March 2020 - Covid 19 Paralyzes the Globe

In March 2020 these words and phrases became part of our everyday vocabulary: Covid 19, the coronavirus, pandemic, shelter in place, lockdown, social distancing, hand washing, hand sanitizer, "why can I not find toilet paper?", empty shelves at grocery stores, "do I wear a face mask?", plummeting stock markets, economic rescue packages, PPE (personal protective equipment), dire shortage of ventilators, flattening the curve, herd immunity

Gloom and doom, apocalyptic, comparisons to the 1918 Spanish Flu. As destructive and crippling as the Great Depression and the two world wars.

The dominoes began to fall in early March. First slowly, then faster and faster. By the 3rd week of March a sizable chunk of humanity was confined to their homes. Only essential needs justified stepping out into the public.

Every morning I awoke to disturbing NPR coverage. Then, I'd scan the Cornovirus Updates on the CNN website, followed by the New York Times updates. Each day a new country, a new continent. Italy had turned into a nightmare, the scale of the effects of the coronavirus far worse than Wuhan, China.

I started to keep a diary.

March 17, 2020

It's now 6 days since the World Health Organization declared Covid 19 a global pandemic. Unprecedented times. A novel coronavirus is rapidly spreading all over the globe, having peaked and on a downward slide in China. Infected people experience flu like symptoms, mainly fever, malaise and a dry cough, followed by shortness of breath. This virus attacks lung tissue so people with underlying sicknesses have to be hospitalized and attached to ventilators. The old are at high risk for death.
Today, the number of identified cases in the USA is 6,300 - a falsely modest number due to testing fiascoes. In Wuhan, the Chinese city where the outbreak originated, the total stood at 80,880. In South Africa the number is 85, Australia is at 450, the UK at 1,950, Germany has 9,300 cases and Italy, a staggering 31,506. Only weeks ago virus clusters were confined to a few Asian countries - China, South Korea, Japan and Singapore. The identified cases in the west were repatriated citizens from affected countries, the Diamond Princess cruise ship and the handful of returning travelers.

The death rate is still hazy, estimated at somewhere between 1 and 3%. We are hearing that the majority - 80% - of infections in Wuhan were mild, requiring no treatment.

I first became aware that there was potential for a problem of a serious magnitude on the evening of February 2. I'd flown into LA from Honolulu, the last stop after spending 6 months abroad. As we were driving home to Santa Barbara I shared with Daryl summer travel information I'd been researching. I felt it was time to purchase our tickets for June departures. The big plan was bringing our 14 year old Ladysmith nephew, Cayden, to London. His first trip abroad and a dream come true for him. To my surprise, Daryl, who normally tries to get me to book airfares too far in advance, cautioned me to wait. "Have you heard of the coronavirus?" he asked.
I hadn't been paying much attention to the news all of January but I knew something awful was happening in Wuhan, China. "Yes, an outbreak in China," I said. And then I mumbled something about the Chinese authorities trying to silence the doctors who broke the news, which was what I'd mostly heard about. What did I know at that point? I'd heard that Wuhan, a city in Hubei Province, was the epicenter of an outbreak caused by a new virus from an animal host at a seafood market. The whole city was now sealed off to stop the spread. Other Chinese towns were also under some form of quarantine. But mainly I'd been hearing about the Chinese government trying to hide information about this outbreak.

"This is a serious one," Daryl said. "I've been looking at the numbers, the explosive increase in Wuhan. It could turn into a pandemic. We may not be doing any traveling this year."
I was stunned. Surely he was overreacting? With Daryl it was tricky. His acute mathematical instincts meant he knew numbers, understood trends, exponential growth, etc. Coupled with his obsessive drive to study the science, his extrapolations gave him privileged forsight. He often reminds me of Cassandra of Greek mythology, cursed with forecasting the future but never to be believed. Daryl is also famously pessimistic and prone to overreaction, making it tricky to determine when to take him seriously.
But then I thought about the young Asian couple seated next to me on the 5 hour flight earlier today. They wore face masks and got out disinfectant wipes and wiped their seats, tray table, seatbelts, everything they might touch. I found it rather strange. Were they returning from China? Later, when I chatted to the woman, who had an American accent, I found out she lived in LA. Perhaps they were medics, I thought.
Now, after Daryl's sobering warnings, I realized something serious was going on.

Still, I wasn't by any means worried. I mean the recent pandemics - Ebola, H1N1, SARS, MERS - had no impact on our lives, let alone travel plans (except for Ebola which made us postpone our Serengeti safari). This disease, which was way over in Asia, would surely not reach us.

In the first weeks of February, as I settled back into home routines, I paid more attention to news about the novel coronavirus. I quickly learned that WHO had announced on January 30 that the novel coronavirus was a global public health emergency. The disease it caused hadn't been named yet. The WHO, after past errors, wanted to ensure a sensitive name. Much of the news then focused on Wuhan's lockdown which had begun on January 23. The virus had also spread to other parts of China, since Wuhan was a major transportation hub, and there was concern about it spreading in Beijing. Other cities in Hubei province and various parts of China were under lockdown too, but the staggering caseload in Wuhan, city of 11 million people, was at the heart of the action.

On February 7 we heard about the death of Dr. Li Wenliang, 39 days after he'd described the new disease (which claimed his life) to medical students on a social media app. He, and a team of doctors working at a hospital in Wuhan had sounded the alarm about a mysterious sickness in December. Their suspicions had been aroused when patients who presented with pneumonia weren't responding to the normal treatments. The local authorities, angered by the bad press, reprimanded and silenced the doctors. By December 31 the central government acknowledged a rapidly growing out of control situation, and reported the outbreak to the World Health Organization. Then they got to work, first sequencing the genome in record time, less than a week, on January 8. This enabled diagnosis, leading to China waging a full throttled battle against a formidable enemy.

I was in Australia then, where all attention was on the unprecedented bush fires that had wreaked breathtaking damage all along the East Coast. The heartbreaking loss of wildlife - koalas, wallabies, etc. - had us in despair. In the USA, Trump, who had been impeached by the House in December, was about to be tried by the Senate. In mid-January I left a damp Sydney, at the start of a series of drenching storms which would blissfully extinguish the destructive fires of eastern Australia. I fetched up at an Airbnb apartment on Waikiki Beach and while I enjoyed euphoric days in a dreamy setting, the impeachment trial dominated the news. The big story - the insidious novel coronavirus which was paralyzing China- was background news. Thinking back, it's impossible to avoid comparisons to the Game of Thrones. Everyone, absorbed by petty grievances, ignoring Jon Snow's warnings of the real enemy.

Around the time the Republican senate predictably acquitted Trump (January 25), China reported 11,791 confirmed cases and 259 deaths. At this point there were identified infections in Japan, Singapore, South Korea and the USA. The outside world was in a panic, not about the virus, but about the impact of China's frozen economy. With manufacturing at a standstill, supply chains would be affected. The Apple factory in China had shut down. Would there be fewer iPhones? Would the cost go up? I kid you not.

After Trump's impeachment trial, Americans turned their attention to the presidential primary elections, launched by the Iowa caucuses. I was excited that Pete Buttigieg made a strong start by winning in Iowa and placing 2nd and 3rd in subsequent state primaries. Bernie Sanders was rising to the top and this kept us awake at night.

On Feb 11 I met up with friends for lunch at the Natural Cafe in Santa Barbara. When I asked Barb when she and Marty were planning to return to their second home in Washington DC, she shrugged and said, "We originally thought April, but we're hearing from the CDC that flights may be affected then by the coronavirus, so we may go in March."
I sat still. It was 9 days since my return home and she was only the second person I'd come across who recognized trouble was on the horizon. Most people held the attitude that the novel coronavirus was a problem far away from us.
In mid February when I asked my Perth sister, Pam, whether she'd be traveling to Europe in June/July she said she didn't think she could afford it. And then she said, "In any case, with the coronavirus it may not be a good year to travel." So it was on her radar too!

Everyday Daryl read up everything he could on the coronavirus. The Chinese government, after those initial missteps of being in denial and punishing the "messengers", were in full attack mode. The number of seriously ill, the high death rate, and the rapid spread demanded unprecedented action. Employing their authoritarian powers they imposed draconian rules for its citizens to stay put, built 4 new hospitals in 9 days, set up quarantine centers in hotels, flew in medical staff from unaffected parts of the country, ensured they performed their duties in full protective gear, and took control of essential needs, e.g. food delivery at the doorsteps of the residents. They paid fastidious attention to disinfecting all surfaces, like hosing the streets every night. Professionals were allowed to make videos of the developments and post them on public websites to let the outside world know what was going on - as long as it was positive. I believe complaints, negative blogging and criticisms on social media were censored.
And every morning I woke up to news of staggering increases of new cases in Wuhan.
Daryl started preparing me for the likely scenario of a full scale outbreak in our part of the world. He watched Dr. Seheult's Medcram videos posted daily on YouTube. New research and information accessibly conveyed. Daryl looked up other researchers too. A good night's sleep was crucial for a strong constitution, he said one day. Vitamin D supplements may help, he said on another day. While we weren't exactly fearful, the dread of an impending disaster was impossible to ignore.

Reactions in the US to the Chinese authoritarian regime's actions were mixed. Was it acceptable to force people to be imprisoned in their homes? We couldn't imagine such a scenario in the west.

In China, on January 23, when cities went into lockdown, they had identified 830 Covid 19 cases. As testing became more aggressive the numbers soared. On January 30, the number had gone up to 9,692  cases. I was back home in early February and each morning when NPR came on I'd hear the chilling new count. On February 11 it was 44,600. The next morning I was shocked that it had shot up to 58,700. I found out that they'd begun a new way of testing - an x-ray - which provided more accuracy.

While the crisis in China appeared to be deepening, we were hearing more disturbing news. A coronavirus outbreak on a cruise liner, the Diamond Princess, became a global concern. The ship was quarantined at a Japanese harbor. With still so much unknown about this new virus, there seemed to be confusion about the best way to handle the situation. This seemingly callous act of putting all 3,700 passengers and crew at risk shocked us all.

Then South Korea became a hot spot. Some church seemed to be a breeding ground for its congregation. Soon after that we heard about an outbreak at a ski resort in northern Italy.

The Covid 19 epidemic still felt like a remote problem in my part of the world. Many of our friends had travel plans in the next months, oblivious to the wrecking ball already on its journey. On Feb 21 we were with friends at a restaurant. Bruce described his upcoming travel plans. A week in Oman for professional reasons and en route back home he planned to spend a week in Venice. Daryl and I kept our thoughts about the foolishness of this idea hidden. Italy had already identified cases and a cluster in Lombardy signaled community spread. Two days later we heard of the first Covid 19 death in Italy. On Feb 25 towns in Lombardy, Italy's epicenter, went into complete lockdown. A week later, forced to cancel his Venice plans, Bruce asked us about other Europe destinations for a week. Valencia? Nice? "Don't do it!" my thought bubble went. "It's a moving target," I said. "Yeah, it's a moving target, but I'll take my chances," he said.
A week later his Oman invitation was cancelled. The virus had spread to much of Europe and the Middle East.
It was a certainty that we would not be traveling abroad this summer. Poor 14 year old Cayden. For the past 3 months all he could ever talk about was his trip to London in June. I guess part of growing up is facing big disappointments.
My mother also went through a disappointment. She'd hoped to spend December 2019 at Pam's place in Perth where we planned to celebrate her 80th birthday and spend Christmas together. The Australian High Commission screwed up her visa and it finally got processed in early February. We were getting ready to purchase her airfare to Perth, hoping for a departure in early March. But a visit to her GP in the third week of Feb saved her from future heartache. "I cancelled my travel plans to Asia and at your age I don't think you should be doing any overseas travel. The coronavirus is going to spread." That was the message from her doctor.

At my February 27 bookclub meeting, even with the world spinning toward a catastrophe, my friends were getting ready to travel abroad. Two to New Zealand and one to London. The stockmarket had begun a nosedive on Feb 24. More new cases outside China than inside, a milestone, signaled trouble. But my friends didn't connect the dots. Joy asked to meet up in a week or two for ideas on how to spend her spring break in London. My smile hid my true thoughts that the world was too unstable for such "normal" plans.

The presidential primaries still dominated our headlines and our headspace. We were almost in a panic that Bernie Sanders could capture the nomination. This would surely doom any chance of defeating Trump in November. Which moderate could displace Sanders? We began to worry that Michael Bloomberg may be our only chance. Pete Buttegieg was my favorite, but he was gay and too young, and therefore a risky choice. Nobody knew who to vote for in our primaries coming up on March 3. We were waiting to see what happened in South Carolina on Saturday, Feb 29. When Joe Biden, who had been doing poorly up to that point, won by a large margin we breathed a collective sigh of relief. The 2 strong democratic moderate hopefuls (Pete Buttegieg and Amy Klobuchar) bowed out and supported Biden to the point that on Super Tuesday he won most states easily. Sanders took California where most voters had mailed their ballots well in advance. On March 4, the stock market shot up. Biden's victory as well as some bizarre dispute going on between Russia and Saudi Arabia over oil production. They decided to flood the market, bringing prices down. The next day the downward slide of the DOW Jones and other stock market indicators resumed.

Covid 19 outbreaks around the world were bound to occur. After all, Wuhan was a city of 11 million with a major airport and a transportation hub. In the early weeks unsuspecting virus hosts boarded planes for destinations all over the globe. Italy was the first European country to identify a coronavirus patient. From the ski resort the virus spread to other northern Italian cities, and then to other European countries and to the rest of the world.
In the US the repatriated Diamond Cruise passengers were among the earliest identified coronavirus cases. (A total of 702 passengers from an assortment of countries had tested positive, with 10 deaths) The first reported case of community spread in the USA was on Feb 26. Trump was forced to give up his childish dismissive attitude and set up a Covid 19 task force. He chose Mike Pence(gasp!) to lead it. Dr. Anthony Fauci, Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, was a member of this task force and he became a daily face on the news. Saddled with the worst president ever at a time in our lifetime when the need for proper leadership has never been greater compounds our stress levels. Thankfully, a federal system grants governors powers (limited, of course) to deal with crises. Gavin Newsom and Andrew Cuomo are rising to the occasion.
The messages from WHO became ubiquitous. Social distancing, wash hands for 20 seconds (Sing the Happy birthday song twice), cough into elbow, don't shake hands, don't touch your face, stay home if you feel ill.

The day after Super Tuesday (March 4) the staggering number of identified coronavirus cases in Europe dominated the news. In the USA, Washington state was the epicenter with an outbreak at a nursing home. Clusters were also identified in Santa Clara county in the Bay Area. When news of coronavirus patients on the Grand Princess Cruiseliner broke, Governor Newsom declared a State of Emergency in California. This cruise ship was scheduled to make stops along the California coast (including Santa Barbara) on its way to Mexico. It was forced to abort its itinerary and dock away from the coast. Medical staff were helicoptered over to test every single passenger and then arrangements were made for it to sail to Oakland from where passengers could disembark in a safe way.

A Covid 19 flare up in New Rochelle, suburb of New York, hit the news. Still, many people I encountered didn't seem to take in just how dangerous the world had become. Then again everyone was stockpiling toilet paper! The biggest mystery of this disaster! And soon after that, long shelf life food - rice, beans, pasta - vanished from supermarket shelves.
In the first week of March CNN started referring to COVID 19 as a pandemic. The WHO labeled it a pandemic a week later, on March 11.

As the situation escalated in Europe and the USA, China's new case numbers declined. South Korea too was showing success. They had mounted a state of the art diagnostic test, aggressively testing their citizens and tracing contacts. Japan and Singapore were diligently dealing with their epidemics too. Their case numbers remained manageable, with small daily growth. There was hope!

On Friday, March 6, when Daryl and I went on our usual Friday stroll to the Santa Barbara Harbor followed by dinner at Mesa Verde we suspected it might be a while before we'd be able to do that again. On Sunday, March 8, after a hike along the More Mesa Bluffs where we stopped to watch a seal hop onto the beach, we decided to eat at a restaurant - Masala Spice - pretty sure it would be our last dine-in restaurant meal.

When news broke that Northern Italy was going to be locked down we all gasped. What? A Wuhan like scenario in the West? The exponential growth of Covid 19 cases and the frightening death rate demanded unprecedented action. The morning after that shocking announcement we learned that the entire country was under lockdown. Astounding!
Spain's Covid 19 numbers were skyrocketing too. There was talk of shutting down Madrid. France had already imposed restrictions.

At a dinner party we hosted on March 10 with 8 friends, two couples, incredibly, were about to travel to exotic locations. Consuelo and Charlie were departing for Morocco via Paris the next evening, and Susan and Bob had plans for a vacation in Costa Rica, departing a week later, on March 17. Blissful oblivion. Meanwhile, Marty and Barb, who hoped to get to their second home in Washington DC, expected impending disaster. They were staying put. Not getting on an airplane, nor would they consider driving for fear that states may close off their borders.
But even as we anticipated a changed world, a potential Italy scenario, we hadn't fully internalized that our daily lives were about to be upended. "Big Tuesday" primary election results were coming out - in a far more sedate manner rather than the usual bombastic way - and we were immensely relieved that Biden was again winning by comfortable margins.

The dominoes were coming down fast. By early March the coronavirus had spread to every continent (except Antarctica). South Africa recorded its first case on March 5. Eight days later they were at 60 identified cases. President Ramaphosa rose up to his role as leader when he addressed the nation on prime time TV urging people to take measures to contain the spread. Air travel from countries with big case loads were banned. Schools would be closed for a month. People were urged to stay home as much as possible. I was impressed at the professionalism and compassionate leadership portrayed in this address.

In contrast, Trump had been downplaying the seriousness of the disease, kept repeating it'll go away, we have it under control, etc.

Life had to suddenly change for all of us. Everywhere in the world.

On March 11 as I was leaving for the gym Daryl frowned, tried to talk me out of going. I went anyway. It was midmorning and quiet. I took extra care to wipe down surfaces before and after use and frequently used hand gel. When I was done with my work out I requested a hold on my membership. With such big changes everyday I was sure Daryl would forbid me from going to the gym the next day. I was depressed. I'd become addicted to the boost of endorphins from my daily sessions. It also meant giving up my magical Saturday and Sunday morning ritual. Pool laps followed by a soak in the jacuzzi and then a few minutes in the sauna.

The next day (March 12) Trump announced that the travel ban which had been in place for China and South Korea would now be extended to all of Europe.

We spent the next 2 days stocking up on nonperishable food items. We had tickets for chamber music at the Santa Barbara Museum of Art, but decided not to go. In the next days we started hearing about the cancellation of big events. South by Southwest, Major League games, music festivals (Coachella), concerts big and small - anything and everything that drew a crowd. Broadway went dark. Trevor Noah and Stephen Colbert taped shows with no live audiences, and soo after that stayed at home form where they recorded videos. Our tickets for spring concerts were now useless. What a pity to miss Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 3, the tickets for which were purchased back in July 2019.

The Trump administration's missteps to address the pandemic caused us untold despair, starting with botched testing kits for which the Centers for Disease Control was blamed.

By March 16 mayors of California's metropolitan areas were making moves to seal off their cities. "Shelter in place" was the phrase. Though we live outside these major urban centers Daryl wanted us to do likewise. We were well stocked with nonperishables and other items, but what about a constant supply of produce and dairy? We signed up with Givens Farms for a weekly CSA produce box. We could include other items such as bread from Deux Bakery with our weekly order so that seemed like an excellent solution. How fortunate we are to so easily access these resources.

It was certainly a time of heightened anxiety. And this threat to our health was a universal problem. Nothing could distract me from the situation. I obsessively logged onto Worldometers and the Johns Hopkins Covid 19 Webpage. In the next days I recorded the case numbers in countries where family members live as well as other remarkable countries.

March 18 These were the numbers of total identified cases: China 81,000; Italy 35,700; Germany 12,000; USA 7,300; UK 2,600; South Africa 116; Australia 568
The big news is that China reported 0 new locally transmitted cases. The small number of new cases were foreign infections. Sounds hopeful!

March 19 Level 4 travel advisory issued by the CDC. Do not travel anywhere in the world. At 6:00 PM Governor Gavin Newsom announces a statewide lockdown for California. Using epidemiological predictions, unmitigated, half the state's population could be infected in 8 weeks (May 14).

March 20 First day of all Californians to stay home with some exceptions. Grocery stores, take-out food places, pharmacies, gas stations. No policing. The governor is depending on social pressure and civic and personal responsibility.
Today's identified cases: Total confirmed worldwide: 265, 500; deaths 11, 150
Italy 47,000; Germany 19,700; USA 16,000; UK 3,300; Australia 680; South Africa 202. No new cases of local transmission in China. Italy's death toll has now exceeded China's.

March 21

Total 304, 208
Italy 53,600; Germany 22,200; USA  24,000 (now in 4th place); UK 5000; Australia 1000; SA 220

The dominoes continue to fall. The past week (March 14 - 21) as the number of cases shot up in Europe and America each government responded with actions to limit social contact. After California's order to stay at home, New York followed, and then other states. All of France went into lockdown. Germany's largest cities went into lockdown. The UK dragged its feet while other countries were imposing restrictions. Early this week a report was released by Imperial College, London, in which researchers described how the coronavirus spreads and modeled what it would look like , unmitigated, in the UK and the US. This propelled Boris Johnson into action. School closures followed by the closure of London's entertainment venues, pubs, restaurants and other places where people gathered.

In the US our case numbers were modest due to a dire lack of testing for the virus. In early March with increased community spread people showing up at medical centers in hopes of being tested were turned away due to not meeting criteria put in place to count only foreign acquired infections. Fingers were pointed at the CDC. I was suspicious, aware of Trump's attack on the health care system ever since he took office. I found articles the described funding cuts to the CDC and the dismantling of a pandemic unit of the National Security Council that had been set up by the Obama administration during the Ebola outbreak. At that time the US had played a leadership role. CDC's epidemic control teams in 60 countries, including China, were cut.

Trump's utter recklessness and incompetence has severely impaired the country's ability to deal with this catastrophe. We are all nervous, anxious. Will the governors have enough power to weather this storm? We hope that the medical members of the Covid 19 Task Force wield influence over policy.

The plummeting stock market claims the headlines everyday. Projections of a world wide recession as severe as the Great Depression are made.
Also hogging the headlines are the country's lack of hospital resources to deal with the critical Covid 19 cases expected in the next weeks. The shortage of masks and ventilators is a major problem. Governor Cuomo pleads daily for equipping New York's hospitals.

I did find some good news this morning. Beijing's residents are now able to leave their homes and have been enjoying walks in the parks. They are still required to wear masks outdoors. China's active cases are less than a thousand. Medical personnel who had been flown into Wuhan to deal with the crisis, are now at the airport with their luggage waiting to board their flights back home. China gives us hope.

Sunday, March 22
Today's numbers: Total cases: 340,000. The US shot up to 3rd place with 39,000 identified cases. Largely due to increased testing. Testing has been an issue at the outset. First, the criteria - only if you've traveled in an affected country or came into contact with a diagnosed case. And those that were tested had problems with faulty kits. So US numbers have not reflected reality.
With NYC now the epicenter, the hospitals and health care facilities are already reaching capacity. Governor Cuomo has been addressing the state of NY daily, urging isolation.

The world's poorest countries - Africa, Latin America, etc - showing low, double digit case numbers. Scary to imagine how they are going to cope once the virus gains a tenacious hold.

Daryl and I took a nice long walk on a quiet lane just past Winchester Canyon that heads toward the mountains. We call it the "Scottish Road". Normally quiet, today walkers and cyclists were constantly in sight. Uplifting views of valley, mountain slopes and ocean. There was mist hanging over the valley and a light drizzle, then the sky cleared and the sun shone beautifully.

Australia is now shutting down. Schools still open but only essential services will be available to the public.

Monday, March 23

I obsessively check worldometers.com for a daily lesson on exponential growth. Worldwide a third of a million people have so far tested positive for the disease. China is reporting small numbers of new cases. Today Italy is at 64,000. The US is at 42,000 with almost half in New York state. South Africa jumped from 202 to 400 cases. President Ramaphosa addressed the nation today at 7:00 PM. The country will be in lockdown from midnight May 26 for a period of 3 weeks. I heard parts of the speech and found it impressive in its professionalism, well thought out strategies and particular attention to the poor and vulnerable. Though, enforcing social distancing in crowded townships full of shacks defies logic.

It's only the 4th day since we've been in lockdown, but so much has happened since then. More states and countries saw their case numbers rise from 3 digits to 4 digits. The news now has turned to the dire shortage of hospital beds, ventilators, masks, protective gear and staff. Italy, with its staggering numbers of sick people, has lost 25 doctors so far. Their appeals for help got responses from Cuba and China. Meanwhile Trump's hateful racism (the Chinese virus) has ruined any hope of help from the only nation to render significant help.

On a bright note, spring has arrived. A series of storm systems over the past 2 weeks has been a blessing. Blooms and blossoms all over town provide sweets scents and cheerful color. Hoping for good fruit on our trees. Everything is growing vigorously so we have no shortage of garden chores. A great way to enjoy fresh air and the beauty of our garden.

Just before going to bed I read that Boris Johnson had ordered a lockdown of the UK.

March 24
Another day of dizzying Covid 19 news. Worldometers shows the US at 50,000 identified cases, still in 3rd place, behind Italy, which is at 69,000 cases. Italy's rate of new infections appears to have peaked 3 days ago and the still staggering number of new cases are slowly going down. The US will be in 2nd place in a matter of days, and may exceed China's total. Spain's numbers are accelerating at a frightening speed, as is the UK, now at 8,000 cases. Australia is at 2,000 and South Africa at 554. The developing world - India, Kenya, Argentina - are seeing their numbers shooting up into the triple digits and are already taking drastic measures to slow the spread.
Panic buying goes on. Supermarket shelves are empty and toilet paper scarce.
And as countries move toward stricter controls of the movement of their citizens, the opposite is happening in China. Today, all towns in Hubei province except for Wuhan, ground 0 of the outbreak, have opened up.

In the US, the news from NYC reminds me of Italy 2 weeks ago. Exploding numbers, an out of control situation. Governor Cuomo on the news daily, urgently addressing the problems, appealing to the Trump administration for ventilators and other medical resources.
Meanwhile Trump, a heartless, incompetent, moron at the helm, announces the lockdown will be lifted in 2 weeks. America's economy needs to get back in action. Will his supporters wake up and smell the coffee?

Today we ran out of fresh produce. We have a CSA farm box delivery tomorrow. Our cupboards and freezer are stocked with supplies for a month or two. We'll be fine. Plenty of citrus - oranges, limes and lemons - on our trees.
Just signed up with a second supplier of fresh produce. Farm Fresh offer a bigger variety - dairy, eggs, etc. Between these 2 deliveries we shouldn't need a grocery store visit for a long while.
I made bread with the bread machine which we ate with a delicious soup - red lentil and sweet potato. We had a "zoom meeting" with Stephen and Jacqueline Simons over dinner. Worked pretty well. We were surprised that they saw no problem going out to the food stores for groceries. They had a beach walk earlier and were fine seeing people and keeping their distance from them. Daryl, on the hand, is much more jittery about encountering people - even with social distancing.

March 25
The news on NPR this morning was dominated by the Covid 19 situation in the USA. Wuhan got brief air time. It was finally opening up after 2 months, starting with its transportation links. Surely this gives us hope? In the second and third weeks of March Italy and other European countries hogged the headlines. And now all attention has turned to the USA. A 2 trillion dollar economic relief package cleared the senate and is headed to the House.
Identified cases today: Italy 74,000; USA 62,000, UK 8,200; Australia 2,400, South Africa 702.
Governor Cuomo, flashing leadership skills, appears on the news daily to address the situation in New York, the epicenter of the country. One out of 5 in NYC is thought to have the virus. Predictions are that the situation will peak in 2 to 3 weeks. In California the shutdown could go on for 2 to 3 months.
Numbers in New Orleans are shooting up. Florida is also turning into a red zone.
We drove to the "Scottish Road" this morning in hopes of a refreshing walk. Cathedral Oaks Road was traffic free. Heartening to see that people are paying attention to the order to "Stay Home". We saw too many people on the lane so we turned around and returned home.

I picked up 3 bottles of whiskey from BevMo which we'd ordered online. I called from the car and they brought it and left it on the ground next to the car. Also picked up basil seeds from Jennifer and our first Givens Farms produce box from Mountain View School. The vegetables had obviously been picked only hours earlier. What a delight!
After cleaning and organizing the vegetables for storage I found myself making stock due to all the trimmings I ended up with!

March 26
The morning news highlighted Covid 19 issues in the USA. Mismanagement regarding testing, PPE (personal protective equipement), concerns of shortages of medical personnel and hospital beds at apex predicted in a week or two.
Milestones today: 1000 deaths in USA and at 81,000 identified cases, we've exceeded China and Italy and are now in first place. Italy, at 80,000, closing in on China's numbers. Spain has recorded the 2nd largest number of deaths at 4000. NYC, the country's epicenter has recorded 37,000 cases. The city is in panic mode. Ventilators are scarce and Trump won't use his executive powers to order companies to manufacture these essential pieces of equipment.
South Africa goes into lockdown at midnight. Today's number is at 900. Strict measures, enforced by the army to ensure people stay at home. Only essential services will stay open. Even liquor stores will be closed. Kalvin tells me about a Ladysmith barber who had recently from his home in Pakistan and was told to self-isolate for 14 days on arrival at the airport. He ignored the order, carried on business, and recently was found to have the coronavirus. Community spread in Ladysmith.
I feel nervous about South Africa's lockdown. All those poor people living in informal settlements and being asked to do something so alien and incomprehensible!

The UK is close to a 1000 cases and Australia close to 3000.

A news story that made me recoil: In Pennsylvania a woman coughed on $35,000 worth of groceries at a food market. How sick is that?

March 27
There was a sense of urgency today. The USA has now identified over 100,000 Covid 19 cases. Italy is in 2nd place with over 85,000 cases. Total deaths from the disease so far is about 27,000. The USA has fewer deaths than Italy, Spain, China, Iran and France.

Boris Johnson tests positive for virus.
Other hotspots appearing in metropolitan areas - Chicago, Detroit, New Orleans

Ongoing problems with insufficient ventilators. Trump, after cancelling an order yesterday, reissued an order with GM to make ventilators.

The House passes the 2 trillion dollar economic rescue bill, the largest in history. Full bipartisan support. Most Americans will receive a check of $1200.

South Africa has now exceeded 1000 cases.

March 28
Sense of urgency even more palpable. News entirely focused on US. Numbers today: USA 124, 000 and 2227 death; Italy 92,000 and 10,000 deaths; Germany 57,695 and  433 deaths; UK 17,000 and 1,000 deaths; Australia 3,800 with 14 deaths; South Africa 1,187 with 1 death.

March 29
Today's numbers: World total: 722,00; USA 142,000; Italy 97,700; Spain 80,000; UK 19,500; Australia 4,163; SA 1,280

Looking at the news today it's hard not to feel anxious. Urgent pleas all over the country for better equipped hospitals as hotspots appear all over the country. NYC already reaching capacity with its hospitals. With the USA leading the world in the number of infections, all attention is now on our domestic challenges.

March 30
The situation continues to escalate world wide and in the USA it's reached the chaos we saw in Europe. Many hospitals in big cities are overworking their medical staff and still don't have adequate PPE and ventilators.
Numbers today: Worldwide 786,000 cases.
USA 164, 000 with 500 deaths - the most in a single day - bringing the total to 3165.
Italy reported 101,700, Spain now ahead of China at 88,000; UK at 22,000; Australia at 4,500 and SA at 1,326. A Ladysmith patient was the 2nd fatality (3 thus far).

 March 31
The numbers today: Worldwide: 858, 660; USA 188,00; Italy 105,000; Spain 96,000; the UK 25,000; Australia 4,763; South Africa 1,353
The news today is even grimmer with models predicting that even with social distancing 2000 Americans could die each day by mid April when peak hospital usage is predicted. Also, 82 000 total deaths forecast by August. Some optimism that curve is flattening in California and Washington. Gavin Newsom predicts California's cases will peak in May.