My eye has been on international news about the Corona Virus since the story of this mysterious illness that was changing life in Wuhan China first hit the news. It all seemed a little distant in January. We were concerned and curious but it was not a personal threat - China seemed (mistakenly) a long way away. I now look back on our celebrating Christmas 2019 as a time of innocence and a time free of worry. It was a BC time - Before Covid 19. Our biggest problem then was a Christmas day power outage. 48 hours of no power and I had a turkey to cook and a lunch party to cater for. That moment and making a plan for hosting a Christmas lunch for 12 seems like a lifetime ago. As January and February and then March rolled on the word Corona and Covid-19 came ever closer and by March upending our lives. Instant news and social media brought the imminent dangers closer and signalled a highly dangerous developing situation.
During the month of March when the first case was picked up in South Africa, I suddenly became an addict of disease statistics and the world wide trajectory of disease movement. It all became rather more real and closer to home as by the time I woke up to the thought of well maybe I should buy some toilet paper, some hand sanitiser and a mask, these items had mostly disappeared from the shop shelves. The phenomenon of panic buying took hold, along with a steadily upward line on the case...
