13 April 2020

Monday · Day 18 of lockdown

Russian President Vladimir Putin stated that the impact of coronavirus in Russia was worsening; the country had, at this stage, reported a total of 18 328 cases and 138 deaths. In two days, the Italian police fined almost 23 000 people who had committed lockdown violations. New Zealand’s Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern, sent a Facebook message to Kiwi Jenny McGee to commend her for her hard work. She was one of the nurses singled out by Boris Johnson for her kindness while he spent time in hospital. To deal with international travellers who could not find space in government-mandated hotels, Tokyo Airport introduced cardboard beds meant for individuals who were awaiting their coronavirus test results.

I find it funny how everyone seems to be dealing with life in quarantine quite differently. My mother distracts herself with ‘small tasks’ around the house – like cleaning out the cupboards and rearranging the bookshelves. My father has reconnected with school friends over Facebook that he has not spoken to in years. My grandmother busies herself by dressing up, and spending hours in front of the mirror doing her hair and her skincare routine (the fact that no one will see her does not seem to matter). I must admit that I have been spending too much time online, but I am trying to cut down on my screen time. I am using this week before classes start to read a bit more. I have already read three books while in quarantine, which is more than I would have been able to do during the semester.

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I woke up feeling a lot lighter today. I called my mom last night and she managed to put my mind at ease. I had way too many things floating around in my mind, and I thought I could feel myself losing it a little.

I have realised that this pandemic is affecting me in ways I did not think it would. Not only do I feel mentally challenged, but I also feel a strong sense of emotional distress. My heart goes out to those that are in this alone because I have no idea how I would cope with absolutely nobody to talk to. I must also admit that these daily journal entries have played an important role in keeping me sane during the past couple of days. The ability to vent and write your experiences down, just to see your words on paper, brings a certain comfort.

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Today is family day, which is a public holiday [in South Africa]. Although, since the lockdown began, it’s been hard to distinguish public holidays from other days, we as a family tried to treat the day as a holiday by playing games, watching movies and not talking about work. I still did my daily physical exercises and planned my academic work week. I video called with some friends and we just talked about life. It is clear that the lockdown is starting to affect everyone and that people are struggling with their mental health. I, myself, sometimes find that I am sometimes overwhelmed by a sudden wave of emotions. I keep my mind busy by watching series and taking naps. Some nights, though, I lie awake for hours just trying to process all of these emotions.

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Today, I shaved off half of each of my eyebrows – really spur of the moment. I wondered how I’d look, so I went for it. Has there been a better time to experiment with your appearance? I shall be making an effort to learn new skills like hairdressing and body piercing, using myself as a test subject, of course.

South Africa’s been in the fight against the coronavirus for over about five weeks now. We are holding our breath but expecting the worst. Our best defense so far has been social distancing, contact tracing and testing. Using a similar approach, South Korea managed to flatten and reverse their infection rate curve in a matter of weeks. The major difference has been their take on contact tracing, which has been largely digital. The South Korean government publicly publishes sensitive information about the infected that can sometimes make them identifiable, and thus the victims of stigma. China’s success can also be attributed to working with large companies that have access to personal information and location services, like Alibaba. There seems to be a difference between collectivist countries and more individualistic countries in the willingness to give up such details. Will this pandemic enable authoritarian regimes, and should we value fighting the virus over our right to privacy?

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One of the major disadvantages of the lockdown is the effect it will have on the education system within South Africa. While it does appear that many tertiary education facilities will be continuing with the academic year through online learning, this may not be the case for high school and preparatory school students.

[…] Will the government let all students write finals, resulting in the majority of those who pass being ‘privileged and wealthy’, while those belonging to predominantly to underprivileged families fail? Or will the government make every student redo the year? Both of the options generate major problems of their own.

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Multiple news sources this morning seem to be focused on what will happen post-lockdown. The consensus seems quite grim. SA’s infection rate will just look more like a delayed exponential curve. Our efforts to stifle the virus so far have been commendable, and nothing short of incredible. We’ve managed to do much better than developed nations with much more resources. However, unless we’ve vaccinated our population and somehow acquired herd immunity, there is nothing stopping it from simply spreading after the lockdown like everywhere else. This view makes the thought of multiple lockdowns, possibly staggered over periods in reaction to infection rates, seem much more likely, and much deadlier for our growth prospects. I think this virus will be affecting us a lot longer than we all hope, or even dread.

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Today, we have decided to become part of a new trend by getting involved in stationary swimming and bike stationary riding. I must admit I have been quite lazy in terms of exercise throughout this lockdown. I prefer working out at the gym and don’t enjoy home workouts.

Today, though, my stepdad built a harness for himself to swim (but remain stationary) in our pool. He used tubing from an old fish tank and some rope, tying it around a huge pot plant which we hope doesn’t move anytime soon.

Building the stationary bike was more of a challenge. We ended up using old pieces of wood and a rolling pin to keep it stationary. The only problem is that it makes such a noise that nobody wants to use it because we don’t want to wake up the neighbours.

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I woke up early this morning, keen to rid myself of the Easter laziness. I did a healthy amount of exercise and academic work to keep my mind and body in check. These small things are extremely beneficial in helping me to remain focused and healthy during the lockdown period. Without the extension, I would be just three days away from ‘freedom’ – but, I still have 17 days of this instead …

Gangs in the suburb of Mannenberg in the Cape Flats have called a truce during the lockdown period. Rival gangs are working together to distribute food, soap and other essential goods throughout the community. […] This is a really positive and profound story coming out of an area that usually receives so much negative publicity.

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My mom is getting worried about her job and whether she will lose money for all the days she is missing. My parents have a lot of expenses because my sister and I are twins and so everything costs double. I think she also just misses her job which she loves.

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Today was spent doing a group project. We were using Google hangouts and it took me 15 minutes to realise that nobody could hear me … I kept wondering “why does this one team member keep interrupting me?” This was the first time I have experienced a major technical glitch on my side. I felt so dumb and couldn’t figure out how to get my sound back on. In the end, I was that team member that said nothing the whole time.