Covid-19 Diary: Part 3

CoVid-19 update Part 3: We had our last day of school today, for the foreseeable future. There were no students, only teachers. I had a crash course in google classrooms. It's an excellent platform that could be used by many industries. PE teachers across the globe are providing home based activities. I'll magpie some of their ideas & provide some of my own. Some of our kids' parents aren't Australian citizens, have lost their jobs and have no source of income. There was talk of one family living at the school & showering at the parish house. I hope it doesn't come to that. There must be thousands of families in the same boat. Our principal doesn't know if there will be a school if this goes on all year. We only have around 110 students. We might get merged with another Catholic school, especially as there a few with low enrolments in the area. We already have a leaky roof and the $2000 fees most families pay goes towards maintenance & bills. My boss always manages to act and sound upbeat when delivering bad news, which I quite like, but sometimes the serious import of his words only hit you hours later. I won't bore you with social distancing blah blah. It's getting better, though not in my staffroom. Many nail salons, massage shops and hairdressers aren't allowed to open past midnight tonight. We have an abundance of small convenience stores, ethnic supermarkets and health food emporiums in the inner North, I guess most of those are staying open. The two local op (charity) shops were open and trading well today. Hairdressers are allowed to remain open as long as your haircut doesn't last more than thirty minutes. Mine lasts five, but I cut it myself so as long as I don't have the virus I won't pass it onto myself. I went for a cycle ride at dusk tonight and was surprised at how many salons remained open. I suppose you have to look your best when you are drowning in your own phlegm. How now am I going, I hear you ask? That's a difficult question to answer at the best of times. I realise that I've been moaning on about others social distancing and not practicing it myself. That's because I'm a special type of person known as a 'hypocrite' and I have a special hypocrite's license from my local council. Hahaha but seriously. I have been behaving a little cavalier; the situation has been surreal and made me giddy. While I was still teaching I didn't see the point as I was surrounded by germy kids. Now I am taking things seriously. I try to cycle everywhere rather than walk. I've got my little blue latex gloves and a mask for when I do my shop. I'm going to do a big shop that lasts for days and will stay away from Preston Market, which is still bloody open. Suddenly child free,I have decided to go nocturnal; there's less temptation to leave the house at 4am, the current hour of the clock. My mental state is fine, nothing bad has happened. Yet. Is it the calm before the storm? I'm hopeful we can "flatten the curve," the graph of infection rates. I went for a lovely bike ride yesterday up to Reservoir and along the Darebin Creek trail. I will keep at this until I'm told to stop. That might be quite soon, as infection rates are rising steeply. I cycled past Centrelink and saw the long line of people waiting to get in. As many have noted we haven't seen anything like this since the Great Depression. The government are still having an each-way bet on the virus. They are keeping many schools & businesses open from fear of a total economic collapse. I have wondered from the start if they were going down the route of herd immunity, and I don't believe that's off the table. This was confirmed by the deputy chief medical officer, Professor Paul Kelly, on Monday 23rd March. Speaking on the ABC he said: "If we go into lockdown as many people are suggesting we do now... It's until we get the vaccine," Professor Kelly said. Most experts predict any vaccine is 12 to 18 months away. If Australia were to pause a total lockdown or temporarily reduce it there would likely be a resurgence of the virus. The nation cannot "take it's foot off the brake." And Professor Kelly described herd immunity as an "alternative" to a total lockdown, but said Australia was not pursuing the controversial strategy "at the moment". Tonight I ate spiced chickpea and potato stew. I would give you the recipe but I pretty much made it up. None of you have asked me for my curried rice recipe so here it is: Fry some onion in a pan, add garlic and ginger, add spices like cumin powder and coriander and curry powder. Then throw in a big handful of frozen peas. Previously you will have cooked a cupful of rice in your rice cooker, throw that in and stir it round. Cook an omelette with eggs from your chickens. Mine are laying three a day. Chop it up and put it on top. Cashews and flaked almonds may be added to your taste. Chilli sauce optional. If the apocalypse happens substitute these ingredients - RICE: fingernails GARLIC/ONIONS - any bulb e.g tulip iris PEAS - chewed up grass or weeds rolled into a ball NUTS - crushed insects EGGS - you can steal these from birds nests like magpies or gooses. Peace and love, Peace and love x PS DO NOT google articles about the Spanish Flu, especially the ones that talk about the three waves of illness. Though this is interesting : whiskey was one of the main cures (when isn't it?)