22 March – Dublin

“WE JUST AWOKE IN A NEW WORLD ORDER, THE ONLY THING WE CAN DO IS MOVE FORWARD AND ADAPT”

Last Tuesday Saint Patrick’s was a reminder of the new world we live in. A world where we only can survive by staying home, not knowing when it will end, not knowing how long we will have a job, not knowing for how long the food will last and just hoping for the best.

On Saint Patrick’s balconies were decorated with the Irish flag + the irish symbol (clover). However, this day was unusual as this time the pubs and streets were empty. This time neighbours were chanting together a typical Irish song on their balcony. It filled me with joy but also anxiety. ”How far away are we from the Italian situation?” I have taken a video of this happening. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to shoot any material to document this day as my car had a flat battery.

“MEASURES ARE TAKEN TO STOP THE VIRUS FROM SPREADING, BUT WHAT USE DO THEY HAVE IF EVERYONE HAS THEIR OWN INTERPRETATIONS”

Last Friday, I had the opportunity to be there when the shop just opened. What amazed me was the fact that everyone was shopping like their life was depending on it, trampling other people during the process and then at the till keeping the requested distance. In addition, only some people had masks and a few of them rubber gloves. I wonder what time I should have been there to get pasta and basmati rice as it was all gone in the early morning.

That day, I visited also the GP what was the weirdest experience in my life. I had to buzz in, say my name and the assistant came with the receipt and put it in a box, then she went back and she opened the door so that I could collect my receipt and put the money in the box.

After this, I had to collect the prescription, however the security who wasn’t wearing a mask explained that only 5 people were admitted in the store and I had to queue with the other people. I ran away as it would take 20 – 30 minutes and nobody was keeping the advised distance of 3 meters.

The last shop was Holland & Barret where the staff wore only gloves and were giving instructions from the till. Despite the gloves, I was requested to scan my own stuff as the staff didn’t want to touch the products.

A whole new experience was the Polonez were it was much quieter and everyone was respectful towards the advised distance. The staff wore masks and the products that could help with the battle against corona had an ”immunity label.” Also, the basic products like pasta were available in the shop.

”WHEN THERE IS NO WAY TO HIDE THE TRUTH, RUMOURS ARE SPREAD TO KEEP US CALM”

In the last week, the amount of people suffering from corona have been increasing in all countries. Evidently, in some countries it is totally out of control like the Netherlands with every day 1000 new cases.

Also, corona is almost present in every countries and holding a tight grip on daily live.

With the realization that it is unstoppable governments and media started spreading articles about a cure. One of these articles pointed out that Regeneron an American company could have a cure in summer.

Don’t get me wrong, I would love to believe this, but what chances are there that: a German company called CureVac claims to be working a vaccine, the Irish government told us that a Cuba drug could help with battling the complications arising from Covid-19 and the Dutch claim they can enlighten the symptoms with a medicine that was being proposed to cure ebola. It sounds like a fairy tale.

For this reason, I believe we all should be wary when we go out for shopping and stay locked in our houses as this is the only proven method to stop Corona.

”IT IS UP TO US, HOW LONG WE WILL BE GRIPPED BY CORONA”

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