Chronicles of the Virus Day 21
The deaths have gotten a little closer to home.
It turns out that a man who was born here, and living in Madrid, died from Covid-19. He was the grandson of a deceased neighbor of ours, nephew of the man living in the family house and of another neighbor in our village. We didn't know him personally, though my husband knew one of his sisters well. Hopefully, no one else we know, or know of, will die. But too many have already died, over 11,000. Yes, the total population of Spain is around forty-seven million, but those are too many deaths too suddenly.
Criticisms of the government by the right wing opposition are mounting. That the economy is being killed, that not enough was done. They contradict each other. If more had been done, more companies would have been closed, and more people would have been unemployed. If fewer companies had been closed, more people would have continued in contact, and there would be more contagions and more deaths. They should decide which argument they want to follow. Because, of course, the leftist government can never get anything right in their eyes.
Part of the problem is that no one was prepared. Mechanisms that were supposed to be in place for such an eventuality, had become very lax. Cutbacks to health care by right wing governments, and austerity measures demanded by the European government, have left a shell of what is actually needed. There are many fewer hospital beds than a few years ago, yet the population has increased. The conservative parties are laying the blame on the leftist parties that have been in power for maybe two years (though without being able to do anything because they've been outnumbered untiil these final elections). But the problem began while the conservative PP was in power. And Vox can just shut up and crawl back into their hole. They're promoting a coup, talking about having the King shut down the government and setting up a special "constitutional" government to deal with the crisis. We are not Hungary.
If I'm repeating what I've said before, that's because there really isn't anything new. Days go by and I'm not sure if we're at the weekend, if it's a holiday, or little else than that it's day or night. We have had one thing to break routine today, though.
When my husband turned on the television this morning, it said "Not Programmed." I have no idea what happened, but I had to re-tune it. And, suddenly, from having five or six channels, we jumped to having twenty-five. All the channels we weren't receiving because the antenna signal just didn't reach our house, were on our television. Trees have been cut in the woods nearby in recent days. Maybe they were blocking the signal? Now, I just hope there will be something decent to watch most evenings. Though, knowing Spanish television, I doubt it.
Sad news continues. Luís Eduardo Aute, a singer - songwriter, has died. He grew in fame in the 1970's with his song, Al Alba (At Dawn), written first as a love song, but used to protest the last Francoist death sentences in 1975, and against the death penalty in general. I remember his Slowly from the nineties. A whole generation of creators is beginning to disappear.
People are trying to keep in shape at home, and sometimes, they can't believe what they're capable of, like this young man who could try out for next year's Olympics. I've also seen videos of people with three, painted, rolls of toilet paper on a post in front of them, putting coins in a piggy bank, and rolling the rolls around with each coin, to see if they won the jackpot. People are starting to get desperate to visit the cafés and bars.
The Prime Minister has just been on television, and announced that the quarantine is to be extended to the end of the month. Beautiful April, gorgeous April, is to be enjoyed only from home. Let's see if May brings more, available beauty, and less death.
Life continues.
It turns out that a man who was born here, and living in Madrid, died from Covid-19. He was the grandson of a deceased neighbor of ours, nephew of the man living in the family house and of another neighbor in our village. We didn't know him personally, though my husband knew one of his sisters well. Hopefully, no one else we know, or know of, will die. But too many have already died, over 11,000. Yes, the total population of Spain is around forty-seven million, but those are too many deaths too suddenly.
Criticisms of the government by the right wing opposition are mounting. That the economy is being killed, that not enough was done. They contradict each other. If more had been done, more companies would have been closed, and more people would have been unemployed. If fewer companies had been closed, more people would have continued in contact, and there would be more contagions and more deaths. They should decide which argument they want to follow. Because, of course, the leftist government can never get anything right in their eyes.
Part of the problem is that no one was prepared. Mechanisms that were supposed to be in place for such an eventuality, had become very lax. Cutbacks to health care by right wing governments, and austerity measures demanded by the European government, have left a shell of what is actually needed. There are many fewer hospital beds than a few years ago, yet the population has increased. The conservative parties are laying the blame on the leftist parties that have been in power for maybe two years (though without being able to do anything because they've been outnumbered untiil these final elections). But the problem began while the conservative PP was in power. And Vox can just shut up and crawl back into their hole. They're promoting a coup, talking about having the King shut down the government and setting up a special "constitutional" government to deal with the crisis. We are not Hungary.
If I'm repeating what I've said before, that's because there really isn't anything new. Days go by and I'm not sure if we're at the weekend, if it's a holiday, or little else than that it's day or night. We have had one thing to break routine today, though.
When my husband turned on the television this morning, it said "Not Programmed." I have no idea what happened, but I had to re-tune it. And, suddenly, from having five or six channels, we jumped to having twenty-five. All the channels we weren't receiving because the antenna signal just didn't reach our house, were on our television. Trees have been cut in the woods nearby in recent days. Maybe they were blocking the signal? Now, I just hope there will be something decent to watch most evenings. Though, knowing Spanish television, I doubt it.
Sad news continues. Luís Eduardo Aute, a singer - songwriter, has died. He grew in fame in the 1970's with his song, Al Alba (At Dawn), written first as a love song, but used to protest the last Francoist death sentences in 1975, and against the death penalty in general. I remember his Slowly from the nineties. A whole generation of creators is beginning to disappear.
People are trying to keep in shape at home, and sometimes, they can't believe what they're capable of, like this young man who could try out for next year's Olympics. I've also seen videos of people with three, painted, rolls of toilet paper on a post in front of them, putting coins in a piggy bank, and rolling the rolls around with each coin, to see if they won the jackpot. People are starting to get desperate to visit the cafés and bars.
The Prime Minister has just been on television, and announced that the quarantine is to be extended to the end of the month. Beautiful April, gorgeous April, is to be enjoyed only from home. Let's see if May brings more, available beauty, and less death.
Life continues.
Very sad news indeed. And many countries are grappling with the same dilemma: kill the economy or kill the spread? On a lighter note, what is also spreading are new forms of communal exercise https://helpincoronatimes.wordpress.com/2020/03/23/curfew-day-3-new-followers-arise/
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