Coorgs in the time of Covid19

February starts off ‘normal enough’ with, even for me, a blistering travel schedule taking in Hamburg, Gothenburg, Oslo, Madrid, Barcelona, Helsinki, Trondheim, Bergen, Bristol, Rzeschow (E Poland) before flight to Johannesburg on 29th. Even an unexpected 2 day stopover in Lyon due to saftey landing because of appalling weather.

Reflection

In Poland I grab the opportunity to visit Auschwitz – I could only take 3 hours of it, contemplating the unspeakable horrors which took place.

New Dawn

In Bristol at the crowded hifi show I become really sick. “Flu”. But I have to keep on going – arriving in Poland coughing like hell, so much so that I am hardly able to complete an industry interview or presentations. By 29th, still slightly poorly, on the plane to South Africa I muse over the newspaper article. This registers my first serious concern.

The excellent highly succesful South Africa work tour commences. Pretoria, Capetown and Durban. Glorious weather sees my ‘cold’ disappear. With the benefit of hindsight, what was it anyway? Never had a hacking cough like that before! Lyn had also experienced same starting at the end of our Asian trip. Makes one wonder.

The Start of the New Normal

I leave South Africa just as the first corona virus cases there are confirmed. Arriving back in UK reveals a sudden, slightly eery, change of atmosphere. Has the UK been too laise-faire? Eventually nationwide lockdown is announced on 23rd March. One brilliant wag, dressed in a plague doctor costume, meanders past the BBC reporter in Leicester Square covering the announcement – utterly brilliant. The “shock” announcement is foreseen and preceded by ridiculous panic buying of stupid items for a week prior – same is experienced in other “first world” countries. I think Australia claims the prize for pioneer in panic hording of toilet paper. Why? …… just why?…….. It takes some 10 days before we see a chicken, tomato paste or lentils. Let alone loo roll in the shops……

The weather improves greatly and the naughty British find it somehow hugely difficult to follow rules – Brighton seafront gets packed like crazy the week before Easter. But eventually the public largely complies and the polite lines at shops begin. Another interesting observation comes to the fore: Try to strike up a conversation in one of the said lines and you are either ignored, looked at strangely, met with conversation you did not expect (better), or presented with the necessity to stifle disagreement at the nonsense being spouted.

Like everywhere nationwide, we start different projects – mainly involving cleaning and clearing. Sorry, why are women so much better at this? Going about it with a scary voraciousness.

Global

America starts the pandemic in earnest – over there reported in a totally different way to UK. Very nasty, very political, as opposed to the orchestrated gaslighting from the UK government, lapped up by most. Cracks reveal themselves everywhere. Mass panic in India. Consternation about countries like India and more; it becomes even harder to believe true facts and statistics.

Plans

Everyone searches for their version of truth. Personal inner stress takes hold. Contingency plans are no doubt made by millions. Governments promise hitherto unheard of sums of support money. Where did that suddenly all come from?

Album of the Month –

The UK Realises the Meaning of Gaslighting.

In a damning indictment of the government, the Sunday Times published a totally brutal exposing of the Tories – “38 days when Britain sleepwalked in disaster”. Boris Johnson gets COVID 19 himself and is out of action for three weeks – leaving the repetitive daily briefings on the situation to his rag tag bunch of hapless deputies. The health minister Matt Hancock bears the brunt of standing up, flanked by two medical experts, to deliver the mantra “Stay at Home, Protect the NHS, Save Lives”, and the same charts every day.

The most senior minister, Dominic Raab, looks like a rabbit frightened by headlights.

During the first half of April we see more of chancellor Rishi Sunak (the only one capable of balanced delivery), throwing out many billions of support money. His appearances dwindle as the month draws to a close – presumably the coffers are already empty – hey, we realise that Rishi. But his deliveries are at least erudite and clear. The new boy, throwing caution to the wind, giving the performance of his life.

Her ‘Supreme Evilness’ Home Secretary Priti Patel is rolled out twice to disastrous results: True character shines through when she apologises for deaths caused by government inaction and woeful shortages of PPE and testing by declaring “I am sorry people feel that way“. Priti Vacant excels particularly in her first delivery “The government will make available “three hundered million, three hundred and sventy four thousand, million ££££££££££s to protect individuals by ‘fightin’ crime and ‘allocatin’ more powers to the police.” “We know who you are and we are vigorously ‘persuin’ the perpetrators through our forces across the UK ‘collaboratin’ and ‘poolin’ resources to maximum effect“.

Boris Johnson’s trusted advisor Dominic “Nosferatu” Cummings gets COVID19 himself and totally disappears from snarling view. It almost makes things even more sinsiter. Yet, by month end, there is uproar about his allegeded attedance at the SAGE meetings. One brave journalist veers from the approved questioning path to enquire if he had attended and what were his contributions? The question is brushed aside without answer. A few days later it is reported that participants of SAGE meetings are not publicised.

Our Cousins

Meanwhile, across The Pond, by month’s end in USA, more Americans die from corona virus than in the totality of the whole Vietnam conflict. Donald Trump brushes it off with his style, diverting attention away, vitriolically attacking the “fake news” media and worryingly wandering into the sickness of his own psyche. His later musings about retracted-as-sarcasm about the efficaciousness of light and disinfectant are retracted as ‘sarcasm’. This becomes probably the closest he has ever come to losing his grass roots support. Or will he? He later throws his toys out of the pram to declare the presidential briefings a waste of time and announces he won’t attend anymore. Or will he?

Communication is King

People amuse themselves in new virtual groups – the recreate-famous-art-with-things-you-have-at-home-group explodes globally and spawns many copycats. Meanwhile, POTUS remains high on the hugely popular global derision charts.

Zoom? Facetime? Whatsapp? House Party? And many more ……. everyone struggles either with choice or how to operate the tech. This writer votes Whatsapp for small groups and Zoom for more formal. But the latter is a poor and pale facsimile of real human interaction.

The Economist has, for years, been my journal of choice. And now there is more time to read and listen to it end-to-end on the cool new app. I find myself increasingly in agreement with large parts of its views.

Around mid month there is a massive spike in French death figures: Suddenly they factor in historic COVID19 deaths outside of hospitals. The UK, as usual, follows through late on this, claiming “hugely complicated” administration with a spike at month end. Excuses for the continuing woeful lack of PPE continue, however, Hancock announces on 30th that the 100,000 tests per day target is reached.

The excellent Worldometers corona site becomes a kind of ghoulish second bible. Don’t read too much or you’ll be sucked into its depths?

Keep the Home Fires Buring

The blessing, apart from the great weather, is new discovery of spots close to home. Fortunate that we live at the top of a hill, well positioned to experience balmy evenings. We open up a street side pub garden for chats with our lovely neighbours.

Meanwhile, much-missed daughter copes with amplomb in her new Brixton environment. Running is her release. One day she runs 28km to wish her boyfriend a socially distanced happy birthday. Year to date she has run over 500km – wow, where does she get it from. Certainly not her parents!

In the husband-wife Scrabble stakes a run of terrible letter luck sees ‘Her Indoors’ creep 3-2 ahead.

Album of the Month

Tom Misch and Yussef Dayes; What Kind of Music

Special Guest Feature

For “balance”, and in order to understand huges swathes of UK view, a great friend of mine has indulged in a birthday present to himelf – a subscription to the Daily Telegraph. He has created this collage of actual headlines – well done Sir! Sarcasm at its very finest. Featuring – Downplay, Eurobashing, Culture Wars, Jingoism and The Bizarre.

No Cause for Celebration?

Week One: Lessons are are not learnt. The British government suspiciously squirms to separate announcements of two grim milestones; 1) the highest number of Covid deaths in Europe, 2) rising above 30,000 deaths.

On 7th May many papers jump the gun and headline the yet-to-be-announced easing of lockdown regulations, like celebrating Victory in Europe Day.

Other publications are less joyful. The Guardian points to global press opinion……….

The Guardian 7th May

From Italy to Australia, critics have accused a “complacent” British government of “massively underestimating” the gravity of the crisis after the UK reported the highest death toll in Europe.
Beppe Severgnini, an opinion writer on Corriere della Sera, said it seemed clear Britain had “lost the advantage that fate and Italy gave it – for example, the first two weeks of the outbreak in Italy when it was obvious the virus was spreading”.
The British government “did not pay enough attention to what was happening here, while Germany responded very well”, Severgnini said. “The two great British virtues – understatement and grace under fire – have turned out to not be a blessing.”
He said the UK was served neither by “a very weak cabinet” nor Johnson’s character: “He’s not Trump, though there is something similar in their approaches, but in this kind of challenge you need to really work hard on details. He’s not a details person.”
Beyond Italy – where the Covid-19 death toll, which does not include suspected cases, is just over 29,000 – German commentators were also critical. Britain has emerged as Europe’s “problem child” of the Covid-19 crisis, the DPA news agency’s London correspondent Christoph Meyer wrote.

Meanwhile back in Blighty, on the day before VE Day bank holiday, there’s a palpable change in atmosphere; perhaps in joyous anticipation of Boris delivering freedom ‘Churchillain fashion’ next Sunday. The roads are busier than ever. People flock to the replenished supermarkets, taking scant precaution. I am one of only a handful wearing a mask in the shop. The nice girl on the til tells me she also works in a care home and that they just got their supply of PPE last week – which was the end of April.

And by the time VE Day comes round, even The Daily Telegraph pitches in on the PPE scandal

Could Do Better

A friend points me to a scientifically based research website tracking the virus. https://www.endcoronavirus.org/countries In ways it is refreshing to study good progress being made in a lot of countries. Mighty concerning for other nations – including USA and UK. screenshots May 10th in this month’s gallery below……

With Bated Breath

On Sunday 10th May the nation eagerly tunes in to the prime minster to reveal next step policy and plans to tackle the corona virus. We are not disappointed.

Resignation

By mid May the mixed emotions of the last three months turn for me to one of resignation to fate. That is not to belittle what is going on, nor stop feeling for the plight of those less fortunate, however one has to move on and cope.

But not presently – this thing ain’t “over” just yet. The UK government’s new guidelines add more confusion, particularly the first tentative (premature) steps to ending lockdown.

Enormous amounts of extra money are pledged across all sectors where fires burn. The furlough scheme is extended through to October. The chancellor admits the UK contracted by 2% first quarter alone; that with lockdown being introduced just 9 days before the end. He declares it highly likely we move into recession by end of second quarter. …..No shit Sherlock!

I discover a new COVID tracker with projections. This is highly interesting, plotting the situation in countries where “reliable” and enough data is present. The pivotable ways of viewing are fascinating. Best assumptions point to the virus petering out by August in many regions – this as of Mid May.

Shutting Down

With that, dear reader, I am shutting the May section of the blog on this, the 14th. I’ve actually got work piling up. I’ll return in June, hopefully with a different slant and generally less political in nature! At least the May sunshine has been lovely.

Coorg Album of the Month

Laika – Sounds of the Satellites (1996). A good Dutch friend of mine included the superb track Shut Off/Curl Up on his latest Mixcloud playlist. Check him out – The Obscurist