I’m pretty sure most of us experienced a similar kind of weekend. We stayed inside almost the entire time. It was tiring and frustrating at times, but I also felt lucky that I have a well stocked pantry and fridge I can access as well as just a safe space to be right now. Not everyone is so lucky.
Anyways, here’s our weekend in a nutshell…
Weekend
Friday – grocery shopping (circled TJ’s parking lot 4x before heading to Mariano’s which was fine but lots of aisles were near empty if not completely bare); random stuff around the house; sister and BIL came over and we ordered in dinner from Irazu.
Saturday – Vishnu worked a 24 hour shift so he left the house at 6:30 am; Kaiden woke up at 7 (hallelujah!); the rest of the day was spent trying not to go nuts; Kaiden whined and cried A LOT which pressed all kinds of buttons for me, but I gently reminded myself that if this becomes our new normal for a bit, I need to find a way to deal and help him process his emotions better.
Sunday – Vishnu came home and slept until lunchtime; we played and watched some TV; I caught up on laundry; we had tacos for dinner (always fun with a toddler…ha!).
COVID-19 Thoughts
You guys, I’m not a doctor or a medical professional in any sense of the word, so please don’t take my words as advice. These are just the things rattling around in my head over the past week or so, and I need to get them out. Writing and sharing on here really helps me, so here I am.
First and foremost, I’m one of those people who went from thinking this wouldn’t impact us as much as other countries to now thinking oh s***, COVID-19 is scary and we need to act now.
With that being said, I’m sick of people comparing it to the flu. IT’S NOT TO FLU! Follow credible sources, and you’ll see. Read the firsthand reports from other countries that are just a week ahead of us with this thing, and you’ll see. NOT THE FLU! So when I hear people not giving a flying f*** about staying home and social distancing, I get super angry. Like fine, if you don’t care about yourself, that’s one thing. But if you get it, you likely won’t know for about 14 days which means you’ll be walking around interacting with people for 14 days infecting them. And some of those people may be immuno compromised. That’s just a shitty thing to do. Experts from around the world are literally shouting from the rooftops that we need to stay home as much as possible in order to slow this thing down. So stay at home. For the love of God, stay at home.
You guys know I don’t get political on here, but you also know that I’m not a fan of our current administration (and that’s putting it lightly). From what I’ve read and from using common sense, I’ve gleaned that the president didn’t take appropriate actions at the right time. He refused testing kits from the WHO, he had his son-in-law who’s not a doctor ‘researching’ the Coronavirus and advising him, he kept discounting it and saying the flu is a lot worse (it isn’t!), etc. And he did all this to keep the economy afloat because it’s an election year. ARE YOU F’ING KIDDING ME?! You mean to tell me you saw what was happening around the world, and you chose to do nothing?! It’s disgusting. If you look at countries like Singapore and a couple of others, they took early action and really combated the virus by being proactive. And that’s despite being so close to China, the epicenter of COVID-19.
You can’t change the past, I suppose, so we should all focus on what’s happening now. Well, I can tell you that we don’t have enough testing kits and that our healthcare system is overwhelmed. Vishnu and I watched the president’s address on Friday declaring this a national emergency. First of all, no s***. But also, if you listen carefully, Trump basically just touts himself and talks around literally every important detail. Again, are you f’ing kidding me?! The American people need to see their leader take the reins on this thing and declare concrete actions, but instead, we have…Trump. Who doesn’t think we’ll need 5 million testing kits just so you know. UGH!
Ok, glad to get all of that off my back…
Putting all of that aside, my heart aches for so many people right now. People who don’t have access to food. Kids who may not get the two school meals they count on every day. Homeless people. People who can’t work from home. People who may lose their jobs as a result of this. People who are immuno comprised and/or older and at more risk. People who are small business owners. And the list goes on…
When I start to feel myself get stressed out about this, I remind myself that I’m very lucky. Kaiden’s daycare is closed for at least two weeks, so my day-to-day life is going to be insane, but at least I can manage it. The factors in play are somewhat in my control. Others are not so lucky.
I pray and send healthy vibes and strength to anyone who’s already been affected by this virus and anyone who will be. I pray for our healthcare workers who are essentially in the trenches every single day. I pray that people live by one word during this time – kindness. I pray this helps us see the humanity in every single being around us.
I hope you stay safe and healthy during this crazy time. Remember, stay inside, wash your hands, and be kind.
Love your COVID 19 thoughts <3
Whilst covid-19 is not the flu, I don’t believe that there is a need to make it so dramatic. Statistics show that most people recover, albeit that the illness does hit harder than the flu and it takes a longer time to recover. Recorded deaths relate to people who are older in age and/or have pre-existing medical conditions. SARS and heck, the seasonal flu have a higher death rate.
That said, my anger is directed towards Western media in demonising China and its neighbours when covid-19 first hit them and look at how the situation has turned around. China and Singapore are probably relatively safer than US and UK. China has reopened its borders (my online shopping is now on its way lol!). As an ethnic Chinese, I believe that the media has somewhat assisted in that feeling of xenophobia. I have family members who are born and bred in Australia and who have been told to “go back to their country”. It’s so easy to point fingers and it saddens me that humanity prefers to shift the blame instead of uniting and tackling things together.
The epicentre has definitely shifted to the West. The irony in all of this is that the current US administration did without Obamacare. I don’t follow US politics that much but it seems to a foreigner like me that anything State-funded tends to ring a “oooh communist/socialist” bell in the US, which may (?) explain why Obamacare was scrapped. My hearts ache for those people who don’t have the money to get proper care. In my country, there’s free public health (although some hospitals not as efficient others), but the importance is that it is THERE available to anyone and everyone.
Mentality also plays a huge part in containing the virus. I am not surprised that China and Singapore have successfully contained the virus. People may point their fingers and say that China is a dictatorship and Singapore is a benevolent dictatorship – be it as it may, when Big Brother says stay at home, people WILL respect and play along with the rules. It’s chaos in Italy at the moment. My friend from University tells me that some people don’t give a shit. Those people will give a damn only when they feel they are personally affected.
As an ethnic Chinese born and bred in Africa and having studied in Europe and lived in Singapore, my personal thoughts are that the West should definitely take example from Asia. People were panic-buying in Singapore. When the PM told people to stop doing so, local communities listened and even showed their solidarity by attending to the needs of the elderly and the less fortunate. People were giving out free masks and hand sanitisers. One guy even washed the community playground so that kids could safely play because schools were closed.
Our neighbours have been hit in the Indian Ocean. It’s not a matter of IF but WHEN my own country gets hit. The world will get over this, just like all pandemics and hopefully with a low death toll.
Another thing that makes me so angry and disgusted are the companies raising prices on items that are a necessity. Capitalism and profit making are being favoured instead of accessibility to everyone.
Shoutout to all medical staff battling on the frontlines – we thank you for your courage and support.
Stay safe and sending love from Mauritius.
Love love this post. Totally echoing my thoughts. I have people constantly telling me “But so many people die coz of flu but schools dont shut down then”.
We are trying to do out best here but it is not easy working from home with two active boys. We are also trying to shop/do take outs from local business but everyone is hurting right now. On the other hand I have also seen some of us come together as a community and help out each other. Hope we see more kindness and love.