The Virus

There is a strange rhythm to the world at the moment. One I need to write about here – to ensure that our version of it is documented, I suppose. Of how Covid-19 arrived and changed the daily life of my family and of Aussies around me .

Let me backtrack a little first – to set the scene and to mention a trip I have yet to blog (I will, I promise!) …to America.

You see, in spite of being in a terrible drought late last year, we had booked a long-promised trip to the USA with our little family. To visit ranches and see Brangus cattle in other stud operations, to visit some famous American landmarks and catch up with our ex-jackaroos Lachy and Cal and have a White Christmas.

It was epic and fabulous… a little exhausting too. I was feeling a little run-down and managed to get sick on the way home (January 4, 2020). I was literally in the middle of LAX (airport) during our 7 hour layover, when I felt that dreaded ‘prickle’ through my system – when you know that you are about to come down with something.

By the time we disembarked in Brisbane, my throat was scratchy and I was SUPER tired.

Typically, I had a few too many things organised for us all when we got home – two lots of visitors (friends of daughter and son in turn), a round of branding, a Brangus Youth Camp, getting son ready for college and daughter for boarding school return. And I was sick – like ‘hard-to-get-out-of-bed sick. Coughing-up-a-lung, hard-to-catch-your-breath sick. After a couple of weeks, I did go to the doctor (eventually) and was told I had pneumonia low in one lung. Double antibiotics and ‘rest’… yeah, sure. Eventually, as the school holidays concluded and I completed the course of medications, I began to come good.

By the end of January, the Youth Camp was completed (searingly hot and humid but wonderful), daughter back to school and her friends, son headed off safely to college and a world of new experiences, and (for a few weeks) life began to settle back into it’s ‘normal’ rhythm. Mustering, sorting cattle, selling bulls, visiting kids.

Around February 7, news of a new virus began to slowly leak into our news streams… initially called novel coronavirus, which we soon realized was a very general term for a virus not-yet-understood. Something that had (allegedly) made the leap from animal to human in Wuhan, China sometime in December 2019. Details are fuzzy around the ‘how’ and ‘when’ with all kinds of conspiracy theories doing the rounds.

The first acknowledged death (of a 61-year-old man from Wuhan) was linked to the virus on January 9. (Source: The Guardian)

As the virus began to spread around the world, we learned that the symptoms of COVID-19 can range from mild illness to pneumonia. Some people recover easily, but others (often the elderly and those already immuno-compromised) get very sick very quickly. The symptoms are identified as:

• fever
• coughing, a sore throat and fatigue
• shortness of breath

(Source: Australian Government)

Yeah. Hmmmm… it did sound awfully familiar… but authorities only began to really hand out warnings and start to watch borders and travelers coming into the country more closely around January 21. The first known case in Australia was on January 25 (a traveler from Wuhan). Isolation of travelers from China began on January 29 – this affected some students at our daughter’s school who were taken from the boarding house (where they had already spent several days) to a house to isolate together. None developed illness and they were reintegrated to the boarding community after two weeks.

The World Health Organization declared a public health emergency of international concern over the global outbreak of coronavirus on January 30. By March 13, our Prime Minister urged Australians not to travel overseas – by this time many were already on cruises and trips that had already been paid for and underway, and were stranded in the rush to get back to Australia. Friends of ours were among these people – spending weeks of uncertainty trying to stay safe and to find a way home.

In February and early March, terrible fatality rates have been experienced in Italy (initially the hardest hit European country, now with over 200,000 cases and 27,000 deaths) and New York, the city with the worst toll – 61,000 cases and almost 13,000 deaths – in the USA, which has shockingly reported over 1 million cases nationwide and 61,000 deaths. Everywhere has been hit and the pandemic’s spread has shocked everyone – footage of ‘dorms’ filled with people on respirators being treated by those in full body suits, harrowing stories of medical staff having to choose who lives and who dies because of lack of respirators…

It’s hard not to feel like we’re all in a bad movie, but the news and footage is unrelenting, reinforcing the situation, and soon lockdowns of entire populations of countries in Europe and Asia began to try and save complete disaster.

By the second week in March, it became evident we too would probably need to ‘bunker down’ – and supermarkets immediately became battle zones… toilet paper was the first ‘casualty’ of our ‘new normal’ as some people panicked and stockpiled loo paper. A shortage of this product (along with hand sanitizer, face masks and hand cleaner) was soon evident with shelves empty of these products and even saw some from the city raid grocery stores in regional and rural areas!

Since then ‘social distancing’ and ‘social isolation’ have become the norm here and around the world. In Australia, our geographic isolation has been a godsend: 6746 reported cases and ‘just’ 90 deaths. Pretty much all known cases have been traced back to overseas visitors or returning travellers…

Our lives look quite different now, after four weeks in ‘lockdown’ – Australia’s rules differ a little state-to-state but basically we have to stay at home unless:

• We have to go to work/cannot work from home (which of course farmers can!)
• We have to get groceries (adhering to limits set by supermarkets)
• We need to exercise (I am betting a lot more people are exercising than previously just to get out of their house!)

We got to know the terms (and apps) ZOOM and Houseparty as we worked, had meetings and caught up with friends virtually.

School and university students were gradually sent home, and most are currently studying from their place of residence unless their parents are ‘essential workers’ (nurses, doctors, anyone who cannot work from home). This last element is putting an enormous strain on households across the country – we are fortunate that our kids are a bit older (year 10 and college) so can be quite independent in their study. However our two are also dyslexic – a challenge when you need to look at a backlit screen all day and be VERY organised to handle constant emails and Zoom meetings/classes.

I feel very much for the many thousands out of work in our state – a result of the ‘shutdown’ of businesses and some industry. Economically this event is like a world-wide tsunami … Billions of dollars has already been spent by our federal government to try and absorb some of the impact of this pandemic. New rules have been put in place around rental agreements and bank interest repayments. ‘Jobseeker’ and ‘Jobkeeper’ support is rolling out.

Football and event stadiums are empty. Shopping centres eerily quiet. ‘No gathering’ rules are in place, so even parks are mostly silent. Usually hectic highways are now mostly just inhabited by trucks, busy getting food and necessities to shops across our wide brown land. It’s like the energy we are renown for has withdrawn into houses and apartments, leaking out occasionally during daylight hours for tiny bursts of exercise and ‘hunting and gathering’.

As farmers, we have had to adjust less in our day-to-day activity than our urban friends – because when you get down to it, we self-isolate all the time! We easily go weeks without seeing the general public in ‘normal’ times. Grocery shopping has become a bit of a hazard as anyone bulk buying any items (which is what most people who live remotely do when they stock up during a fortnightly or monthly trip to town) can become victim to ‘trolley shaming’. I actually experienced this myself, and have probably taken to shopping more often than normal so our trolley isn’t as obviously overloaded as I stock up to feed our family…

One very hard thing for many farmers to get their heads around is the ‘no handshaking‘ rule – everyone is supposed to be at least 1.5 metres apart and not touch if possible. Shaking hands upon meeting someone, doing deals or saying farewell is completely ingrained for most rural people, especially blokes. I attended a meeting early on in the social distancing measures and EVERY SINGLE MAN shook my hand. I responded (didn’t want to seem rude) and reached for the hand sanitizer each time… which is probably almost as rude as not shaking the proffered hand!

One of the silver linings of this situation is that we are quietly enjoying having this bonus time with our kids… Dash turned 18 a couple of weeks ago which was celebrated with family. He didn’t want a big party but did want to experience that very Australian right of passage: going legally to the pub with his mates! These extra opportunities for card nights, face-to-face heart-to-hearts and family meals are being treasured (by parents at least!).

We also had a very different kind of Anzac Day (which I will also blog properly shortly). We honored (from our driveway) those who have fought for our freedom.

Social media has channeled wonderful movements such as Light Up the Dawn and the Anzac Driveway Memorial event helped so many Aussies to pay their own tributes.

I also discovered RANDOM STREET VIEW (a great way to travel the world without leaving your house) and BIN ISOLATION OUTING (celebrating the one activity people around the world were allowed to do to leave their homes!).

I love that people are slowing down and finding the stillness in their lives, the ‘space’ to stop and breath and regather, to find each others’ commonalities (and celebrate differences) right across the globe.

Laughing together, crying together, singing together…

… and leaning on each other. (God I love Vika and Linda Bull!)

View from My Window (another Facebook group) is incredible – learning about people (and what their views are) from right around the world!

So while it will be a while yet before we can do things like this…

… we are already finding ways to be better with each other. To appreciate the tiny luxuries (having our family close, not spending time or fuel on the road trying to catch our tails) and our enormous blessings (living in Australia, away from heavy infection hotspots, enjoying so much amazing Aussie-grown produce).

I know everyone’s experiences are different and that many right around the world are hurting … grieving, lonely, afraid, angry and feeling hopeless. It’s a strange time… surreal.

I wonder how long it will be until the facts around this virus start feeling more substantial and less like the shifting sands. I wonder how many of the ‘new normals’ our socially isolated lives stay on? If crowded places will ever feel the same to us? And I do wonder if I will ever know if I caught just a ‘normal’ flu on January 4, or if I was an ‘early’ sufferer (and perhaps carrier) of this catastrophic plague known soon after as the novel coronavirus?

Only time will tell…

I’d love to hear a little about your Covid-19 experience in your corner of the world.