Vocal Voices

Kaz just ask me what life is like here, so I thought I’d start a thread and find out what everyone’s experiences are like at the moment. Especially as this is one of those historical events that will be talked about for a couple of generations (more than likely)

Here in NZ, we are on total lockdown. It started on March 25th. Apparently it’s one of the strictest In the world??. You can only travel for essentials like food or medicine, and then you have to stay local. They are arresting rule breakers if they have been caught a few times, but their are no checkpoints or paperwork needed as on the whole Most people are behaving.

Everyone else is (or not) working from home (depending on your job and if it allows it) we had to go into self isolation when we got back from Hawaii in March 18th which meant we could not leave the house. Our friends were dropping food off to us on the door step.

We left self isolation 2 weeks later to join the rest of NZ in lockdown which started while we were isolating. Ironically that actually gave us more freedom as we can now go for a walk around the block, and shop for our own food. there are only the 2 main supermarkets open, everything else is closed or essential items are available online only. Somehow our local green grocer has managed to stay open which is fab as all others are shut. But they are now more like a local mini supermarket

The kids go back to school tomorrow, from the comfort of the playroom at home, so I get to be teacher aid. They will be doing online learning. The government has turned one of the tv channels into an educational channel with content like a classroom. They are trying to reach as many kids as they can. We are fortunate that both kids have a chrome book. Oliver got his for Christmas as we knew he would start to need it about now in the school year and his birthday isn’t until September. (Our school year end in December so we are only 1 term in) Wow did we call that right. We were originally only thinking 30mins a day in the classroom rather than having to share one of 5 each class had, never did we imagine that he would need it for all his learning! You can’t buy them either at the moment so I’m so pleased we did get one for Christmas.

The government is trying to get as many devices to kids as fast as they can and internet where needed. The kids school has set up an online learning portal and all their daily tasks are in there, there’s a google classroom too that they put their work into and their teacher can see it, I’ll know more about that though tomorrow night. It’s been a bit of a steep learning curve. I was very grateful that they moved the school holidays so we had more time to work it all out.

As I’m so use to being housebound, I’m not getting cabin fever at all. I’m actually finding this a far more social time than normal. I’m finding that people are making the effort to video call rather than just message. It’s lovely. I hope it continues. Also neighbours stop at the fence for a chat.

The kids are really missing their friends. They haven’t physically seen them since March 6th as we went away. We have managed to get a few onto video calls, but we don’t have everyone’s details.

Us adults have been getting together via video chat for Friday night drinks. It’s been lovely. Long may it continue!!


As for the virus, we now have 9 deaths. Unfortunately 5 I think are from the same rest home and I know one other rest home that now has had staff affected (a friends mum is a resident there) so hopefully it goes no further there otherwise we are looking at more fatalities.
We are up to 1300 cases. We have escaped off very lightly as we were on the same trajectory as Italy before the PM called for a lockdown. Public opinion by 3/4 is we will happily do more weeks in lockdown if it will keep making a massive difference.

There is a lot of stress and anxiety out there, but a lot of hope that we will eradicate it. What that means long term who knows as we will have no herd immunity. We can keep the boarders controlled with mandatory quarantine but that will kill our tourism industry which we rely on so much. It’s going to be very interesting to see what happened here in the next 6 months.

Burger King went into receivership here today.

As too did the company that made all our local magazines.

What is it looking like in your neck of the woods?

Hey Weka, well here in the UK it's same as in NZ really - you're only allowed out the house for food / medicine or one hour exercise a day. Most grocery shops are opening 1/2 hour earlier in the mornings so key workers can have a dedicated half hour without having to battle the rest of the population - seems to be working fine. Many larger grocery stores have reserved food deliveries for the elderly / vulnerable people only - not sure how they determined who falls into that category, but again - it seems to be working.

I've been working from home since Friday 13th April and will continue doing so until we can get back to work. I can do most of my job from here so for now it's OK. My brother works in production and he has been going in every day - it's only him and another colleague there so they can easily keep distance from each other and between the two of them they are doing the best they can to get orders processed and delivered.

Children here generally are being home schooled, but some schools are open so key workers with children have somewhere for them to go / be safe whilst they're at work. Many schools are still cooking school meals but delivering to the homes of those that need it most.

Our lock down most likely will be extended to 7th May - so another three weeks. I'll be honest - I worry how our economy is going to survive this, I really do. They need to figure out a way to get people back to work asap

Hi Weka, how lovely to see you posting, and a great description of how life is in NZ. My friend in Auckland called me last week and was telling me of the measures, your prime minister seems to be doing an excellent job.

Here in Ireland, the schools closed on 12th March, and all pubs, restaurants etc. closed on 16th March. Edward and I, as over 70s, are cocooning, not supposed to go out at all except for medical appointments. Miss Osc and SIL are both working from home, but her work (self employed solicitor) has slowed right down. They are allowed to go out but within a two km radius of home, so she is home teaching the children through work sent from the school. Also she makes sure to get them both out for a good walk every day. Kellie is coping well enough but Michael struggles at times because he misses school, his friends and all his sporting activities. We are ordering our groceries online (delivery slots can be hard to get) which has been quite successful so far and Miss Osc tops up for us locally. When she comes to see us, she stands at the door while we stand well inside the house, to maintain social distancing, but at least we get to see her and she has brought the children occasionally too. Sadly, there are people who think the recommendations don’t apply to them so the police had to operate roadblocks over the long weekend to stop people travelling to holiday homes, beaches and parks. We see a lot of over 70s walking past our house every day which we find really frustrating. The original expiry date for the restrictions was 12th April, but this was extended to 5th May, so we have to sit it out for a while longer.

Hi weka like ria said it's lockdown here my son is self employed does a lot of kitchen fitting boarding out lofts a lot of his work is done in older people homes so at the moment has no,work he is ,hoping that work can,start again,when this isolation ends
us oldies are a big part of the UK economy and being in,vulnerable and isolation isent helping but spend we will when thing settle down stay safe in NZ I might add I live on the east coast at a small seaside every where is shut no holiday visitors in isolation because I have COPD but doing ok both my son's and families are ok one working in retail,one not that's about it really by for now

Hi Weka, interesting to see this thread.

We are both now at home, as are most others I know. I haven't been to a shop since March 13th! Tom has done one supermarket shop a week since then, I am becoming quite insular as I am frightened to be among the public - I did receive a letter from my GP a couple of weeks ago which hyped me up a lot, regarding my high BP, and suggesting I might consider shielding. I rang them as I wasn't sure I 'qualified' and had my mind put at rest when she told me to disregard the letter and just to carry on like others, an hour's outdoor exercise a day, stay 2m minimum from others and only go out for food and medicines.

Most staff in our small company have been furloughed, aside from one, and she's going in I think 3 mornings a week for 'emergencies', replacement contact lenses and repairing specs etc. We were about to open two new stores when this all kicked off (replacing the existing ones) and I'm quite worried about the business folding and us having no job to return to . Tom is a community bus driver and was sent home last week as there is no way they can stipulate the 2m rule when people are getting on and off his bus, they have no screens, and although they have bus passes, it's still too close, more so those that are wheelchair users. He's opted to go and do other work for the local council (who is his employer) so has his work phone on all the time in case any such work becomes available.

Donna and John are both key workers, both of whom have had the virus. D went back to work as a community nurse last Monday after being off 7 days John started back today as a delivery driver, after having the 14 days isolation as advised. Both children have today returned to school where they are the only children in the whole school! Lewis will start secondary school this September.

Both Jennifer and Kyle are home, although in J's case, she is on holiday last week and this. They are both well and have no symptoms. Jen is SUPER strict about the rules. I've not seen her, even through the window, since early March.

Amy and her boyfriend Tom are ok, A is now working from home and Tom is not working as his job is in the gambling trade, no sport or anything to gamble on of course so he isn't working.

My elder sister is a widow who is self isolating, her son visits but from the end of the drive, but she is quite tech savvy and can Facetime and use a laptop, this is how she does her grocery shopping, by online ordering. Here, there isn't any 'cocooning' as Osc describes, but the furthest she has been is to the post box.

Similarly my brother, and his wife, both very active 70+ year olds. Chatted to them all on Sunday via Zoom and it was lovely to see their faces and hear their voices.

Hi Weka, that made an interesting read

I’m home anyway but John’s working from home now but just for four days a week, which has cut our household income by 20%. Their boss went from telling them one week that they’d had the most successful year ever, had worked on their biggest contract ever and made a record profit to putting them all on a four day week the next. He wasn’t keen on them working from home, never has been even before this, and buried his head in the sand for as long as he could and kept them going into the office until they started complaining about it being risky and the government advice being to work from home if you possibly could. He eventually gave in and said they could have a trial day to see how it worked and ended the day by cutting their hours. Most have now been furloughed, John’s one of only three still working and he’s been working at least 10 hours a day but expects to be furloughed at the end of this week, they're working on a contract which is three times bigger than the one they’ve just finished (as mentioned above) but JCB (who they’re designing for) have had to shut down all of their factories so John’s company can’t go any further with their work until everything resumes.

Tom’s doing his teacher training but now that schools have closed he can’t do any more practical. He’s not actually done the required hours but under the circumstances that’s being relaxed, he’s not too far short anyway. The course itself though is carrying on online so he’s working at home on that, and researching the curriculum for when he starts his job in September (assuming schools are back then).

Joe’s working for General Electric and is still going into work. They manufacture things for power plants, wind farms etc so work has to carry on so that we all have power.

We’ve got a food delivery coming tomorrow but I haven’t been able to order any more online. Delivery slots are like gold dust, and around here people are queuing for around an hour to get into supermarkets with queues all around the car park so I’m not looking forward to that. People have gone in the evening to avoid the busier times and have found that the store has closed earlier than advertised, store usually open for 24 hours are generally closing at 10pm and reopening at 6 or 7am but it’s happening that they’re closing an hour or two earlier. Apparently many shops have a one way system going around too so if you forget something or, more likely, what you want is out of stock so you think of an alternative that you’ve already passed then there’s no going back and getting it. I’m not sure what you do in that case.

Neither Tom or Joe can see their girlfriends, Joe brought Amanda and her belongings back from university in Cornwall on the weekend before lockdown, saw her for a few days and hasn’t seen her since, they were so looking forward to her finishing her first year in May and had a holiday booked but that’s been cancelled.

Our holiday in May hasn’t yet officially been cancelled and so far the holiday company have only cancelled holidays up until April 27th and are allowing anyone travelling in May the chance to rearrange for a later date but I’m holding out to see if they cancel so that we can get it refunded.

Hello Weka, nice to see you posting.
Life is very much changed here, as I suppose it must be all over the world.
MrsC and her sister still visit their father every day.
MrsC and can't go and see our daughter and her family, and we can't have our granddaughter here with us atm. We look after her some days when both parents are working usually. Neither can we see our son or his girlfriend who are living together in the next village. They are all working from home apart from our son in law Lee, who is a policeman. We can't have any of them over for Sunday dinner. My daughter sends us video clips of Eliza regularly.
When we go shopping we have to queue to get into the shop. All the shops are much less busy inside than previously. Only one adult is allowed in some supermarkets.
Traffic on the roads is much reduced.
Luckily during all this queueing, the weather has been OK! We have just come through one of the wettest winters ever and I really wouldn't like to be queueing outside in the rain. Or to be shut in the house for most of the day watching it rain.
My gun club is shut, so no socialising there. The pubs are shut, ditto. All the restaurants are closed, no one can go out for a meal.
The football and cricket has been suspended, so there is very little sport on tv.
It is spring here now and the trees and bushes are just coming into leaf. It is a lovely sight and a bit of normalcy in a very much un-normal world.

Hi Weka

We live in a small town with around 12,000 population in a rural area of Dorset. Because we're retired and living a fairly laid-back life-style anyway, this current situation has perhaps affected us less than many other people. Our ages and "underlying health problems" mean that are advised not to venture out other than for necessities, so we're confined to the house and garden apart from a daily walk (if the weather's fine) around our immediate area. Luckily we have a small river and country park very close, so when we walk in it, we can keep apart from other folk. I still go out to do food shopping (perhaps once a week at the local corner store, or once a fortnight at a supermarket) and I also have to visit the pharmacy for prescription medicines once a month. The town has set up a community neighbourhood volunteer force we could turn to if we were desperate, but we wouldn't trouble them unless it was an emergency. Before the crisis, we would be going out for countryside trips, eating lunch at the local carvery, watching football or rugby games (in my case) or acting as a volunteer reading listener at the local primary school (Mrs O's case). All those activities have completely gone. Shopping is stressful as there are still some people who don't follow the concept of social distancing (keeping two metres apart) and one can become a bit paranoid about it all at times.

Master O and DiL work in the NHS. Both were working at the hospital where our Prime Minister was treated (St Thomas's Westminster) but earlier this month they re-located (a planned move) to East Sussex where they both now have jobs at Eastborne Hospital. They have to wear the full PPE (Personal Protection Equipment) and I'm told it's not easy! We have a 1-yo G/S who we last saw in January, and I doubt we shall see him again any time soon ....

Mrs O has 2 nieces - one is a nurse who is married to a guy who is Head of Infectious Diseases Control at a hospital near London, so you can Imagine what their lives are currently like! The other lives in a more rural area and runs a picture-framing business which they have had to close for the duration. I think a lot of small shops such as theirs may ultimately never re-open - we will just have to see.

We have our daily routines and tasks - home baking, gardening, reading, watching TV, doing crosswords - so all in all, we are coping. But we suspect that we will not necessarily be going back to doing a lot of the things we did before the crisis, as and when this is all over. The worst is wondering how long it will go for, I guess.

Take care, and stay safe!

Hey Weka, nice to "see" you.

It has all gone quiet round here. I live in a small estate with one road in and one road out. It has greens and trees on three sides and across the road is a cemetery. There is a local park and also some playing fields but the car parks are closed off and they are just a bit too far away to walk to then walk round and then walk back, so they are just our of reach. That leaves the cemetery and so I wait till after tea and then go for a walk amongst the tombstones. It is actually quite pleasant an also an education looking at headstones dating back to the seventeenth century and seeing how young some of those who are laid to rest were when their time was up.

Others have mentioned about the shops and work and leisure so there's not much to add. I saw this lockdown coming weeks before it was announced and so during my frequent shops I started adding an extra one or two tins of this or packets of that and I did few cookathons to stock the freezer. Today is the start of my fourth week and in all that time, apart from exercise walks, I have only been out five times. Once to top up the gas and electric as I am on pay cards, twice just before closing to the supermarket for whatever is still on the shelves, and twice to the ATM to get money to take to the ex so that she can send it on to Becky in Vietnam.

Becky is in Hanoi as an English teacher and was there for a few months before all this started, but once it kicked off the Viets put a full lockdown in place and so she became stuck. She is only able to get a few online lessons with private clients so her income has virtually disappeared - hence us sending the money. We were desperately worried in thee beginning and wanted to get her home, but that proved almost impossible. The irony is that it has probably turned out to be for the best given the numbers in the UK.

My son and his wife have their first baby due, our first grand child, on the 30th of April. However, because of its size it might be induced on the 23rd or thereabouts. Whichever it is we will still be in lockdown and as they are in Oxford and the four grand parents are in Leeds it will be some time before we will get to see the little one. Unfortunately life is suspended in aspic at present and it is what it is, there is nothing to be done about it so we'll just keep on keeping on.

Take care and love to you all. xxx

aw frank thats really sad about your grandchild. really hope you get to see the baby soon as. at least you can be FaceTimed and it can get to know your voice.

HI weka, your death rate is very low, long may that continue. Your schools sound like they have organised things really well.

we are both at work, me as a medical secretary in a GP surgery, as surgeries still open and even though we dont have too much work, public sector employees are not usually up for furlough. I have changed my hours though, and now do 5 short days instead of 3 long ones. Also to be honest I like going to work, I would go bonkers stuck at home completely on my own. My husband is a social worker in a large psychiatric hospital, which currently have over 800 staff off, 70 proven cases of covid and have sadly had 5 deaths. I am worried about him, as he doesnt have any PPE as the cases so far are not on his wards. but as they are so short staffed staff are moving around wherever they are needed.

Luke is ok, seizures are a pain, but he is coping with walking round the block as he tells me, with a big sigh. I am concerned about him, as he has a large care team that work shifts and are all going backwards and forwards to their families.

all we can do is hope. we do get to see him, because we sneak in his back gate and wave to him, he can come as far as the back doorstep so we have a little chat and he does a drive by.

I borrow my friends dog half the week, which is lovely and is a very valid reason for getting out for a walk.

I am sorry about my typing, we gave the keyboard a good clean and it somehow has not lost the ability to do capitals, unless you bash it.

take care weka, hope you and the family all stay well