Today is possibly the most important day of the global pandemic so far, as the USA goes to the polls for the 2020 election. It’s crucial because of the blatant mismanagement of Covid-19 in the USA and the fact that the USA, with only 4% of the global population has over 20% of the world’s infections. It’s rapidly closing in on 10 million cases. The Economist sums up why so much hinges on the outcome:
The country that elected Donald Trump in 2016 was unhappy and divided. The country he is asking to re-elect him is more unhappy and more divided. After almost four years of his leadership, politics is even angrier than it was and partisanship even less constrained. Daily life is consumed by a pandemic that has registered almost 230,000 deaths amid bickering, buck-passing and lies.
Image: Edgard Garrido Reuters
Media is reporting that exit polls show coronavirus and the economy are top issues for voters. American life has been badly impacted by the pandemic.
The Economist goes on to say that “the most head-spinning feature of the Trump presidency is his contempt for the truth. All politicians prevaricate, but his administration has given America ‘alternative facts’. Nothing Mr Trump says can be believed”
Trump has downplayed and denied the gravity of the pandemic 40 times since the beginning of the year.
The results aren’t in yet, but we can only hope that like one of his favourite Covid-19 quotes, he’ll just magically go away.
There’s probably only one constant in 2020 – change. The entire world is in a state of flux and the rate and degree of change is off the charts. We’ve had to get used to restrictions on travel, work, shopping and exercise.
During the various stay-at-home or lockdown orders, exercise has been one of the few liberties, albeit on a timed basis. Most of it can only be done in the neighbourhood or within a radius of our home. With gyms and fitness classes closed, exercise has been mostly outdoors, with walking, jogging, cycling and surfing popular options.
So what happens when a crazy phenomenon of nature occurs during national lockdown and 18 meter waves pound the shores of the Atlantic coast? And you just happen to be a big wave surfer?
You organise to go Covid-safe surfing, of course.
Ireland and Portugual have been on the receiving end of some giant swell following Hurricane Epsilon, which tracked east of Bermuda.
For Irish surfer Conor Maguire, the opportunity to surf waves like that was irresistible. The Irish Times reports that the biggest consideration wasn’t if he should tackle the monster waves, it was whether or not it was acceptable to venture out during the national level 5 lockdown.
“Originally when I saw the swell on the charts, I was like: ‘Oh f**k, of course it would happen during lockdown!’ ”
He got permission from local council and in co-ordination with the Royal National Lifeboat Institution, Maguire and his support team – including five jetskis for safety – were given the green light to surf the biggest Covid wave of all.
Maguire said that people stayed in their cars, adhering to Covid protocols, and the headland was like an ampitheatre filled with spectators. His team followed Covid-safe procedures, wearing masks for the safety briefing.
“It was the biggest swell I have ever seen in Ireland. When I heard the waves, I knew it was going to be crazy.”
We’ve all heard the silence. No aircraft overhead, no applause in theatres and venues, deserted main roads, shopping malls devoid of shoppers. The hustle and bustle of city life, with all its rhythm and noise, has gone quiet.
The arts has been slammed particularly hard by corona virus. Back in March, with seasons cancelled and venues closed, dance companies and other arts organisations were forced online, tapping into their inherent creativity as a way to survive. Subscribers were, or in many parts of the world, still are, being offered exclusive online performances to keep them engaged and keep at least some revenue coming in. ‘Bums on seats’ is a catch cry of the entertainment industry and performing arts. Filling venues brings in the dollars, so the loss of ticket sales is a devastating blow, a multi million dollar loss in many cases.
For other artists, film makers, designers and creatives suddenly out of work, they found (and, in some places, continue to find) inspiration in lockdown. In search of a new and improvised set or stage, they’ve had to look within to look without.
Image: Nyssa Mitchell.
“perhaps the most significant impact of Melbourne’s lockdown was the feeling of being deprived of creative expression” – Nyssa
The very essence of the arts is collaboration, so isolation makes it tough on all those creatives who relish a shared creative process and vibe off the energy.
We’re very fortunate in Australia that after Melbourne’s long lockdown, all state and territories are now enjoying life with some of its former buzz. Things look very different and venues have a limited capacity due to social distancing, but we’re grateful to be open.
Sadly, that’s not the situation in the northern hemisphere. The New Yorker this week showcases how the New York City Ballet has danced its way around the pandemic, with online and outdoor performances, water ballet (in a fountain) and a series of short films with the city as a backdrop.
Image: New York City Ballet / The New Yorker
It turns out 2020 was meant to be a year of reinvention for the New York City Ballet, with a new artistic director and a couple of years of turmoil behind it – however nothing prepared it for a pandemic. But dancers say it’s been freeing, having to learn new routines away from the studio and full length mirrors, unable to scrutinise every move.
There’s no concert hall or opera house audience in sight for NYCB and other American and European performing arts organisations. It kind of looks like the northern winter will be so quiet you’ll be able to hear the snow fall.
Back in July and early August, Melbourne had very similar daily Covid-19 case numbers to Germany and the UK. The concentration of cases in just one city rather than a whole country made Melbourne’s numbers look really bad. Germany and the rest of Europe enjoyed a fairly relaxed summer and Melbourne came to an abrupt halt, heading into a hard lockdown that’s only just been lifted.
But the similarities in daily cases end there. Just as Melbourne is overwhelmed with relief and celebrates the end to over 100 days of full on restrictions, Covid-19 is again accelerating in the northern hemisphere. Several European countries have announced lockdowns this week as cases surge.
Image: Reuters/Yves Herman
In Belgium, the prime minister has asked the nation to suspend a large part of their lives, in order to save the lives of others. In his address, he said that “the situation in our country is very critical.”
Belgium isn’t doing well. Along with the Czech Republic, it is suffering a uniquely bad wave of coronavirus, reports Time. An average of nearly 14,000 cases per day between October 18 – 24 is an increase of 40% on the previous week. 18,500 cases were confirmed on 20 October.
The situation is so dire that heath workers who have tested positive but are asymptomatic may be required to work in exceptional circumstances, such as on a Covid-19 ward. Belgians have been asked to make moral decisions and to ‘take all measures into their homes and private lives’.
“These are moral choices, deciding on life and death, on our common future. And there is only one good choice: choose each other.”
Time says population density may be a factor, with the whole of Belgium having 377 people per square kilometre. That’s much higher than the EU average of 112. But it’s not only those countries heading into lockdown.
Image: Belga
France heads back into confinement on Friday, with President Macron saying that the second wave will be “bigger and deadlier than the first”.
Germany will go into national lockdown from the start of next week. The situation has escalated rapidly, and health authorities are no longer able to trace about 3/4 of infections. In announcing the new lockdown, Chancellor Angela Merkel said, “we must act, and now, to avoid an acute national health emergency.”
Starting a blog almost 10 months into the pandemic means that I’m still working out how to place all the stuff I wrote earlier in the year. So, I’m just going to put up bits and pieces as a way to show how the experience and sentiment has changed over the year. Eventually, I’ll work out the best way to add the Covid-19 back story.
March 2020: The entire planet is transfixed by the devastating and confronting images coming out of northern Italy.
It’s Saturday night and typically, we’re doing nothing. As we sit and watch tv, I get an alert from Twitter. I hardly ever go on Twitter these days, I just find it pretty boring. And so confrontational.
But Leigh Sales, who is one of Australia’s most respected journalists and presenter of 7.30, shares a link to an article on a blogging platform called Medium. She recommends it as excellent reading to get a better sense of how serious this pandemic is, and what might be in store. I’m on my phone and I click through to the link.
The article, ‘Coronavirus, why you must act now’ blows me away. A few weeks later, it’s been read 40 million times. I think it’s blown a lot of people away.
I fire off my first warning to my children. Until now, pretty much everyone has been shrugging this thing off. Like, what’s happening in China, Iran and Italy is really horrible, but that’s on the other side of the world. That’s in the northern hemisphere. Even though our country has just closed its borders and that’s pretty radical, we still don’t believe corona virus is going to reach our shores. Not really.
I now tell my teenage and young adult kids to take this thing a bit more seriously. To be aware that young people can get infected and that in rare cases, some have become critically unwell and have even died. Meanwhile, my daughter in particular raises the very tricky issue of her little brother being in Brazil as all this unfolds.
I share the link and urge them all to read it. We’re not in any kind of lock down for now, but everyone is sort of on edge because things are getting weirder by the day. Oh, we’re all finding the run on toilet paper quite amusing. For some reason, half of Australia seems to think that toilet paper will save them. We don’t even have a crisis here at the moment, well, apart from the empty supermarket aisles that usually are full of toilet paper. The run on toilet paper has led to a wave of hilarious creative responses. And, reporting by the aforementioned Leigh Sales.
My precious, March 23 2020 Berlin, Germany. Photo: Maja Hitij/Getty Images
Until now, I’ve tried not to sound too concerned about this whole COVID-19 thing. It’s been pretty easy to watch in horror but still feel safe enough so far away. Lots of other countries in Europe have cases now, but Italy is grabbing all the headlines.
The other evening, I’m on the phone to my sister in Dublin and we’re talking about what’s going on. All eyes, no matter where they live, are now on Lombardy. Simultaneously we say, “poor Italy”.
Reflections on life in lockdown by Alex Macpherson
I don’t think people outside of Melbourne can truly understand how tough the lockdown has been. I fully support Dan Andrews, and the fact that we have been able to bring our numbers down so significantly from the days were we were seeing 700+ cases a day, is pretty awesome.
Image: Victoria State Government
But, being in lockdown for over 100 days took its toll on me and everyone else I know in Melbourne. Imagine not being able to leave the house for more than 60 minutes, and when you do, you have to wear a mask which makes breathing what should be fresh and restorative air, suffocating.
Imagine working from home for seven months, and not seeing another human being from the time you wake up until 5pm, when your partner returns home. If you’re lucky enough to have a partner or a housemate. As human beings, most of us are social creatures. If I don’t have a work meeting, I may not open my mouth to speak for over 12 hours – the isolation has been particularly tough.
Imagine not being able to see any of your friends or loved ones outside of the very limiting 5km radius.
Imagine not being able to leave the suburb you live in, let alone the state so you can see your mum and give her a hug!
Image: Agence France-Presse
There have been some real highlights in 2020 – getting a new job (so thankful for that), Max keeping his job, buying a new house, not getting the virus. But there have been some serious lows.
The lack of freedom was suffocating, and still is – we’re not there yet. I won’t feel true relief until there is a vaccine, or we are properly set up to deal with a “COVID normal”. I am very grateful for what I’m able to do now. The prospect of going to sit in a pub with my friends this Saturday is honestly so exciting. It was something I took completely for granted before March 2020. Being able to jump on a flight to Canberra to see Mum and Kath, whenever I chose was something I took for granted. I still can’t do that yet, but hopefully I will be able to soon.
Max and I discussed the fact that we would be sharing our experience with our children – COVID, 2020 and Melbourne lockdown has changed me, and our community.
Thank you to Alex, who lives & works in inner city Melbourne, with her husband Max and iso cat <3
It’s news being shared and celebrated around the world. Melbourne is coming out of one of the pandemic’s longest lockdowns. Yesterday the premiere announced a record achievement – zero new cases.
William West/AFP via Getty Images
Back in July and early August, Melbourne was recording daily Covid-19 numbers that matched the UK and Germany. Victorian’s front line health workers were heroic in their efforts to manage the situation. As in other nations, they were elevated to a new status, with long-overdue admiration and recognition. Medics were (still are) at the very centre of the response. It’s been a whole-of-city team effort to get through.
I wrote the following in early August, before I’d got Covid Times up and running:
within Victoria, it’s a full blown catastrophe. It is incredibly sad to see the rates of community transmission and hear about the daily numbers that are so far refusing to go down, despite pretty full on interventions. Melbourne daily caseload is pretty much the same as the whole of Germany, Tokyo (with around 20 million) and the UK. That’s not just London, that’s the entire place. When you put those numbers into a global perspective like that, it’s scary.
At that time, those numbers looked really bleak, especially as they were concentrated in one city rather than across a nation. It was a super tense time and the rest of Australia watched on with sadness and fear for family and friends caught up in the crisis.
When Dan Andrews, the Victorian premiere, announced a hard lockdown on 2 August, he said,
“In part there’s some shock and awe”
“if you have to consider whether you should do something for more than a minute, then the answer should be no”
“Just make the answer no and stay at home.”
The whole city contributed to knocking Covid. Melbourne passed the 100-days-of-lockdown threshold last week. What Victoria has achieved in that time is incredible. Other Australian politicians may yet move from frustration to admiration. Let’s hope so, it is so well deserved.
When Dan announced yesterday that pubs would re-open, he was asked to confirm it was ok to get back on the beers. His response, “I might go a little higher up the shelf”. Needless to say, back on the beers has taken on a life of its own.
regret to inform the premier’s press conferences are going off at perth’s nightclubs pic.twitter.com/bB3BVgC21f
The announcement came at school pick time for many parents and was met with tears and jubilation. One mum, Andrea Rowe tweeted “She’s crying, I’m tooting. Folks are flashing lights and hollering. The Rosebud school carpark pickup is going off.”
The BBC today reports that after 110 + days of lockdown, experts say Melbourne “is emerging as a world leader in disease suppression alongside places including Singapore, Vietnam, South Korea, New Zealand and Hong Kong.”
The Conversation notes that as the crisis accelerates in Europe and elsewhere, Victoria’s zero new cases are the envy of the world. Zero has never looked so good.
Melbourne has moved from hero to zero. It’s an extraordinary achievement. But it’s also one with a high price.
Next up is a guest post from Alex, whose beautiful response to emerging from lockdown reminds anyone outside of Melbourne that the past 110 days were really, really hard.
2019: “Next year, we’ll spend 100 days at home, under a curfew with police and ADF personnel patrolling the streets”. Said no-one ever.
That scenario was an impossibility, not within the realms of a plausible future. We all got about our lives just knowing stuff, like that you could enjoy coffee with a friend or colleague, expect to go to work as usual on a Monday, send the kids to school, actually buy toilet paper or travel overseas for work and ski holidays.
Last year seems like a long, long time ago. And for people in Melbourne, even the first half of 2020 must seem like a long time ago. They’ve been under a strict stay-at-home order since July, and under stage 4 lockdown since the beginning of August.
Wednesday, Aug. 5, 2020. Image: AP Photo/Asanka Brendon Ratnayake
The other day, the city notched up 100 days of solitude.
It’s had a devastating impact on the city, mental health and many small (and large) businesses. But at 100 days, daily corona virus case numbers are back in the single digits and yesterday some of the lockdown restrictions were lifted. That’s an amazing achievement considering they peaked at over 700 in a single day.
Melbourne lockdown, image Nyssa Mitchell
“…time was not passing…it was turning in a circle…”
Victorians have done it really tough during the pandemic and they’ve kind of taken the Covid fall for the whole country. From midnight last night, there’ll be some reprieve, with travel up to 25km for exercise and shopping once again allowed. One small win, groups of up to 10 people can get together outdoors and the two hour time limit has been scrapped.
We hope you now face 100 better days, Melbourne xx
Quote from 100 Years of Solitude, Gabriel Garcia Marquez.
2020 will be remembered in so many different ways for people across the globe. While we had a sort of global shared experienced in March and April, communities and countries have headed their separate ways since then. The corona virus pandemic has not rolled out like one seamless global marketing campaign; our experience is no longer shared with such a novel intimacy of a world turned on its head.
Iso self portrait by Nyssa Mitchell
In Australia, we were initially united in our response to Covid-19. The entire country (along with so many other nations across the globe) entered into a stay-at-home / confinement period – known in Aus as ‘iso’. The timing, leading up to Easter, gave it a synchronised feel. The world had gone into full, or partial lockdown pretty much simultaneously, with images of ‘Easter done differently‘ beamed around the planet.
And then, here in Australia, we emerged feeling pretty well unscathed.
It’s been a very different story since then. We’ve become a nation where the very federation is tested. New frictions and flash points developed, especially around internal (state) border closures. It very quickly changed to an ‘us and them’ situation, pretty much between Victoria and the rest of the country.
Melbourne’s experience of lockdown is now isolation at two levels. Isolated within the home, and isolated from the rest of the country. If you’re not right there, it’s impossibly hard to imagine a stay-at-home order going on for so long, stuck at home for 99 days, where days really do begin to blend.
I’m sure it feels like being caught in a freaky reverse suspended animation; where those at home are alive but the world around them has been brought to a stand still, “on life support” as the politicians like to say, to be revived only when the magic number is achieved.
Creative responses to an extended lockdown are poignant and emotive – as so beautifully captured in this iso self-portrait. Resignation, boredom, sadness, futility.
