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Life post-corona
Yes, post-corona! I said it! I know, it's a big claim. But out on the mean streets of Auckland it really feels like that. Two weeks after shifting to Alert Level 2, there's been no sign at all of any second wave. Today is the fifth day in a row of zero new cases, and the number of current cases drops daily. Today we have 22. Our death toll has been at 21 since May 6.
At Alert Level 2 we're supposed to still be observing social distancing. Restaurants and cafes have spaced out their tables, there are 2 metre marks on the floor wherever people are likely to queue, big shops are only letting in a certain number at a time. Are people following the rules? Well, ish. We're not treating other people as if they're radioactive as we did before, to be honest. And I can't bring myself to worry about it. A couple of weeks ago I had a full-blown case of FOGO, but yesterday I went to the supermarket for the first time in two months and when people got closer than they should, I wasn't worried in the slightest. With a tiny number of known cases and no new ones, even our health authorities are confirming that the chance of infection is "very low". It all feels as if it's fading away like a bad dream. (Until we read overseas reports, of course. The US death toll in particular is heartbreaking.)
That's not to say it won't come back, of course. We all know it doesn't take much. But for now we get to think about something else for five minutes.
Like the current political scandal. In the light of the polling figures for Jacinda's party Labour, the opposition National party just rolled its leader in a desperate gamble for votes before the September election. How did the new leader's first day go? Not the best. A photo of his office showed he had a MAGA hat in the background. He tried to explain it was just a souvenir, but the rage of the New Zealand populace could not be appeased. He had to first lock it away, then denounce Trump's policies as "appalling", before the bloodletting ceased. And fair enough too. Souvenir or not, ugh. I don't think I could bring myself to even touch one of those things.
At Alert Level 2 we're supposed to still be observing social distancing. Restaurants and cafes have spaced out their tables, there are 2 metre marks on the floor wherever people are likely to queue, big shops are only letting in a certain number at a time. Are people following the rules? Well, ish. We're not treating other people as if they're radioactive as we did before, to be honest. And I can't bring myself to worry about it. A couple of weeks ago I had a full-blown case of FOGO, but yesterday I went to the supermarket for the first time in two months and when people got closer than they should, I wasn't worried in the slightest. With a tiny number of known cases and no new ones, even our health authorities are confirming that the chance of infection is "very low". It all feels as if it's fading away like a bad dream. (Until we read overseas reports, of course. The US death toll in particular is heartbreaking.)
That's not to say it won't come back, of course. We all know it doesn't take much. But for now we get to think about something else for five minutes.
Like the current political scandal. In the light of the polling figures for Jacinda's party Labour, the opposition National party just rolled its leader in a desperate gamble for votes before the September election. How did the new leader's first day go? Not the best. A photo of his office showed he had a MAGA hat in the background. He tried to explain it was just a souvenir, but the rage of the New Zealand populace could not be appeased. He had to first lock it away, then denounce Trump's policies as "appalling", before the bloodletting ceased. And fair enough too. Souvenir or not, ugh. I don't think I could bring myself to even touch one of those things.