Day Six
Yesterday was a very worrying day. My mother, who is 78 and lives alone in London, rang me up and said "I've realised I'm going to die!" She had been to Tesco's, where she had been exposed to a heaving mass of potential virus vectors, but had been unable to buy anything because it was all sold out. "I'm down to my last potato!"
After a moment of horror it transpired that three different sets of people had in fact offered to go shopping for her, but because of her fear of being a burden, she hadn't taken them up on it. I made her promise to contact them, but in fact what she did was a follow a rumour that the local shops in nearby Twickenham had plenty of veg, so she went there and stocked up. While out, she heard a rumour that Tesco's had just had a delivery and was able to secure four pints of milk. So at least she won't starve during the next few days of rabid hoarding.
I also tried very hard to persuade her to go and live with my sister in Edinburgh because we don't want her facing coronavirus all alone, but after several long and emotional conversations, and a lot of organisational work behind the scenes to prove that her practical objections could all be overcome, I have been forced to accept that she doesn't want to go. She would rather get ill in familiar surroundings and, if it comes to it, die there than up sticks overnight and move out. This strikes me as a relatively easy thing to accept when no one's gasping for breath, but it's going to be awful when it turns into reality.
I'm sure that after her "success" at shopping yesterday, she won't have asked people to do that for her, either. I will point out to her today that it's not just a question of how willing she is to risk infection, she's also potentially passing the virus on to everyone else at the shops, including the staff, and they may not be as sanguine about dying as she is.
On the other hand, it is great news that the British government has finally - finally! - woken up and smelled the roses and that practical socialism is being introduced. I hope so much that something good will come out of all this, namely the realisation that, pace Maggie, there IS such a thing as society and we are all in it together. The rich can't isolate themselves from the poor, they need all those underpaid workers to keep food on the shelves and hospitals open, and they need the unemployed and homeless to have sufficient resources to self-isolate if epidemics are to be held in check.
Here in Austria there's a note of hope. The measures seem to have already slowed the rate of infection, although we have to wait a few more days to see if this is more than just a statistical blip. The Health Minister also reported yesterday that, unlike in Italy, where the highest rate of infection is found amongst old people, here the age groups 45-55 and 25-45 show the highest rates, with the over-65s coming in third. That means that fewer people who are infected need hospital treatment, and at the moment we only have 13 people in intensive care, although obviously that's expected to continue to rise.
Restrictions have been extended to April 13 and cyclists have been told that they mustn't ride in groups or go out for very long rides. I can't say I'm surprised - we saw so many people on bikes when we cycled into Vienna to see Tashi that we decided not to go cycling again. But the beautiful weather is now over so people won't be as tempted anyway.
Wolfgang had an afternoon snooze yesterday and then came downstairs to announce cheerfully "I love quarantine!" And Bexy's little dog, Nala, went for a 10km run with Flo (Bexy's fiance)followed by a 7 1/2 hour walk with Flo's dad, AND she has her people at home all day, so she totally agrees with him. It's an ill wind that blows nobody good!
After a moment of horror it transpired that three different sets of people had in fact offered to go shopping for her, but because of her fear of being a burden, she hadn't taken them up on it. I made her promise to contact them, but in fact what she did was a follow a rumour that the local shops in nearby Twickenham had plenty of veg, so she went there and stocked up. While out, she heard a rumour that Tesco's had just had a delivery and was able to secure four pints of milk. So at least she won't starve during the next few days of rabid hoarding.
I also tried very hard to persuade her to go and live with my sister in Edinburgh because we don't want her facing coronavirus all alone, but after several long and emotional conversations, and a lot of organisational work behind the scenes to prove that her practical objections could all be overcome, I have been forced to accept that she doesn't want to go. She would rather get ill in familiar surroundings and, if it comes to it, die there than up sticks overnight and move out. This strikes me as a relatively easy thing to accept when no one's gasping for breath, but it's going to be awful when it turns into reality.
I'm sure that after her "success" at shopping yesterday, she won't have asked people to do that for her, either. I will point out to her today that it's not just a question of how willing she is to risk infection, she's also potentially passing the virus on to everyone else at the shops, including the staff, and they may not be as sanguine about dying as she is.
On the other hand, it is great news that the British government has finally - finally! - woken up and smelled the roses and that practical socialism is being introduced. I hope so much that something good will come out of all this, namely the realisation that, pace Maggie, there IS such a thing as society and we are all in it together. The rich can't isolate themselves from the poor, they need all those underpaid workers to keep food on the shelves and hospitals open, and they need the unemployed and homeless to have sufficient resources to self-isolate if epidemics are to be held in check.
Here in Austria there's a note of hope. The measures seem to have already slowed the rate of infection, although we have to wait a few more days to see if this is more than just a statistical blip. The Health Minister also reported yesterday that, unlike in Italy, where the highest rate of infection is found amongst old people, here the age groups 45-55 and 25-45 show the highest rates, with the over-65s coming in third. That means that fewer people who are infected need hospital treatment, and at the moment we only have 13 people in intensive care, although obviously that's expected to continue to rise.
Restrictions have been extended to April 13 and cyclists have been told that they mustn't ride in groups or go out for very long rides. I can't say I'm surprised - we saw so many people on bikes when we cycled into Vienna to see Tashi that we decided not to go cycling again. But the beautiful weather is now over so people won't be as tempted anyway.
Wolfgang had an afternoon snooze yesterday and then came downstairs to announce cheerfully "I love quarantine!" And Bexy's little dog, Nala, went for a 10km run with Flo (Bexy's fiance)followed by a 7 1/2 hour walk with Flo's dad, AND she has her people at home all day, so she totally agrees with him. It's an ill wind that blows nobody good!