Corona ISO Chronicles #3 – Restrictions Eased

Hello! It’s been a bit over a month since Corona ISO Chronicles #2 and nearly two months since Corona ISO Chronicals #1, so I thought I’d capture how things are now (mid June 2020) here in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, and for myself personally.

The purpose of these posts are to kind of contribute to a ‘time capsule’ of information that could be of interest to people in the future (when I’m long gone) and also possibly interesting to myself and others to look back on in our futures (when hopefully the world is pandemic free and better positioned to deal with things like this or better yet – prevent this kind of thing ever happening again).

The official stuff

First things first – it is FAR LESS SCARY now here in Australia and in my State of Queensland, but there is still concern that there could be a second wave and of course many unknowns as to how long we will have to live differently before we no longer need to be socially distant and cautious of contracting COVID-19. We have been very, very lucky here with relatively low amount of cases and very little community transmission. On the day I’m typing this, here are the Queensland stats:

Wednesday, 10 June – coronavirus cases in Queensland:

• 0 new confirmed cases
• 3 active cases
• 1,062 total confirmed cases
• 230,792 tests conducted

Sadly, six Queenslanders with COVID-19 have died. 1,051 patients have recovered. More detailed Queensland Covid-19 stats can be found here.

For those not familiar with Queensland, here is an indication of its size:

Restrictions have been further lifted since my last post (see Qld’s Roadmap to Easing Restrictions for more detail if you’re interested).  We can travel and stay overnight anywhere in Queensland and are in fact being encouraged to be tourists in our own state to help support local jobs and businesses hit hard by COVID-19.

Our borders are still shut to other states and there has been quite a bit of hoo ha over this. We’re not the only state to still have their borders shut though.  See more info on Australian State and Territory border closures here.  

If we look at Australia as a whole, there have been 7,260 confirmed cases, with that total being made up of ACT 108, NSW 3109, NT 29, QLD 1062, SA 440, TAS 228, VIC 1685, WA 599.  Of the 7,260 confirmed cases in Australia, 102 have died and 6,703 have been reported as recovered.

The unofficial stuff

At the moment, this is how life is for me:

• The Tennis Player is still working from home.
• Twin 1 works one week from home, the next week in his city office, and repeat.
• Twin 2 still works in the city office every work day.
• My journalist daughter is still staying with us (it’s been over 6 weeks now) and working in Brisbane and on the Gold Coast whilst still paying her rent in Cairns and waiting to hear what happens next. Her car sits on the street up there unused. Meanwhile, she’s using The Tennis Player’s car to get to and from work whilst she is here. Luckily he is working from home and doesn’t really need it. My car is used if he or I need to go out. She’s a little frustrated about the situation. It’d be nice if she could be told what their plans are.
• I’ve started meeting up with a friend weekly for a walk, coffee and plenty of chatter and boy oh boy does it make the world of difference to my state of mind! I hope to meet up with some more of my friends from this point on. It’s amazing what getting out of the house, outdoors in nature, being active, and chatter with a friend can do!
• Cafes and restaurants are starting to open up again, with limited patronage capacity at one time, due to social distancing requirements, but it’s such a treat – to sit with a friend and have coffee or lunch (I haven’t done lunch yet!) etc.  Something we took for granted previously.
• I’m still not back at reformer pilates and I doubt I ever will.  Sadly, I don’t think my pilates studio (new business) is going to survive and I’m not sure that I can afford other pilates studios.
• My days are busy with cleaning, cooking, washing, taking care of our pets, trying to fit in some time for my personal interests, like art and the blog etc.
• My daily walks are not so daily lately and I still haven’t fit in some yoga.  I’m not feeling as slim and fit as I was pre Corona!
• I’ve had a few visitors to the house.  It feels so decadent after so long with no-one visiting.
• I’ve had a birthday and we did it in shifts as we couldn’t have the whole extended family in one house. If you haven’t already seen, you can see a few photo’s from my birthday here.
• I’m getting into watercolour painting. I’ve always loved it so I thought why not learn to do it myself! 

Black Lives Matter

I usually avoid controversial or political matters here on the blog because I’ve not got the thickest skin (understatement – I’m a sensitive soul) but I couldn’t do this update without mentioning this.

Recently there have been protests world wide following the tragic death of the African American man George Floyd as a result of police brutality.  Racism is something that the world will no longer tolerate.  It has been heartening to see the global support following this dreadful incident. The #blacklivesmatter movement that was formed in 2013 to fight for freedom, liberation and justice has been very prominent across social and mainstream media. Anyone who wasn’t aware of this movement, now would be! The protests (mass gatherings of thousands of people – some wearing masks, some not) amid Covid-19 though, have caused concern. Time will tell and we will see if in 2+ weeks there is an influx of new COVID-19 cases, or not.

General Observations

• There is a more relaxed and hopeful vibe when out and about (not that I have ventured very far).
• There is visible joy in faces of people out enjoying a coffee or walk with a friend. Simple things that no longer are taken for granted!
• I rarely ever see anyone wearing a mask here. Once when grocery shopping I saw a person wearing one, and once when walking at the waterfront I saw a couple both wearing masks. Though I see a lot of people wearing masks in other countries, it is not something advised as required here – unless in healthcare environments or if you are sick at home (to protect others in the home) or caring for someone who is sick at home.
• The waterfront/esplanade near where I live has never been so busy during week days. Pre-pandamic it was very quiet mid week during work hours. The assumption is that 1) people are travelling from further afield to walk here due to closure of gyms etc, and 2) more people working from home so accessing the waterfront for exercise during breaks.

An end in sight?

Who knows what lies ahead. There are several ongoing clinical trials of both western and traditional medicines. The World Health Organisation (WHO) is coordinating efforts to develop vaccines and medicines to prevent and treat COVID-19 but it will be at least 2021 before a vaccine might be available.  Meanwhile, though restrictions have eased and will continue to (so long as no further outbreaks), we will have to continue a life of social distancing, good hygiene (always a good thing anyway), and caution!

How is lockdown going for you?  Have restrictions eased where you are?  What observation/s would you throw into the time capsule for future generations?

Ciao for now,