With government announcements regularly being made, recalled, cancelled, changed and revoked, we have all become very used to change these days.
So it shouldn’t bother you at all that as of today, this column will appear on Mondays, instead of Tuesdays.
The content will still pretty much be the same, just a day earlier.
So much has happened again, that it’s actually hard to focus on just one thing to comment on.
I think the development that has had the greatest impact on me is seeing a video of how the CTICC is being converted into an emergency hospital in case of our infection rate spiralling out of control.
And from my latest experiences, that scenario is almost inevitable.
Health authorities announced the plan, so I knew it was going to happen, but it still hits home to actually see it.
In the video, workers are busy laying out 850 beds for Coronavirus patients.
They are also planning a cold room to keep the bodies of those who have succumbed to the disease.
It’s a very grim plan being put in place, but also very necessary.
And I’m hoping it further highlights the gravity of the situation to those who are still so nonchalant about the possibility of being infected.
CTICC is being converted into an emergency hospital. Video supplied
In the store the other day, I was in the meat section, behind a lady who proceeded to touch and inspect just about every pack of meat in search of the perfect cut.
She had her mask hanging under her chin and just walked off without putting the packs she had scattered back on their shelf.
I had to speak up and tell her that it actually wasn’t OK that she had done that, but she just gave me an irritated look before walking away, presumably to go spread her germs in another section somewhere.
So many people, much more influential and knowledgeable than me are stressing the seriousness of Covid-19 on an almost daily basis, but it seems some just don’t care.
It’s become almost a joke in some quarters.
So much so, that I saw a meme saying “Does Cyril know that on the Cape Flats, it’s already Level 1?”
But it’s not just on the Cape Flats.
On Friday morning, the new Level-4 restrictions saw hundreds of people supposedly exercising on the Sea Point Promenade, some of them with the children.
I understand that it’s no fun being cooped up inside your house, but given the choice of cabin fever over risking the lives of your loved ones, why are so many choosing the
latter?
The other story that brought home a serious point is the fact that one of Japan’s islands which had emerged from lockdown in March, has been forced to lock down again when a second wave of Coronavirus hit them recently.
IGNORANCE IS BLISS: Cape Flats is not taking lockdown seriously
Hokkaido became a case study when they returned to virtual normality, as their infection rate dropped to one or two a day.
Last week, they suddenly recorded 135 new cases, forcing them to declare a second state of emergency and go back into a hard lockdown.
Hokkaido was way ahead of us in the infection cycle and their haste to re-open has come back to bite them in the bum.
We would be wise to take a lesson out of their experience and buckle up!
It’s either one long painful inconvenience now, or a return of the confinement periods sometime in the future.
Stay safe and May the fourth be with you!