential is just that - essential.

Which also means:
- No outdoor exercise - none - no bike rides, walks around the neighbourhood, swims, social distanced picnics, jogs, surfs, walks in the country or seaside strolls - no matter how empty it is. The slipstream is proven - transmission is up to 13 m - breathing in deeply all that heavily exhaled air and droplets of a passing jogger as you exercise, is a great way to spread the love. Canada is a good example - its trails, coast, walks and parks have been shut since they started their lockdown and needless to say, so has a lot of Europe's. It is common sense - they knew that human nature would prevail and people would flock to the great outdoors while in lockdown. So they are closed for everyone. For now.

Australia has this thing half-beat apparently. Some say it's a population thing. Others it's a testing thing. And the fact it is an island helps. But I don't think anyone really knows yet. And certainly not this soon.

How do I see it from where I am sitting? The East coast looks a little like a time bomb. The politicians are already congratulating themselves on a victory they have not yet won. Not by a long shot. They now have a complacent population to deal with because the messages have been so mixed from the start.

We watched Singapore do a similar thing. Patting themselves on the back and meanwhile, the second wave was about to hit them full force while they were not looking - they were too busy congratulating themselves on beating it. Singapore - a place I really love and what I like to call 'Asia's Disneyland' is basically one of the cleanest, wealthiest, most organised places on Earth with the bonus of a spectacular medical system - they got it wrong - just think about that. Not just a little wrong either. Some people wore masks but they allowed the economy to tick along first, schools were open, testing and sanitising in airports set a world standard and was superb. Yet people were still free to exercise outdoors and practice social distancing - as it was their "right". And now after all these months they are forced to lockdown in a very abrupt way - for how long? they now don't know - they call it a 'circuit breaker'. It is just a big lockdown with a lot of finger-pointing going on.

As for the rest of Oz, on my Day 40 and having done this COVID dance since late January - I will say this: I think WA and Victoria have this in the bag - they have handled it really well early on, their leaders have communicated clearly with their population and it seems people have enough community-mindedness to understand what is at stake. WA with its close proximity to Asia - with so many of us that hop back and forth from Perth to the main Asian hubs, with its vulnerable populations and vast distances to get medical care - they had to get it right the first time. They had little choice. The East coast on the other hand - well, I will be unusually polite, parts of it seem really confused, inconvenienced and to be honest - in a lot of places their good old individualistic, who cares about the next person self. That attitude won’t end well.

Rural or city, rich or poor, coast or country - this is not something that can be dodged or avoided - it does not discriminate. The quicker an effective shut down is done and over with - the quicker life can go back to some semblance of the new normal. I for one am keen to see what that is going to look like. I really am. For me the old normal can get in the bin and stay there.