Life in the age of the coronavirus

It’s March 19. There are over 500 confirmed cases of COVID19 in Australia as I type this. 6 people have died.

Travel bans are in place and getting more restrictive every day it seems. Indoor gatherings of over 100 people have been banned, less than a week after gatherings of 500 were banned. Schools are still open.

This morning I noticed my bus drive past 3 stops in a row with nobody waiting. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen that - it’s a busy bus route at almost any time of day. 

Of course the panic buying started about 2 weeks ago- first toilet paper, then dried and tinned goods, then meat, pharmaceuticals and now... well just about everything. I always seem to be a couple days ahead of the next wave and so am not too worried about going without anything. Australia is an incredibly resource rich country and most of the food is local.

The mood is weird. The Prime Minister keeps saying ‘life is not like it was before’ but my days are still the same, just threaded through with this uncertainty and this underlying sense of unease. I caught a train home from Bondi just now which was maybe half full, instead of jammed like a tin of sardines. But there are plenty of people still going to work and catching public transport. Last night I went to spin class and it wasn’t full but it wasn’t empty. The weight room looked pretty busy. We’re thinking of going out for dinner to support the local businesses who are undoubtedly hurting. Many American friends will condemn this move encouraging ‘social distancing’ but honestly if I’m still going to work with 870 students every day I think I can sit 1.5m away from a stranger at a pub. Probably the most distance I’ve had from anyone all day.

It’s like the country has one foot in crisis mode, and the other in ‘life as normal’ mode. I guess those of us whose work is considered ‘essential services’ are just carrying on as normal, while others are being encouraged or even demanded to work from home. Some weird divides are being revealed.

Trying to chronicle this (hopefully) once in a lifetime event, both to preserve a record of this to look back on for perspective , but also for my mental health. I have a lot of thoughts and feelings about all this, as everyone does, but I’m still out in the world, so maybe well placed to observe what happens next.

Stay tuned.

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