Lockdown Levelling Up

Hiya Internet! So, we have been through Level 4 Lockdown in South Africa in May and Level 3 Lockdown is with us in June, is it any different than the “hard” lockdown (now known as Level 5)? Well yes and no. Is life any easier? Are people getting back to work and back to normal? Are we safer from coronavirus now? Are we less safe than in Level 5? Let’s see…

Well I have been so busy with work through the whole of Level 4 that I didn’t have time to write at all. But how was Level 4 different to Level 5? More people were allowed to work, you were allowed to exercise outside your property for the first time (although with many restrictions) but there was also a curfew (from 8PM to 5AM every day). Level 3 is going to see almost all industries allowed to work, schools starting, religious services allowed, the curfew lifted, exercise at more times during the day and the reintroduction of alcohol sales. How is all this going to work? Probably pretty badly as we have not reached our peak of covid-19 cases yet (this is due between June and September in different parts of the country depending on how well or badly things continue) and in Level 4 people clearly stopped caring about protective behaviours and social distancing. At least that is how it looks in Cape Town and the Western Cape and our numbers bear this out (the Western Cape accounts for a whopping 65% of all coronavirus cases in the country at the end of May and beginning of June), what a delightful distinction to have!

Which leads to my observations of things in both Level 4 and Level 3 so far. After so many weeks of very hard lockdown, people were clearly sick of it (haha, puns, bad, bad puns) and were no longer prepared to abide by it. Part of this was obviously the economic impact of the lockdown and jobs on hold or lost, but the other part of it was plainly the cabin fever (for those who even bothered) and chafing against the edicts of Big Brother. However understandable this second part may be, the fact that all around, as soon as one leaves ones’ front door for a moment, one is surrounded by people without masks, gathered in groups, no social distancing and other poor pandemic behaviours. And a real big kicker, thousands queueing at the beginning of June to get their hands on the first legal alcohol since March, not to mention all the bootlegged gin, pineapple beer (so good for me!) and illicit wine being sold before that during Level 4 lockdown. Maybe I am a hypocrite about this, being judgemental about others’ hardships, when I didn’t find most of these difficulties trying, all the same, it doesn’t change the fact that all around, people are behaving in a way that puts others lives in jeopardy. And that is what makes me angry. Let’s be honest, a lot of us are not at high risk from covid-19, I myself am pretty low risk, yet I still have loved ones who are at great risk. Are we not meant to start thinking about others during this time, one of the most challenging in at least a generation or two? Should we not be coming together to protect each other? In many circumstances people are doing just this but on the other side, many are not and that is both sad and infuriating.

I mean I had to go to a big mall recently, to the bank (joys), the pharmacy and my optometrist and it was like being in a sea of humanity, half of whom were wearing their masks Bheki Cele-style or as neck warmers instead of for their intended purpose. It was really the wild west out there. If I had been afraid of covid-19 for myself I would have been shaking in my boots, as it was, it was just another example of South Africans, and Capetonians in particular, either not caring for anyone or anything at all, or being too wilful to recognise that we are living in a different world now.

To the lady at Clicks standing in front of me in the queue (a woeful 1m social distancing spread marked on the floor), eyeballing me and my basket of toiletries and contact lens solution, with her mask around her neck and the sour expression on her face, hello, it may be a pandemic, but nosey parkers and rudeness didn’t just become acceptable. Also, if glaring at me in judgement for some reason because of my shopping choices or my protective gear, with the aim of making me feel bad was a goal, it did not work, I was more concerned about your uncovered nose and mouth spraying me with disease. Yuck!

My little mall visit was another wakeup call about the dangerous conditions out there and further cemented my plans for all things, including groceries, to be bought online and delivered. Since I last wrote, that is how I have been restocking my, at the time, diminishing provisions. Also, just like anything else brought into your home environment, it needs to be treated as contaminated.  So this involves cutting open packaging or taking the items from bags, then anything that can be washed is cleaned in a bucket of soapy water, or sanitised with alcohol based sanitiser or if it can’t be washed or sanitised, it needs to be quarantined where it won’t be touched for the requisite number of days. Then all discarded boxes and debris must be carefully disposed of. Fun stuff every time a package arrives, unlike in the past where there was excitement, there’s now a sinking feeling thinking about all the work ahead. It has been a balancing act of what is needed, who stocks it, who offers free delivery and how much do you have to spend to get it. But this has resulted in an ample stock of long-life milk, some dried chickpeas and a yoghurt maker. Right now, I am still making and eating yoghurt made from original starter bought just before lockdown, but the chickpeas are there once the starter is no longer starting anymore. Wish me luck!  

Let’s talk about exercising in Level 4 and Level 3, specifically out on the road. Once I went outside the confines of where I live, I was pretty worried that I would really struggle to run and breathe with the required (and sensible) cloth face mask. The breathing and running together (higher grade stuff) turned not to be the problem, my mask did comically move around my face on my first run due to the movement, breathing and wind but that was easily solved with a few hair clips. The real issue was and is the other people. We get it, we all want to remain active and healthy, however nobody is going to remain healthy if we are getting too close to each other. In addition, the big groups running or cycling (not just family groups) are ridiculous. Did I just time travel back to early March? Do I have the power to move through time? And if so, why on earth did I choose early 2020 to go back to, I could have done so much better. Being outside is pretty safe, yet it doesn’t remain so when you exercise bunching up against other people, especially strangers. If you happen to see me out on the running paths or pavements and I suddenly veer off into the road, rest assured, it really isn’t me, it’s you.

Okay, moving on from all the griping (what, I’m allowed to act like a grouchy 95-year-old), my life is actually going along reasonably well. With all that running, I am fit, in good shape and keeping healthy. I still obsessively wash my hands whenever needed, which these days, let’s be frank, is all the time (yup, we are all Adrian Monk now) and although my skin is still pathetically wussy about all the attention, I am keeping the sensitivity in check. I am still working, although making do with less money, but then again, who isn’t and what would you buy these days anyway? Pretty things? Um, who would see them? Jokes aside, I am making do which is certainly more than many other people, so I am very grateful. I haven’t seen a friend in person since March but I speak to friends and family via phone, message and email (haha, I don’t have the broadband for video calling right now) and I am doing absolutely fine in the brain pan department still (or at least as hunky dory as I was…).

Addressing my last post about poor mask wearing and calling out the rather controversial Police Commissioner Cele for his ridiculous mask habits, I absolutely stand by my comments. What I didn’t intend to do was to inadvertently make fun of President Ramaphosa over his mask fail. I wrote the post before his speech in April, but I did post it on the day of his now quite infamous speech. Ironically, I was too busy with posting on the blog to catch all of the live address and instead wrote about bad mask wear while the president had his mishap. I didn’t see his gaffe live and I wasn’t referring to that in my last post. Honestly, I wouldn’t have criticised his faux pas as it is exactly the type of clumsy thing I would do if I had to put a mask on my face while being filmed for TV. I am just imagining the levels of embarrassment I would have subjected myself to if I was the one in front of the cameras. Eeek! I think all the mockery was meanspirited and unnecessary and certainly not a reflection of the president’s capabilities. It is a comfort to know that the president of the country is just as clumsy as I am!

Okay, where are we heading now? Who knows? What we do know is that with most people going back to work and schools starting to reopen and people not caring too much about social distancing or the rules, it’s about to get a lot worse for South Africa before it gets any better. So, we have to try and do our best, think of others in our behaviours and protect each other. But for goodness sake, stay as far away from me as you can!