I'll freely admit that when we first started hearing reports about Covid-19, I basically just assumed it'd be like the bird flu or swine flu, and not much of anything would really happen as long as people were a little more cautious.
But every week another cruise ship full of cases would dock somewhere and completely fuck any form of contact tracing... people throwing huge social events with guests who recently returned from wherever, just exploding cases in small pockets everywhere.
The response from the various governments of the world has actually been really interesting to watch.
Boris Johnson head muppet in charge of the UK decides screw having a plan let it burn itself out (on his own populace) and as he lay recovering in an ICU from the very thing he wrote off, 900+ more of his people died.
Donald Trump predictably had fired Obama's pandemic response team already, picked a fight with the World Health Organisation blaming them for the slow response, started monopolising medical supplies and pharmaceuticals so that he and his friends could make as much money as possible.
The response from the various governments of the world has actually been really interesting to watch.
Boris Johnson head muppet in charge of the UK decides screw having a plan let it burn itself out (on his own populace) and as he lay recovering in an ICU from the very thing he wrote off, 900+ more of his people died.
Donald Trump predictably had fired Obama's pandemic response team already, picked a fight with the World Health Organisation blaming them for the slow response, started monopolising medical supplies and pharmaceuticals so that he and his friends could make as much money as possible.
Game plan to prevent contagion? The Governors should handle it as they see fit in their states....which has had wildly differing approaches from next to nothing, to almost a decent form of isolation. He then proceeded to remove federal funding for testing, limit the number of ventilators based on which states had said negative things about him. And basically held the American people to ransom.
And in typical Scott Morrison fashion, Australia has been in a completely half-assed lockdown for awhile with no plans to ever enter anything like a full lockdown period. People are still pretty much doing what they want, under the theory that a full lockdown would impact their economy too much.
The general advice on their response website was practice good hygiene and common-sense.
Meanwhile at home, Jacinda Ardern has been the leader we needed from the beginning, she implemented a full lockdown late March, and has progressively tightened border control to the point that now anyone coming into NZ must be quarantined. Our numbers are looking great, and we get a daily pep talk Facebook Live update from her to let us know how it is going.
I cannot be more thankful to have a leader like her, she is kind, down to earth, and gets shit done.
So what does it look like? The world right now from my perspective as someone in NZ.
Aside essential workers, the general populace must stay at home and only leave the house for groceries, prescriptions or medical treatment. So basically everyone is on home detention now.
At the supermarket you have to stand two meters apart, hand sanitise the handles of the shopping trolleys, and avoid contact with others. I haven't actually seen that since I am still on my ankle monitor but Mum goes once or twice a week and I am super thankful for her doing that.
There are obviously still dickheads in the world, everywhere including New Zealand who flaunt the rules, and think they are being awesome. They are not.
I mean I get it, be young and enthusiastic, maybe ya didn't stock up enough on yer drugs and alcohol before lockdown started. But tough shit at this point.
Apparently we have a three strikes rule for this kind of thing, if the police find you breaching lockdown you get a few warnings, but continued stupidity will be punished with fines or jail time.
Mentally it has been super interesting to watch how much people have fallen apart, I don't know if its just because I have been on home detention or because I have essentially always spent huge chunks of my time alone, but it definitely seems like some people are not made for this level of isolation.
We are currently on week three, theoretically there is at least one more week of this, but I actually hope they give us another month for safety.
SO... that's kinda the overall situation in parts of the world and here, so how do I feel right now?
Well, I think a lot of us who have experienced trauma in our lives or who have dealt with anxiety and PTSD are actually somewhat familiar with this constant feeling of paranoia and fear. So we are actually doing a lot better than people you'd expect to be totally okay.
I can't really do anything but the right thing right now, so I am winning by default.
But living in that crappy apartment in Germany where I felt super isolated, being in prison for a week where I was INCREDIBLY confined, and of course being on home detention right now, was all good training for this exact scenario. Nothing has really changed for me.
I am spending a lot of my time worrying for my friends in other countries though, they are as close as family to me, and I have a lot of people in Australia, America and England which is why I mentioned those countries first for a little context. Their responses to this have me genuinely scared for my people.
Still I remain fairly calm really, when you're used to complete turmoil and your world ending on a regular basis this is just the latest in a long string of these types of scenarios.
Now on to my usual updates about things...my estrogen dose just got increased which feels nice, its always amazing when I can actually "feel" it, I have had lots of breast growth recently for some reason which is super painful but also amazing, my ADHD meds have basically resulted in me waking up at 6am every day. I wish I had something a little more productive to do with that time.
I have rounded up a bunch of resources for voice training, have organised my makeup nook, will be cooking my amazing chicken tortellini thing tonight, so its all productive stuff I hadn't been doing much of.. I just wish I had some work or study to focus on. Oh and I have almost finished the Final Fantasy 7 Remake which is absolutely breath taking, I fell in love with those characters all over again.
Anyway, I hope you are all staying safe out there, be kind to one another, and look after those who need it.
And in typical Scott Morrison fashion, Australia has been in a completely half-assed lockdown for awhile with no plans to ever enter anything like a full lockdown period. People are still pretty much doing what they want, under the theory that a full lockdown would impact their economy too much.
The general advice on their response website was practice good hygiene and common-sense.
Meanwhile at home, Jacinda Ardern has been the leader we needed from the beginning, she implemented a full lockdown late March, and has progressively tightened border control to the point that now anyone coming into NZ must be quarantined. Our numbers are looking great, and we get a daily pep talk Facebook Live update from her to let us know how it is going.
I cannot be more thankful to have a leader like her, she is kind, down to earth, and gets shit done.
So what does it look like? The world right now from my perspective as someone in NZ.
Aside essential workers, the general populace must stay at home and only leave the house for groceries, prescriptions or medical treatment. So basically everyone is on home detention now.
At the supermarket you have to stand two meters apart, hand sanitise the handles of the shopping trolleys, and avoid contact with others. I haven't actually seen that since I am still on my ankle monitor but Mum goes once or twice a week and I am super thankful for her doing that.
There are obviously still dickheads in the world, everywhere including New Zealand who flaunt the rules, and think they are being awesome. They are not.
I mean I get it, be young and enthusiastic, maybe ya didn't stock up enough on yer drugs and alcohol before lockdown started. But tough shit at this point.
Apparently we have a three strikes rule for this kind of thing, if the police find you breaching lockdown you get a few warnings, but continued stupidity will be punished with fines or jail time.
Mentally it has been super interesting to watch how much people have fallen apart, I don't know if its just because I have been on home detention or because I have essentially always spent huge chunks of my time alone, but it definitely seems like some people are not made for this level of isolation.
We are currently on week three, theoretically there is at least one more week of this, but I actually hope they give us another month for safety.
SO... that's kinda the overall situation in parts of the world and here, so how do I feel right now?
Well, I think a lot of us who have experienced trauma in our lives or who have dealt with anxiety and PTSD are actually somewhat familiar with this constant feeling of paranoia and fear. So we are actually doing a lot better than people you'd expect to be totally okay.
I can't really do anything but the right thing right now, so I am winning by default.
But living in that crappy apartment in Germany where I felt super isolated, being in prison for a week where I was INCREDIBLY confined, and of course being on home detention right now, was all good training for this exact scenario. Nothing has really changed for me.
I am spending a lot of my time worrying for my friends in other countries though, they are as close as family to me, and I have a lot of people in Australia, America and England which is why I mentioned those countries first for a little context. Their responses to this have me genuinely scared for my people.
Still I remain fairly calm really, when you're used to complete turmoil and your world ending on a regular basis this is just the latest in a long string of these types of scenarios.
Now on to my usual updates about things...my estrogen dose just got increased which feels nice, its always amazing when I can actually "feel" it, I have had lots of breast growth recently for some reason which is super painful but also amazing, my ADHD meds have basically resulted in me waking up at 6am every day. I wish I had something a little more productive to do with that time.
I have rounded up a bunch of resources for voice training, have organised my makeup nook, will be cooking my amazing chicken tortellini thing tonight, so its all productive stuff I hadn't been doing much of.. I just wish I had some work or study to focus on. Oh and I have almost finished the Final Fantasy 7 Remake which is absolutely breath taking, I fell in love with those characters all over again.
Anyway, I hope you are all staying safe out there, be kind to one another, and look after those who need it.
