6 April 2020
Monday · Day 11 of lockdown
50 people were arrested for attending a wedding at Nseleni near Richard’s Bay; those arrested included the bridal couple, the pastor and some of the guests. Boris Johnson was moved into intensive care as his symptoms worsened. To curb the spread of the virus, Chile announced that from 8 April 2020, it would be mandatory to use face masks when travelling on public and private transportation in the country. In the US, the State of California suspended all evictions and set a $0 bail for minor misdemeanours.
Today was the beginning of a local sanitising drive in Stellenbosch. Stellenbosch’s Municipality Water Services began disinfecting hotspot public places in an effort to combat the spread of Covid-19. The Kayamandi and Bergzicht taxi ranks were washed and scrubbed with sanitising solution. There were many teams of people all dressed in protective suits and accompanied by a water truck filled with the sanitising solution. The areas that were disinfected also included Plein Street, Andringa and Merriman Street where I live.
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A very blue Monday this morning. Lockdown is starting to affect my whole family and there is an underlying tension amongst us. I am worried about my family’s future. My father is a lawyer, and his firm will suffer big financial losses if the lockdown is extended. Many countries overseas have extended their lockdowns, and this is a very real possibility for South Africa. I am also stressed about our academic year. I seriously cannot extend my studies by another year.
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Had another chance to leave the house today for [the] purpose of dropping essential food items at my Ouma (grandmother). On the drive, I noticed that the grass on the sidewalks had become overgrown. The roads were petrifyingly quite; it felt more like driving through the outskirts of Winterton, a farming town, than through Meadows, a Pietermaritzburg residential area.
On passing another car I received a friendly greeting, followed by a look which seemed to say good luck. On the way back I stopped to fill up the car with diesel. A petrol clerk with his mask on greeted me in a friendly manner. My overall analysis of the trip outside is that the place looks deserted, yet people are careful and in a weird sense caring and friendly.
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When I woke up this morning the latest stats were: 1 655 confirmed cases and a total of 11 deaths. It is very difficult to see how well South Africa is doing with regard to flattening the curve. We are definitely in a better position than many other counties (e.g. the US, where the daily death toll is at a global high), but people say it is just a matter of time before the tsunami hits us. I’ve read articles saying that our curve hasn’t even begun and that we have no idea what we are in for yet. Very scary and pessimistic things to think about, but what if these predictions are right? What if a 21-day lockdown isn’t enough and that if it is only after the lockdown, as we continue with our lives, that the real catastrophe happens?
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We rarely get the chance to listen to Queen Elizabeth address the UK, and indirectly the world. Last night, exactly this happened. In her address the Queen thanked health workers on the front lines and urged citizens to remain at home. […] If the weight of the situation was not felt before, it certainly is now.
Meanwhile, across the pond, America is having its worst week thus far. The death toll continues to rise and some states like Louisiana are running out of ventilators. President Trump keeps changing his story. After boasting about re-opening after Easter, he has now backtracked, acknowledging the threat that the virus poses.
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There are ten days left until the nationwide lockdown will be lifted. I am not too sure how to feel about it. Will the coronavirus be contained by then? How will we know who has it and who does not? There are people walking around that have the virus but are showing no symptoms? How do we avoid mass transmissions?
The police and army have been deployed to patrol the streets and ensure that the restrictions are being respected, but they have been performing their duties in a rather thuggish and disrespectful manner. Shooting, beating and humiliating civilians who are not heeding the president’s calls.
[…] We are currently experiencing the calm before a devastating storm. There is a need for quick but efficient decision-making that will ensure that we are not left worse off once the storm hits. We need to prepare for the battle that lies ahead.
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For me, the biggest frustration is the absolute uncertainty that we are constantly living with. I hate uncertainty and I think others do as well. That is why we make to-do lists, create a productive ‘self-isolation study/work routine’ and do at home workouts day in and day out (or at least try, and then beat ourselves up when we cannot stick to it). At the risk of sounding very existential, I believe that this pandemic is making us come face to face with the idea that not everything can be planned, has meaning or is particularly significant. I wish I could end off on a positive note or try to see a deeper meaning to the crisis that our society is currently facing, but I seem to be unable to do so now. I am feeling a bit hopeless and frustrated and stuck, unsure of where we are headed and when this will all come to an end.
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Today we’re getting into coronavirus conspiracy theories. I used to be a fan of watching all genres of conspiracy theories at ungodly hours until I was swallowed by the flat-earthers and developed an intense paranoia. Dark days indeed, but [I] digress.
These are just a few theories making the rounds: China developed the virus to eliminate unproductive (elderly and overweight) members of Chinese society; the US developed the virus as a biological warfare agent to be used against China; coronavirus is spread through 5G frequencies (an actual lol [laugh out loud]); and the emergence of Covid-19 was predicted by author Dean Koontz in a novel published in 1981. That last one is quite tempting to believe.
Conspiracy theories can be fun until they’re used to support racist ideologies and policies (US, I’m looking at you). I would have imagined it to be common sense for political leaders not to perpetuate harmful, unsubstantiated claims like some of those I’ve mentioned, but China and the US have shown me to be wrong. What would the result have been if these countries stopped trying to discredit each other and joined forces against a common enemy instead?
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Many high-earning stakeholders around the world are slashing their salaries in order to help pay staff their more humble allowances. This has been seen in football clubs – with players foregoing large portions of their salaries – and other institutions. Today, Woolworths announced that senior executives would be taking 30% pay cuts in order to help those “who find themselves in extreme hardship as a result of the current crisis”. Mr Price also stated that “annual salary increases for head office associates have been delayed until further notice” and that its “executive management and board of directors have committed to a cut in salaries and fees”. These are highly appreciated sacrifices, but they raise greater economic questions.
How and why have we created a system wherein fractional pay cuts for the elite are able to fund a majority of bottom-earners?
South Africa has some of the most disproportionately spread levels of income distribution in the world. […] Will the global pandemic exacerbate inequality in the country, or could it end up operating as an economic leveller?
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Today I woke up at 7:00 am. I washed my face and brushed my teeth. Then I called my friends so that we could go to campus and fetch the food parcels that we had heard about. When we got to campus, I met one of my oldest friends. He was giving out the food parcels. The parcels consisted of oats, soup and a packet of noodles.