Coronavirus update #2

So 2 more weeks at home, though there was one short trip to the office and one morning at a government office. Otherwise it is a lot of phone calls, video calls, emails and the odd movement between living room, kitchen, balcony and bedroom. Not a lot of steps each day, aside from running in the morning, which for the last week or so (when it is not raining) has been whilst wearing a mask. Not a lot of excitement - though one day whilst running I came across a man convulsing on the floor with what looked like epilepsy. After a few minutes with me and another passerby he managed to get up and seemed alright, so I put him a taxi to get home with some money for food and drink.

In other dramatic news, we've increased our online purchasing locally which we didn't do too much of before, including of chairs, badminton sets and other kitchen appliances. We also bought a desk from the local artisans and have settled into the routine of the late afternoon walk and games with the kids downstairs (including getting out a boules set). OK, so there has not been much dramatic news!

On the schooling side there is a lot of conversations amongst parents of private schools (which went back to school a week ago, after the 3 weeks Easter break, whereas the public schools are on their holidays now and are supposed to go back in early May, though all schools remain closed until early June at the earliest) about the quality of the online learning. Before Easter parents were sympathetic as the schools had not had very long to prepare, but after Easter, it is another matter and the conversation of quality quickly leads to conversations of refunds. Andrea's doing a stoic job whilst the German School still gets their act together (with some prodding from the parents). Without any cleaners (we used to have one come a few times a week), and with us all around, all the time (including the dog), we are doing quite a lot of cleaning for the first time for quite a while! Very glad we have a small apartment.

In terms of the actual situation here, the testing has increased, and the numbers are fairly stable, increasing at an average of around 10 cases per day, whilst around 5 per day are recovering and turning negative again. There is still no more than 1,000 tests a day so it is not mass testing, but on the plus side there are not thousands of people turning up sick at hospitals, so even if there are more cases than then few hundred so far, it may not be that many (I suppose around 20% would normally turn up sick at hospital). Maybe the early interventions with flights and the obsessiveness with handwashing (even at the slums) have helped (with Africa generally being less connected to the world than other countries, so there were less travellers coming and out anyway at the beginning).

The government has extended the evening curfew and the restrictions on inter-City travel, but has also begun to relax some restrictions Restaurant's are now delivering in the evenings. Some restaurants may be allowed to open soon for sit-down guests with some hygiene and distance restrictions. The governments' finance Act has passed reducing some taxes, though unfortunately also increasing others. The government has launched a fundraising drive to help with the hospital preparations, PPE purchases, handwashing activities etc. A cash transfer program is starting, in order to help the very poor.

In reality it seems the economy just can't collapse as much as a European economy, even if there was a full lockdown. Partly because much of the population are farming in the villages, and would continue to do so anyway, and partly because a lot of people are barely earning that much anyway. Unfortunately some key industries that rely on exports (like flowers) have really suffered, through will hopefully pick up again as Europe opens up slowly. And some key industries that rely on imports (like tourism, importing people) have also suffered, so the economy is struggling and there is not a lot the government can do (few people are even in the formal economy that the government could support like in Europe). It might not even be possible to enforce a lockdown even if one was implemented, especially with the economic impacts.

The kids continue to handle things quite well overall, whilst us adults seem to be quite pessimistic or depressed. None-the-less, we're thankful we've not been too badly affected so far economically or health-wise. Frequent check-in with family members in Europe take place, and they are doing well too. Next weekend is a long holiday weekend (just like the long Easter weekend recently). It will likely be just like most other days, which just vary between working and not-working without much else changing! We did try to get into that big concert thing last weekend a little though it was hardly a big deal, a big evening in, or anything else. Not a lot of variety in life at the moment, but maybe that is not a bad thing? At least we're all spending a lot of quality time with family members, either in real life or on-line.

Life at home during Coronavirus

The kids have been at home now for four weeks since schools were closed. I've been at home for most of three weeks (after Europe I was in a separate apartment in Nairobi in self-isolation then one week of occasional work from home vs work from office whilst the government "encouraged working from home", and now two weeks at home since the government "strongly encouraged everyone to work from home"). Most of the time the kids have been in a sort of routine with home schooling by Andrea for 2-3 hours a day, and the rest of the time split between playing or watching TV/Computer Games. Home schooling involves some exercises set by the school and emailed, and other exercises Andrea makes up as the school doesn't send very much (and didn't send anything during Easter, but we've kept the schooling going during the holiday).

The house has had to undergo some renovations. Changes to desks for us to use. Times Table posters and star charts (i.e. you get stars once you finish tasks) stuck on walls, more plants in the house and on the balcony. Kids toys and rugs sometimes moved on the balcony. Tables set up with painting materials. Plenty of hand sanitizer and extra soap everywhere. We are pressing elevator buttons with our elbows and washing hands frequently for what it's worth.

Hannah likes to say that she is bored even though she is not bored. She only says she is bored because she wants to watch TV or play computer games. Actually she is perfectly happy playing with her horses, unicorns, farm and many many other toys together with her sister, Leah. Computer games may be better than TV, since TV seems to always have more episodes that kids can beg to watch!

The girls often play with their friends in the same apartment complex (technically in Nairobi there are few official restrictions on what you can do in the day, as long as you avoid large groups, you are just encouraged to stay at home, and many things are still open) which really helps. But they also like to play board games, or singing and dancing to videos, or building a house with blankets on top of chairs. 

When they do play downstairs there is an interesting variety of games. Some more physical ones, involving chase, tag and so on. Others more imaginative with role plays. The weather is warm, and when the sun is out it is very pleasant but the pool is mostly in the shade so the kids have only used it once. Leah is very strong willed so often has issues playing in the groups of friends if she doesn't get her way, which sometimes ends in tears. But Hannah also often ends up in tears for some reason or another. Especially later in the day when she is tired.

For me, there's a routine of taking the dog out, going for a run, having breakfast and then spending most of the day on the phone and on the computer moving between the bedroom, the kitchen table and the balcony. With occasional trips downstairs for a walk with the dog again; and then trying to find a couple of hours in the evenings with the kids to play. There's still work to do (some things are still the same as before, and there are some new things to replace other things that are on pause). Andrea usually manages to get a few hours of work in as well, which is not too bad, though obviously not as much as she'd like when the kids were at school.

So far Kenya has not had many cases; partly because Kenya was quite quick to quarantine people who flew in (and then banned flights altogether), and partly because they have only tested those who have turned up sick to hospitals, or those in quarantine (and their "contacts"). Next week there will be a lot more testing of regular people, so let's see how many other people may have the virus without being sick, and then we may know what will happen in May and how long we will stay in the current state.