NOVEL CORONAVIRUS (COVID-19) PANDEMIC DECLARED MARCH 11TH 2020

It hit Australia in March, around the time my Dad died and not long before the Easter holidays when many people have their yearly holiday. All holidays must be cancelled. Caravan parks closed, flights cancelled, campgrounds closed, hotels closed, restaurants closed.

Just so we NEVER forget..... Life in Australia today, Sunday April 5, 2020
One for our history books.  Our life has been completely turned upside down….

I'm personalizing this for our family and what we've experienced too.
Petrol is still being sold for $1.32 in Rockhampton but in Brisbane, Costco Northlakes has petrol for 88.7 cents... but around Sarah’s place at Rochedale South fuel is around $1.04 at its lowest price.
Self-distancing measures are in place. Tape on the floors at supermarkets, chemists and other shops to help distance shoppers 2m/6ft from each other; limited number of people inside shops therefore line-ups outside the shop.. It's a little strange walking around shops and I'll admit to freaking out a bit if people aren’t observing that distance near me! 

Only one family member in for shopping to reduce risk. Hours are limited and open early for those with extra needs and 60+.  Limited number of people inside stores.

Non-essential stores and businesses mandated closed. Gyms, coffee shops, pubs, restaurants, beauty salons, Skate parks, pools, lookouts, churches closed & entire cities locked up.   Our way of life has changed, the once beaming metropolis around restaurants, bars and cafes has ceased.
Aged care facilities are in lockdown.  Unable to visit your elderly relatives...

Children's outdoor play parks are closed the playgrounds and skate parks are the hardest for Sarah’s family because they spend time there every week and most weekends. They haven’t been to playgrounds in 2 weeks, so the kids don't touch anything...    The children are also missing catching up with their friends.

 Shortage of masks, gowns, and gloves for our frontline workers. Shortage of respirators for the critically Ill.

Panic buying sets in and we have no toilet paper, no disinfecting supplies, no paper towels, no laundry soap, no hand sanitizer and pasta, rice, flour or frozen vegies are almost impossible to obtain.

Shelves are bare, even after weeks of this. Apparently, the stores aren’t even getting any orders to restock shelves. Today for the first time in almost a month I've managed to buy toilet paper and paper towels as the shelves have been empty since this Pandemic started.  I haven’t looked for flour or rice etc yet… thankfully since my surgery last year, I hardly eat this sort of food now..  

School cancelled March 15, 2020 except for children of those working in essential services- parents asked to home school.  School now cancelled for the foreseeable future.... Holidays (QLD) officially start two days ago. It looks like kids will be taught virtually on-line for term 2.  I feel for my daughter and many of her friends trying to work from home and support their kids schooling. Teachers grapple to find their new normal in this  involving new teaching strategies, in preparation for the delivery of  online subject courses,  rewriting tasks, activities, and assessments  in combination with learning new software which has been  accelerated  over a period of two weeks has caused  an unintended workload. Very stressful for so many. 

Superannuation has plummeted (~ down 35%) and we are seeing the worst recession in almost 90 years.  Steve and I were about to retire, me of the 2^nd of April and he on the 3^rd.  I finished on my due date but Steve has been offered the chance to go back and work for a further six months, although it was a hard decision for him to make as we were both looking forward to this date of pulling the pin on our working life and we had many traveling plans booked for 2020. 

The government has asked where possible that people work from home. So once the holidays are over, Steve will most likely be at home teaching in a virtual classroom set up in our dining room.    It will be a little strange as I will also be home, and this is not what we planned as we were to be out enjoying life.  An uncertain future for us… We are very thankful to his employers who have found work for this year for us so that we don’t have to dip into our superannuation whilst it is so low… Fortunately both Dan and Chloe ‘s work is classed as essential services and both are working from home.  This has its challenges with internet being very slow and dropping out constantly.  Colin’s work is also classed as essential but at this stage is still having to go to work as he supervises houses which house homeless children.  Feeling thankful and blessed that our kids still have work…

Entire sports seasons cancelled including professional sports and Olympics postponed until 2021. While we're enjoying a slower life with no activities in the afternoons and on weekends, it is hard for the kids as they are definitely missing getting out and catching up with friends. 

Concerts, tours, festivals, entertainment events - cancelled.
Weddings, family celebrations, holiday gatherings - cancelled. Funerals immediate family only and grave site...should be less than 10 so not everyone can attend.

No masses or services ...churches are closed. We are missing being with our church family and worshipping together but we have online services and lots of churches are putting up short devotions through their web pages or facebook pages to encourage us during the week.  Since we are house bound, worship music is on a lot more at home.

Only 2 people can be together out in public spaces.  Don't socialize with anyone outside of your home. Except for exercising with 1 other person... some of the rules are a little unclear... 

While we are physically distancing, Zoom calls, Messenger chats, What’s App and FaceTime has been more used. We are in constant contact through Facetime with our children and grandchildren mostly on a daily basis and   I've had quite a  few chats with my two closest friends Barb and Kathy. Steve and I have have been madly trying to cope with the massive changes in our lives,  which include now having our rental home empty.. and work out what we can do with it, cancelling overseas travel for the following month and deciding whether to rebook or get a refund, settling into a new norm of life.  Instead of going out we are going on Date drives instead to watch sunsets… anything away from other people….

Shortage of masks, gowns, gloves for our front-line workers. It's hard knowing some of my best friends are in the frontline and the ramifications and risks it has for their families too.

Shortage of ventilators for the critically ill. Praying we don't get to needing them all.
Manufacturers, distilleries and other businesses switch their lines to help make visors, masks, hand sanitizer and PPE (Personal Protection Equipment).

Australian Government has closed its borders and State and Territory Governments have closed the state boarders all over the country and anyone entering from overseas must isolate for 14 days.  The Government also have called all Australians home and makes it mandatory for them to self-isolate for 14 days also.

Cruise ships have been refused entry to our country and have been asked to leave our shores.  Two ships are refusing to leave, others are hovering off our coast with sick crew members.   Australia has helped in extreme cases but are ordering the ships to head home to their own ports.  We need our hospital beds for Australian citizens…

Fines are established for breaking the rules which are legislated acts. All beaches, playgrounds and places of gathering are closed and, in some cases, fenced off. Stadiums and recreation facilities on standby to provide overflow hospitals and mortuaries. 

Press conferences daily from both Prime Minister Scott Morrison and the QLD Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk.   and Health Dept officials.  The Chief Medical Officer gives daily updates on new cases, recoveries, and deaths.

Unprecedented applications for Employment assistance as people go without work and businesses close their doors.

Government have given incentives to stay home and they have passed the Corona Stimulus package offering financial support to individuals and businesses to help cope with job losses, save the economy and avoid recession.  Free child care for essential works has been granted. Unemployment rate are high.  Thousands losing their jobs with organizations such as Virgin Airways and Qantas letting go of thousands of workers. Massive queues outside Centrelink to access unemployment benefits. Barely anyone in the streets or on the roads, mostly  just semi trucks. 

Barely anyone in the street or on the roads. People wearing masks and gloves outside.   Medical field workers are afraid to go home to their families. Our daughter-in-law Maria is a midwife and is working in a hospital. I have close friends that are nurses and my sister-in-law is a doctor so  I think and pray for them often.  We are to distance from each other. Thousands affected, numbers critically ill, many recovered. Daily updates on new cases and deaths. Not a lot of coverage on recoveries or those sick with the virus.

Current reports are that these restrictions could be in place until October - if this is the case we are headed for an economic collapse... These are unprecedented times, we are living through something none of us ever thought we would see. It's scary.

But what hasn't been mentioned yet is more family time together. Time for gardening, time for taking the dog for a walk and those projects we haven't had time for. For crafting and being creative. For lots of board games and movie marathons.  We are exercising more in the evenings because we don't get out as much and it's important for us (and no excuses coz we don’t have anywhere else to be). There are lots of hard and uncertain things, but there's good too, and in times like this we need to hang onto these. 

They say it started in Wuhan, China at a market. Hundreds of thousands affected, dead, dying, critically ill. Many recovered.

This is the Novel Coronavirus (Covid-19) Pandemic, declared March 11th, 2020.

Why, you ask, do I write this status? (Or copy most of it, lol)

One day it will show up in my memory feed. One day when our memories fade this will remind us that kindness matters....and so does washing your hands!😉

And it will be an annual reminder that life is so precious! Don’t take everything we dearly love for granted.

We have so much!

Be thankful.  Be grateful.

Be kind to each other, love one another, support everyone.

We are all in this together! ❤️