Lockdown Level 4!
 

*forgive the rant*

We have been locked down to Level 4 down here in Melbourne for the next SIX weeks :(

• We have a curfew of 8pm-5am
• only an hour outside of home and only one person to do essential shopping within a 5km radius of home.
• Can only exercise within 5km of home and only with ONE other even if it's family and only for an hour.
• Have to work from home which is not a problem for me as I mostly work from home anyway.
• Retail pretty much completely shut, manufacturing/building/industry either shut down or running on skeleton staff. Supermarkets, grocery stores, banks, post offices, newsagents and take way from cafes and restaurants allowed but that is pretty much it!
• School shut including kindergartens/creches' except for essential workers children.
• Have to wear mask the minute we leave the house

We 'happy' to do this as long as it actually works.

There is no way Victorians could do this again if this fails so we need all those idiots who insist on breaking the law to stop, go home and stay there for the next six weeks so we can rebuild. Our economy is shot, jobs are disappearing hand over fist and the Victorian people are hurting, badly.

I could cry, but I am going to stay calm, stay home and stay safe with my family until this nightmare ends, whenever that is. Kids are online with university, hubs and I are lucky to still have our jobs which can be done from home and I have my designing which is my happy place. I am happy to wear my mask when I do go out and have a huge supply of books and puzzles for the quiet times.

Please stay safe everyone, this is one of, if not the the hardest of things we will ever go through in our lifetimes. Let's be kind to each other, stay safe, wear our masks and pray a vaccine is found sooner rather than later.

And then, then we pick up the pieces and hope the new normal is kind to us.

I'm so sorry to hear this JO... We already heard it on the news about Australia, happily we don't have those deep measures.

Here everything is still open and we are still allowed to go eating in restaurants and shopping and such. But it is a law that we need to wear mask in public travel like trains and busses etc, and they are discussing if we need to wear mask in retails stores too but that isn't agreed yet.

For now the Prime President is still saying that masks are not needed in retails shops but maybe that will change soon since were are the only one in Europe... and outside we don't need masks at all, you can wear them by own choice but almost no one is doing that...

Anyway covid is getting more here now too, people don't always take the 6 feet serieus, with the warm weather and more simple measures people are getting too easy with it or think everything is allowed again. But still the kabinet says we don't go back in lockdown or anything like that...

Thinking of all Victorians right now! We're all keeping a close eye on what is happening down there and hoping that we won't be following you. NSW seems to be managing the infections right now but, as we've seen in Victoria, it doesn't take much for it to spiral out of control.

That is really strict, and I'm so sorry you're having this experience. We're still on lockdown, but ours is loosening up. The worst part of ours is that kids under 21 can't go out. I hate having my freedom restricted, but I respect that the govt is trying to keep us safe.
I hope people follow the rules this time & you guys are able to get out of lockdown and back to life after 6 weeks.

Thinking of you JoCee!

Sounds pretty much like our Level 4 lockdown except wearing masks was voluntary outside, and all our restaurants, cafes, post offices and banks were closed too. Only supermarkets, selected corner dairies and the petrol station were open.

My advice is to embrace the time at home. An hour outside of the house to exercise is actually plenty. I'm a bit of an introvert, so I loved lockdown. No rush, more time with family, less traffic, the world quietens down for a bit....I think a lot depends on your frame of mind. If you're determined to find the blessings and the good in the experience, you'll find it, and come out the other side refreshed. By the end of our lockdown the kids and I didn't want to go back to 'normal'.

Shopping tip: I found it better to shop early in the morning (when I had to go out for groceries once a week). Seems a lot of people would sleep in and go later, by which time everyone is trying to shop. If you go early, you won't have the long lines. At least I never did. Maybe kiwis just like sleeping in. :D

I hope it all goes well for you. Keep your spirits up and look for the good. If it all works out as planned maybe they'll consider opening the borders between our countries soon.

Ugh, that is strict! Cases are huge in my county, and they just announced remote start for the school year. My senior has lost her fall sport, band, homecoming, senior dinner and recognition for band, hanging out with friends, so much. My heart breaks for her, but she's thinking of her sacrifice as saving lives.
I hope your community can do what it needs to do to get through this. Masks were a huge issue here but now they are mandatory in public. I, like Jacinda, shop early morning right after the time set aside for the elderly/high risk people. And, like you, I'm thankful my husband has his job.
This has been the worst thing ever, but we will get through it. :)

Sending hugs to all those in need. Every day is a swing in emotions and energy. Always trying to find the silver lining. I am trying to have more patience and empathy.

HUGS HUGS HUGS to you, Jo and everyone!
I wish all those idiots, who refuse to wear masks, how big it affects the society to wear the masks. What can we say?! Right?
I hope you guys hang in there well for the next 6 weeks.
I feel like I've been in the biggest quarantine over my life ever since the beginning of the year. It's tedious and restrictive, but I keep reminding myself that I am doing it for my babies and my loved ones. I am glad that my hubby is still doing it, too, back in Beijing, for our sake.
Let's keep praying that the situation will get better soon.

Hugs! I am in one of the worst states in the US...We have one of the highest number of cases. We haven't really left the house much since March when quarantine started here. We did visit family in VA for a week in July but things have gotten worse since we got back. Masks are required here, schools are online at least for the first two weeks, most restaurants are pick up but some are open. I have resorted to online grocery shopping and delivery. Hubby works from home and has since March. It is a frustrating time for sure. I am thankful to have scrapbooking as a stress relief and an outlet oh and wine and ice cream. :)

Ugh, this Pandemic is so hard. We did this in March through May. It was the longest 2 months and still continues somewhat, though now there is more and more opening. (I'm in New Jersey, US).

Initially, we played a lot of games, used Houseparty/Pokerface apps, and zoomed Happy Hours, friend and family visits too. Puzzles, card games and movie nights were also a hit. Walks around our neighborhood was ok, as long as we were distanced. Masks are now required and social distancing is a must. It has helped tremendously, but we have been trending slowly upward in small increments that we are re-tightening our group get togethers and restaurants /gyms are still closed for anything indoor. I hope we stay level at this point.

DH and I both work outside the house and are considered essential (debatable for me in my mind, but I cannot work from home)...Kids did school from home, though I don't think they actually learned anything. I'm worried we will get the next "wave" (for NJ) in September/October.



Don't be too hard on yourself. It's hard. We all deal with this in our own way, and no one way is better than the other. Find happiness daily and remind yourself. Take time to laugh (or cry too).

I'm so sorry this is hard. I really wish all of us did the same thing though. There are serious people out there but there are also people who don't give a crap about anyone else and putting everyone else at risk. This sucks so bad!

I'm so sorry Jocee... Just when we thought that we're moving forward, here comes another lock down...

thanks everyone, I really appreciate your messages and hope you can all stay safe and sane.

We really are ok. Thankfully we are a close family of 4 so being in each others' company all day/night/week/month/year, lol, is not an issue. We all have our 'own space' and we know the reason for all this and support it, it's just terrible that there are still people who can't behave. Just the other day a female police woman was badly beaten, by another woman!!, for asking whey she wasn't wearing a mask!!! OMG!!!

Sherly, you are so in my thoughts going through what you are but your attitude is amazing and I am so happy you are with your folks at this time. Hopefully you and Lan will be reunited sooner rather than later.

Wishing all kids who are heading 'back to school' only the best of everything to get them through. As the saying goes, 'in five years time this will all be over' (hopefully)

stay safe, healthy, inside and sane
love to you all
xx

So sorry to hear the lockdown will last another 6 weeks for you. I totally agree with you about the people who can't behave and are the reason why the lockdown will last longer for you. So selfish. We see it here in The Netherlands too. One thing I am really upset about is the distance rule. That is one of the most important rules and people are just ignoring that. Even my own family (just having birthdays without the 1.5m distancing...not good). Numbers of infected people are increasing here again (doubling every day) and people are still saying...oh, doesn't matter because the hospitals can still manage...hardly anyone has been hospitalized and IC are coping. Soooo that is your excuse to just live your life like before the pandemic ?!?! Drives me nuts !! My BIL and his partner have their wedding on Aug 22nd and I already thought it was so selfish to do that but now with the numbers increasing...I find it even more disturbing that they find that day more important than the health of their family and even risking their families health this way. If the increasing continues...we might go back in lockdown but only in areas in the Netherlands where there are corona hot spots. Doesn't sound good to me because people who live in those areas will just go to other parts of our country to party/eat out etc. And don't get me started about those people who say that this is all just a hoax...just...grrrrr.

That's really strict, I'm so sorry this is happening and your family is so restricted :( I hope people start taking it serious, wear their mask and follow the guidelines so we can put this behind us once and for all. Stay safe! :wub:

I'm sorry you're going back under such a strict lockdown. The 2-person rule seems harsh--does a single parent with 2 young kids need to stay in with no activity for 6 weeks since they can't meet those conditions?

As strange as it may sound, I'm jealous of your lockdown. It will suck for 6 weeks, but then there's a chance of being able tor resume a more normal life. I don't see that happening here any time soon, unfortunately. Sure, things are open, but we can't get the community transmission low enough for schools to reopen.

I live in Northern Virginia, near Washington, DC. Our cases haven't spiked like some parts of the US, but we never managed to get them truly low enough before we started reopening. Now some people are going about their lives as though there's no pandemic (though at least most of them here are wearing masks), and those of us who are essentially still living as if we were locked down can't make enough of a difference on our own. The preschool I teach at isn't opening next year, and I can't look for another job since I'm going to need to be my son's full time special ed teacher in the fall. (And as much as it makes me nervous to take a year out of the workforce at 45, I'm 100% behind the decision to have school be entirely virtual for who knows how long.) Some of the counties near us have already announced that they'll be 100% virtual until January and will reevaluate then. Our county hasn't announced a date, but I don't think that things will change enough for us to get transmission rates lower than they are now. And even if they do, we're looking at hybrid schooling where the kids only go in person 2 days a week. Without another lockdown here (which there's absolutely no political will for), I have very little hope of anything changing for a year or so, until we have vaccines and enough time to get them to everyone.

wishing you all a safe and healthy time, it really is very scary.

hope you are all managing and so happy to see you all doing the right thing.

today is day one of no retail being open and very reduced industry, online school only except for essential workers kids and so we will hopefully start to see a reduction in about two weeks but who knows.

I am trying to exercise at home every day with my daughter and am definitely an early morning shopper, always have been. Thankfully I don't have to do much else outside of home except for the grocery shopping so I am relieved about that.

As for the two people exercising rule, a single mom with two small kids can take them both out for a walk/to the store as there is no one home to look after them.

couples who do not live together are still allowed to get together however once the 8pm curfew has started they either have to be back at their own respective homes or are stuck at their partners home until at least 5am the next day. Suffice it to say, our daughter was NOT happy that she couldn't see her boyfriend past 7.45pm, allowing to get home in time, as they both still live with their parents!

fun times for all. stay safe, healthy and sane everyone.
this has to end... at some stage.
love to you all xx

I didn't realise you were in Melbourne Jo, I thought you were a Queenslander for some reason.

We have level 3 here in country Vic, which means my life barely has to change :O But kids are back to remote learning & there goes ALL of my design time :(

Lets hope it all works or else we won't have a chance of convincing anyone to stay home or wear masks anymore :(

Jo, Am I guessing that the numbers in your area are spiking back up! It's a mess here in the midwest of USA. Two weeks ago I had to give my resignation because they wouldn't approve my working from home (online academy) as a teacher assistant and my husband wanted our kid to do online academy. After going back and forth, I had to resign to my job position only for them 2 weeks later announce that the district is going FULLY ONLINE. So now, I lost my job and I could have kept it. I am furious and fighting it! Hopefully, I can get it back!

They did you a dirty and I'm so sorry!! I hope they are able to make this right and give you your old job back! :wub:

That's horrible, Dalis! I hope they give it back to you. Things change rapidly, and they may need all the help they can get! Hugs!

I am so sorry to read this Dalis, I hope you win your fight and they give you your job back. so unfair. keep us updated xx

Yep, right in the heart of south eastern suburbs.. Caulfield South.

I knew you were in Vic but not in the country. sheesh... this darn well better work cos you are so right, there ain't no way we will do this again. Plus all the confusion on who can/can't work/move around/stay open.

Things are crazy and, tbh, scary right now. Stay safe and sane, hope the kids don't make you toooo crazy.

We can do this, but those darn idiots who think they know better better just pull their fingers out!!!

xx

I hope so too! It is not clear and I am not even sure when I will know either way. They are going back to the school board for a new START date for school. LOL!!! IT'S A MESS! :blink:

I am hoping that since I have a ONE-to-ONE job that I still keep it. Nobody wants to be translating 7th GRADE all day long for less than what a Starbuck's barista makes. So, I have that on my side! :thumbup:

They are going back to the School Board and the UNIONS are pushing hard. I really hope that I still get to have a job. I really do enjoy working with these kids. My position MOVES with them. :wub:

Ugh.... so sorry for the lock down... Hopefully it works...

I think we will be in another lock down soon too.... we don't even know about school for the kids yet... One of my girls got covid... luckily she has recovered, she just can't exercise yet...working out still hurts her lungs.

I am also recovering from covid and have had that same exact experience. I tried to work out on Wednesday, did the same workout I would do before covid--and I made it to the end. And then I spent the rest of the day so wiped out all I could do was lie on the couch. I was coughing and had lots of tightness in my chest. It was scary, since I didn't have ANY respiratory symptoms when I was actually sick. I think the recovery just takes a long long time. I hope your daughter gets back to normal soon!

Thank you! I am nervous because she goes back to college in a week.... Hope you can get back to normal exercise soon too!

sorry to hear about your daughter Stacy, hope she makes a full recovery and can exercise safely again.

Ally, look after yourself hon, take it easy, this thing seems to hang around in one way or another.

stay safe everyone xx

We’ve just been put into 3 days lockdown starting Wednesday lunchtime thanks to community transmission occurring in Auckland, New Zealand after 102 days with none. The health department need that time to do checks on the 4 new cases (one family) as they can’t be traced back to anything yet. The rest of the country is going to more social distancing measures for the same period. I just hope it doesn’t drag on and on.

yes, I saw this last night. stay safe and let's hope your health department does a better job than ours. We lost 21 overnight and have 421 infections listed today. ugh!!!

I was wondering why my FB alerts were going crazy at 9.15pm at night initially then I saw and went "oh **** " because I'm fairly and squarely in the area thats gone back to level 3.....honestly wouldn't have been too worried if it was just from level 1 to 2 but level 1 to 3 is a big deal for me (mainly because all my job applications are not local ones so I can't travel for any interviews or possible relocation til we are out of level 3 again)

That really stinks, Dalis!! I hope you're able to get it worked out!

Oh, Ally! :( I'm so sorry to hear that. I hope you're able to get back to normal!!

How are things going for you, Jo?

We are doing ok. our numbers are slowly coming down but we are still losing too many in the aged sector. The aged care homes have been hit very very hard, sadly. The youngest to pass over night was in his 20's...so sad, and scary.

Most people are behaving, some aren't but thankfully it looks like the ding dongs are finally staying home, mostly.

One man who got caught after curfew told the cops he was born with a birth condition that makes him immune to Covid!!!!!!!!!!!!!! yep, we have them down here too

Our family is doing fine, kids are both at uni online, hubs and I are still working from home, we did that anyway so not a biggie for us but I think the tedium of it all is starting to set in. We feel a bit like hamsters on a wheel... going really fast...nowhere!

The thing that keeps me going some days is that this has to end... at some stage, one way or the other cos I can't see us living like this for the rest of our lives. Plus we are so past ready to go on a cruise, or 10, that we live in hope, it's the only way.

Hope things at your place are settling down again and everyone is staying safe.

Have a super weekend all, it's Friday afternoon down here and the sabbath starts in just over an hour and a half and then it's rest time.

hugs to all xx

I can imagine it's tedious. Hopefully this will get your numbers down enough that you can be out & about again!!

My youngest is supposed to start classes the week after next. They are still saying they will have "in-person" classes. We'll see!

LOL! You made me laugh about the guy who says his birth certificate says he's immune :D Yes, they are everywhere!!
Hang in there & know we're thinking of you :wub:

I really wish we would go back into a lockdown. I feel like our numbers keep climbing and people are doing more and more that they should not be. Everyone is posting vacation and party photos and doing all those things they always do during the summer. Meanwhile, we didn't even get to see my stepdaughter or our grandbaby because stepdaughter is 9 months pregnant and the grandbaby (3) has been sick with RSV every year since she was born. We consider them both high risk for those reasons and couldn't chance taking anything them. We are 99% sure we haven't been exposed yet, but who can be certain?

I work in education. We have a few in-service days starting Monday. We will be meeting outside in a football stadium (where we can easily spread way out) with masks. Then we will be going to our own buildings and attending professional development via Zoom from our own classrooms. The first day was pushed back to September 8th. Our cases just keep rising so I don't know what will happen. I hope we start a downward slope but people are entitled and do what they want around here. When we go back we will be in person and I don't anticipate it going well. I told my husband that I feel like it is just a matter of time before we are sick. If it were not for the fact that I am doing a program through a university that requires me to work at my job, then I would be hesitant to go back.

oh Sherri, big hugs to you and yours. So sorry you haven't been able to see your step daughter/granddaughter but you are doing the right thing by them. God willing when this nightmare is finally over you will all be able to be together again.

Good luck with going back on Monday, glad you wearing your mask, we have to down here and it seems to be making a difference. stay safe, much love xx

thanks dearest Tammy. Good luck to your youngest, hope it all goes safely. Numbers today were a bit better but still to high for our liking. slowly slowly but hurry up cos we're all tired of it. Plus, we had the most gorgeous almost spring day down here today and people were OUT and about. though thankfully, wearing masks and socially distancing. ugh!!! xx

((hugs)) from neighbor state Jo :hugs:

We are hoping that Victoria can control the spread, it must be hard to be in lockdown again, especially when we thought that we've done the right thing, it must be very frustrating! :crying:

Luckily the number has gone down, hang in there, after few more weeks hopefully we can start the new normal as the weather warms up :)

Sherri, I felt like that back in March during quarantine--just waiting to get sick because you can't quarantine forever and a vaccine would take so much time to test.



My daughter's friend's mom passed away recently after battling it for two weeks. The kid is 18 and now without her mother. The sad part is, people don't seem to care anymore the longer they go without having something bad happen to someone they know or care about. This selfie driven world is making me angry. :(

thanks Eve, numbers are starting to come down but we still have four weeks of level 4 to deal with, hopefully it will work cos it's starting to get old. So glad things are better in SA, hope they continue to do so.
hugs back at ya xx

oh that is so very sad to read. Poor kid...

yes I agree, sometimes I think we should infect those who behave badly/say it's a conspiracy etc and then let them rethink their stupidity. It still gets to me that people can behave so badly.. sad really.

stay safe where you are and I hope your daughters' friend will be okay xx

I am so sorry to hear about your friend's mom :wub: I've had several people pass away from Covid and it's heartbreaking to see. You can't be there to comfort them in their last hours, you can't be there for your friends/family while they mourn. It's truly sad how many don't care or think it's political. Like Covid will automatically "go away" after the US elections. It's a world-wide pandemic. Not everything is about Americans!

Oh no! That's so heartbreaking......

We also have so many people not taking this seriously.

Well I along with my mum are in total lockdown until Monday. My mum went to the doctor today for other things but she also had a slight runny nose which was enough to get a COVID test. Doctor doesn’t think it is COVID but best to be on the safe side. End of the story is she’s off work for the rest of the week and her entire bubble (aka me) is in lockdown til Monday.