Tag: south africa

Day 52 – It’s coming

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The [excrement] is about to strike the [ventilation device].

I’ve mentioned here and here that things aren’t going very well as far as the coronavirus situation in South Africa is concerned.

But we’re now getting to the point where the calm before the storm has been fully exhausted and we’re at the start of the rough ride. We may unknowingly already be there: the data we (as the public) are seeing are probably a week out of date.

In parts of the Western Cape (and a few other select locations) the infection rate is completely out of control and my inside informants are informing me that testing isn’t being done quickly enough and that hospitals are filling up fast.

This is when the storm hits. So far, the health systems, though often creaky and held together with duct tape and goodwill, have managed to cope with the demand. That will soon end now, with both Covid-19 patients and routine medical emergencies unable to be treated as hospitals and healthcare facilities simply run out of capacity. The inevitable result is, sadly, more deaths.

And yet, people are still exercising here every morning without wearing masks, they’re going around to friends’ houses, sharing alcohol and generally ignoring all the rules. The fact that there’s a curfew even came as a surprise to one lady on the local whatsapp group this morning.

Incredible.

Like they’re magically immune or something. People just don’t understand.
People are going to understand quite soon, though.

An example: one (educated) individual I follow on social media said that she thinks she “has a cold or flu coming on”.
The next thing she shares is a photo of her out and about walking (completely legally), but…

Just no. If you are sick – stay home. Simple as.

Sure, your mask might limit the spread of the virus and (in all honesty) the chances of infecting people out in the open air are fairly small anyway. But why not simply reduce that possibility to zero by just staying in bed?

Maybe it is just a cold. But how did you pick up that cold virus if you have been taking sensible, anti-coronavirus precautions? Because what protects you against Covid-19 will also work against the common cold.

So if you have managed to pick up a cold (and sure, we all hope that’s all it is), there’s a warning right there, that you’re not doing enough handwashing and social distancing.

I was described yesterday as “a ray of sunshine”. I think (ok, I know) they were being sarcastic, and I really don’t want to get a reputation for being a misery and sharing bad news on here, but I’m still astounded that people aren’t taking this situation seriously.

That’s going to change real soon.

 

UPDATE: as if by magic, via twitter, here’s the perfect example:

That’s the [flipping] President in the light blue cap and there are some (oddly) sycophantic citizens passing him on his walk this morning. You will see numerous incursions into personal space, a complete lack of social distancing, and a cellphone being passed from hand to hand.

Like that’s in any way ok.

Wow.

Day 44 – Not nice

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South Africa is now at (beyond?) breaking point.

Everyone is unhappy, angry, frustrated and generally wholly pissed off at the lockdown, but at the same time, no-one is doing very much about obeying the regulations about social distancing, wearing a mask and staying at home. And so those only-occasionally policed regulations are utterly pointless anyway. Covid-19 cases are increasing massively every day, we’re surrounded by closed supermarkets because staff have tested positive…

…the (public) labs have run out of testing kits (but they weren’t doing enough tests anyway), the economy – already tanking – has surprised everyone by tanking even more when few thought that was even possible, and our government is nowhere to be seen or heard, except for when it occasionally sends a representative clown out to shout at drivers.

It’s not nice.

People are obviously (and rightfully) concerned, afraid, upset, and they’re taking it out on one another (from a safe anti-social distance) on online platforms across the nation. The thin veneer of harmony and togetherness which was evident when we first started on this journey has now been worn completely and glaringly through, and the decrepit state of the glue holding the country together is alarming visible.

I’ve said before that there are no easy answers, but the lack of communication, transparency or any sort of action from the government is more than worrying – it’s near criminal. The gulf between what should be being done and what is actually happening is widening every minute. Even the number of staunch ANC supporters who are still in agreement with their party’s current approach to this crisis seems to be dwindling every day.

It’s a mess.

And it’s really not going to get any better any time soon. There’s no control over the people, and no control over the virus. Things are going to get a lot, lot worse – and fast – before anything improves. If that improvement ever happens.

I’m sorry to be the bearer of such pessimism brutal honesty that you didn’t want to read. But the government not doing what they should and the public not doing what they should is an absolute recipe for disaster.

And so that’s where we’re headed right now.

Day 17 – Home delivery

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We’ve tried out some home delivery options for groceries over the Easter weekend. Not that the Easter weekend makes any difference. Every day very much blends into every other at the moment.

Now, I know that times are tough at the moment, and it’s with that understanding that I write this post. But really: three apps, and some very disappointing results – for different reasons.

First off: Uber Eats. They’re not allowed to deliver food anymore, so they’ve turned their attention to delivering “essentials”. Basically, it turns out that these are snacks, chips, drinks from a small selection of corner shops. Now, I have no problem with this idea, but the range is massively limited (and is only “essential” in the broadest possible sense) and the shops are all so far away that the delivery costs more than the stuff itself. Probably very good at actually doing the job, but pricey and nothing I want.

Then the Checkers Sixty60 app. Now, this one was going for a few months before all of this messy virus stuff happened. And as a large food outlet, I can’t see why they would struggle with just continuing with what they were doing.

Wrong.

Yesterday, by 11am, they’d run out of delivery slots for the day. “Check back tomorrow morning”, they said. I can understand that they are under more pressure than usual, but no slots just two hours after they opened? Wow.

Anyway, I did check back early this morning and there were slots available. Some items were marked as sold out, but I did order some frozen peas, some coffee, some frozen pizzas, some potatoes and some milk.

I got some milk.

Everything else was sold out. A different sold out to the items that were already marked as sold out when I logged on. And I don’t think that these were particularly unusual or taxing products. As mentioned above, I know that things are difficult at the moment, but that’s surely just more reason not to over-promise and under-deliver.

On the plus side, I got some milk.

And then Bottles with PicknPay. Bottles used to deliver alcohol, but Bheki said that was a bad thing to do, so now they do groceries from your local supermarket.
Yesterday, they brought bread, hot cross buns, chocolate bunnies and the like to us, and they did it quickly. I was properly impressed.
So much so, I ordered some easter eggs for the mother-in-law through them this morning. Nice idea to cheer her up, since we’re not allowed to visit or anything.

That order has taken 3½ hours, 5 6 7 9 phone calls and 2 3 emails so far – and they’re still not with her.

UPDATE: They eventually arrived after 4½ hours. But at least they arrived. 

I am less impressed this morning.

If you do need food, it seems to me that the best way to do things is just go and buy it yourself. Which doesn’t make sense in these infectious times, but might stop you dying from starvation and frustration.

Lockdown!

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From midnight tonight, South  Africa is on lockdown.

( a word first coined in this year…)

Meaning that unless we have to go out to buy food or seek medical attention, we have at stay at home. The full rules are here, but for the majority of us, that one sentence sums it up quite nicely.

Bizarrely, there will be no alcohol or tobacco products sold during the 21 days (not legally, anyway), and so huge queues – with no social distancing – formed outside those kind of shops this morning. It does seem bizarre to put the population into lockdown like some sort of guinea pig in some dystopian experiment and then not allow them to access any of their usual goto coping mechanisms.

This will not end well.

Not that it was going to end well anyway.

I went for a last (out and about) run this morning, and got some last minute chocolate in to placate Mrs 6000, just in case there was a late rush.

We managed a late afternoon family dog walk. With the family dog.
The school field was chained up already. We had to walk around the block instead. The beagle was disappointed at the lack of Hadeda-chasing opportunities.

And now, I guess this is it. We stay home unless we have a genuine reason to go out. The situation is changing every hour, every day. But as it stands at the moment, I can’t see three weeks being enough. Nowhere near. Six or eight, maybe.

But who knows? See you all on the other side*.

 

 

* blogging is classed as an “essential service” and will continue throughout the SA lockdown.