I am continuing my blog on the coronavirus.
First few Days in Brisbane
My first day in Brisbane was Thursday the 18th of March. I was staying at the Brisbane YHA. I realised that this was probably not best place to be. One obvious problem was that I could not get a private room and I was sharing a 3-person room with another bloke.
The hostel was fairly full. Many were oversea backpackers. A lot of these were hitting the phones and clearly trying to organise travel home.
As I moved through the main shopping centre in the city, the place appeared to be normal.
I did have an urgent task to perform. I needed to top up my supply of Glaucoma eye drops. When I was in Grafton, I had bought a bottle at a Ramsay Pharmacy. I was shocked to find that they had expired. When I returned the drops, the Pharmacist was clearly embarrassed. She took back the drops and returned the original repeat script. I informed Pharmacist that I would making a complaint about what had happened. I registered my complaint on the Ramsay Heath Services website.
When I arrived in Brisbane, I told one of my ‘Doctor cousins’ what had happen. This cousin has an extremely low opinion of the ‘Chemist Industry’. “They are being paid ridiculous amounts of money for simply sticking labels on bottles”. You should really get stuck into that person”. He gave me the details of the government and professional bodies to whom I report the incident.
Shortly after that conversation, I received a call from a woman in the Ramsay Head Office. She thanked me for the reporting what had happened to me and said the “it was totally unacceptable, and that appropriate action has been taken”. I won’t bore you with the rest of the conversation. The upshot was that I decided the spare the Ramsay and the pharmacist the pain of dealing with a formal complaint the lodged with the authorities. I was also mindful that the authorities were already having to deal with more significant issues related to the coronavirus.
Things Start to Tighten Up
Over the weekend, further reports were coming out of Italy and Spain about the spread of the virus of the rising death toll.
Not much changed in Brisbane at all. The shops, restaurants and pubs were essentially operating as normal.
The National Cabinet, which comprises the Prime Minister the leaders of the States and Territories met on Sunday afternoon.
After the meeting, the Prime Minister announced the implementation of ‘social distancing’ rules and the numbers of people that could be in indoor areas such as restaurants, pubs etc at any one time would be reduced. There was a confused message regarding the operation schools. There was obviously a disagreement between the Federal Government and the States of NSW and Victoria on several issues including the operation of schools.
Watching the USA
As the new week started, my and a lot of other peoples’ attention also turned to what was happening in the USA. In particular, people were looking to what Donald Trump was saying a doing.
By this stage there were already a significant number of cases in the USA. This was despite the fact that the USA has stopped travel from China at the end of January and in the previous week, they had stopped travel from Europe.
The White House was now holding daily briefings on the crisis. These were being broadcasted live on TV and internet streaming. I started watching them on the New York Times website.
Everyone knows how Trump has reacted to the crisis. He downplayed it, he claimed that it would be all over when the weather warmed up…etc..etc.
The people ‘on the stage’ at the briefings were Trump, Vice President Pence who is the leader of the Coronavirus Taskforce and couple or more relevant ‘experts’ e.g health experts, representative of the Armed Forces, logistics advisors etc.
It was interesting watching his performance in the briefings. Naturally he took centre stage. He was in control of the podium and decided who could speak. This included answering questions that were explicitly directed at other people.
The media often show short clips of the briefings. These did not convey what actually happens and how appalling Trump is.
I give one example:
A reported asked the logistics advisor what the Federal government could do to assist those States that were experiencing shortages of essential medical supplies.
Trump stepped in and spoke for about 5 minutes. During this rambling rant, he mentioned “the wall between the USA and Mexico”. He said it was “a great wall and he knew about construction because he ran a great construction business”.
Another issue that emerged in these days was the possible use of a drug that used for the treatment of malaria and other illnesses. It was being touted a as possible cure for the virus. This would to be highly unlikely, however Trump promoted the idea.
Click on the link below to the Fox News take of the media coverage of this issue.
Stage Two Implemented
On Tuesday the 24th of March, the National Cabinet met again and decided that Australis would move to ‘stage two’ of restrictions. These were to apply from midnight on Wednesday.
These restrictions meant that all restaurants, clubs and pubs must close except for the sale of take away foods and drinks. Cinemas and other places where people gather were to close completely.
The Queensland government also announced that its border with NSW was also to close with the limited exemptions. This had an impact on me personally as I was due to travelled to Sydney for an appointment with my eye doctor. In communications with the doctor I was advised that the appointment was not ‘essential’ in the context of what was going on and that other arrangements could put in place.
Holed up in a Hostel
By this time, I had changed rooms in the hostel. My ‘Doctor cousins’ had all kindly offered me accommodation in their houses. They are ‘empty nesters’. However, I decided not to impose on them at this time. The hostel isn’t a bad option by any means I have a room with nice view, an en suite bathroom and I can get in and out of the place without travelling in lift or stairway. There is a supermarket nearby and there a plenty of restaurants and cafes offering take away food in the vicinity.
Looks like Stage 3 is On the Way
As I write this post its looks as though Australia will be moving to Stage 3 restrictions.
This has already happened in the UK.
It is also being reported the USA has the highest number of cases, more than China and Italy.
Life goes On
As the crisis rolls on, so does ‘life’.
Unfortunately a mate has lost his father a couple of days ago. Another’s mother has suffered a stroke and a bad fall and required an emergency operation.
Another friend became a grandmother for the first time. She is understandably “beside herself with joy”.
An Interesting Take on Trump’s Thought Processes
https://gen.medium.com/we-wish-to-inform-you-that-your-death-is-highly-profitable-22c73744055c
White House Briefings
Another Example of Fox News’s Take on Things
The ‘malaria drug’ issue.
billrider2013 