The whole world has stopped thanks to a virus that spreads easily and has put in check the health systems of several countries. The recommendation against the coronavirus is clear: FIEO IN HOME. In this text, we gather five reports of people who are living different types of quarantine – forced or self-imposed. Reports to remind us how important it is to remain strong, flatten the contagion curve and twist for better days.
Note: We received these reports throughout the week. As the situation has changed with a lot of speed, some facts are no longer the same and we add updates.
Mariana, in Porto, Portugal
Instagram: ?irmaodevaca and Youtube: Brothers of Cow
“I live with my husband in the city of Porto and I can say that the moment here in Portugal is quite delicate, since the cases are increasing very fast and the population is very aged.
I was very impressed by the attitude of the Portuguese to adopt a quarantine, practically voluntary. I have not left the house in four days. At the moment, we are waiting for news whether or not the government will decree the mandatory quarantine.
I left a job recently and would start looking for another opportunity soon. However, with the Coronavirus pandemic, it is practically impossible to find any company that is hiring. In fact, the scenario has been a bit desperate for many companies, especially in the tourism and restaurant sectors.
My husband works as a driver on transportation platforms and the movement has crashed in the last week. In the last few days, it happened, in five hours of work, he had only held one race.
Certainly the coming months will be very difficult for us and for many self-employed workers and who do not have an employment contract.”
Update: The Portuguese Government has declared a state of emergency and defined home collection. There are over 1,000 confirmed cases in the country.
Aline in Oslo, Norway
Instagram: ?linepereira11
“I am writing from Norway at this time, where I have had to stabilize my trip to respect the recommendations for containment of the coronavirus.
I spent almost a year planning this trip, which includes a script in several countries, and I was unfortunately impacted by the proportion that the coronavirus took. In January, when I left Brazil, I had no way of knowing the direction of this. Who puts something like this in the script, right?
On the last 15th I had a flight to Prague from Oslo (Norway) and had already received a recommendation to stay 15 days collected, so all tourists who arrived should act. I tried to relocate the flight, cancel or change the route towards Brazil, but then I have known the real chaos since 3-4 days before. Norwegian had not the slightest condition to serve everyone. They didn’t respond to the relationship channels and put an automatic message on the phone about how overwhelmed they were. The guidance was that if it wasn’t urgent, I wouldn’t care.
With no answer, I went back to the capital and went to the aero to see the situation of the flight, which was operating. I checked in and all aware that my next 15 days would be in Prague, which is three times more economical than Norway. At the airport, the army was checking the passengers. Forms to fill out. Recordings asking to keep a meter away from other people and wash their hands. All apparently organized.
At the time of boarding, my surprise. The company took the tourists’ passports, made some calls and did not let anyone advance into the plane on the grounds that Prague airport had closed in the last few minutes to foreign passports. I was following the Prague website that said that this was going to happen only the next day, so I understood that I could go. But my word against that of the team had no effect.
Image by Reinhard-Karl ?blacker by Pixabay
Confusion between everyone there, impediment to embark, non-repayment of passage and result: they did not let me go. To make matters worse, we received information that the Oslo airport would be closed for the next 15 days. The same was for trains, buses, roads… That is, “turn to accommodation and stay there”.
I spent the day inside the airport trying to buy any ticket, but the whole of Europe closed quickly, even for connecting flights, and the companies were not sure who would board or not. I saw several desperate people trying to find a destination. Often, any destination served. After all, no one knows how long our right to come and go will be compromised.
For fear of running out of money when buying a new ticket, I rented a stay for a week here in Oslo and try to follow any new news.
At this time I can see that even a developed country like Norway can disorganize itself through a new fact. It has no tests for everyone, which probably gives a mistaken dimension about the number of infected. Financially incapable tourists are referred to public hotels, where there are also people who have symptoms. The airport confirms with the airline. The airline has the embassy. There is information diverging all the time, even from the official bodies. The Brazilian embassy is not operating in person or answering emails.
My current situation is one of complete uncertainty. I do not know if I buy or not a passage through the question of whether they will let me board or if the airport of connection will be working. I don’t know what information source to trust. I don’t know if I rent for any longer or I convert more money.
At this time, there is no aviation company selling good service. You don’t have travel insurance. In fact, insurance was the first to implement a statement that in case of a pandemic there is no coverage. Omission behind omission.
The good part is that supermarkets and pharmacies have the orientation to stay open and, therefore, there is no crazy rush of people to stock items. Everything is still available. And tap water is great for drinking. Perhaps one of the purest in the world, which already makes me save about 12 reais in every bottle of water here.
For someone who has dedicated so much time planning a dream trip, giving up a job and rebutting harsh criticisms in the decision to go, this is the closest to a nightmare that can be reached. I’m going to use that time of isolation to rearrange myself and get the best out of it. I think we always come out stronger than a situation like this.
Norway is a dream country. Every kind of nature has here and, with a planned script, without this kind of chaos, I keep recommending to anyone who a day dreams of knowing. Snow, beaches, mountains, untouched nature. Can you imagine seeing aurora borealis or midnight sun?
I think here – and everywhere in the world – we are living something like a war. Perhaps more impactful by dimension and invisibility. A virus messed up our lives! Take care of themselves, travelers. Soon we will be around again.”
Thiago in Madrid, Spain
Instagram: ?thiagocalmon
“Four days ago they put Spain in a state of alarm, which means more or less the restriction of our right of freedom. The government asks people not to leave the house if it is not a case of extreme need, which are: go to the supermarket, pharmacy, doctor and, if you have no other way, go to work and then return home. And yes, that is necessary, because it is we who transmit the virus to each other.
Yesterday I went to the doctor and on my way I was stopped three times by police asking where I went and if I had to prove it. So it was with everyone who left that morning. All the trade is closed. Yeah, closed. You pass through the streets and you are like an abandoned city.
There is no shortage of food in supermarkets, many put videos that there is nothing on the shelves, but it has everything we need. But since supermarkets are only putting things together twice a day, perhaps these people post this, but as always without asking and understanding why. They just want to spread images without being sure of what they say.
I work? Businesses? All chaos, the government is very much support for the damage to be the least possible in this time crisis. Seeking that the losses of workers are the least possible, giving support and aconometric and looking for options with companies so as not to have a drastic increase in unemployment.
Why do I write this here? Because there are many people who don’t believe and think that everything is nothing but a clown. We who are living this know that we are not. We have the mania to think that nothing happens to us until the imminent that happens is already it may be too late for prevention.
How are we around here?
We are in quarantine, almost without being able to leave the house. We have closed borders. We have many people dying because of this virus. Every day more and more cases appear. A chaos in health. It’s an economic disaster. People are struggling to stop this virus, respecting the orders of the president of the government.
Therefore, you who are in Brazil, take quarantines seriously. They are not a vacation, it is a measure so that the virus does not spread absurdly. Do not want to have your right to come and go blocked by viruses and for lack of prevention. Think and let’s act before chaos is created.
Whether you have symptoms or not, stay at home because you may have the virus and have no symptoms. Good luck to all of us and may we beat this virus.”
Janka, in Budapest, Hungary
I have been writing these words from home, where I have been with my husband and our two children (3.5 and 2 years), since Monday. Today is a sunny spring afternoon and we all feel like this is the calm before the storm.
It all started on January 31, 2020, when the Hungarian government created an operational group against the coronavirus pandemic. The first case in Hungary was announced on March 4 and the first death came 11 days later.
On March 7, the situation had already escalated quickly and the government acted quickly. The entire public program of the national holiday of March 15 was canceled. The next day, hospitals were reorganized, free beds were set up for potential patients and visits were restricted.
All flights to and from northern Italy were cancelled. We had scheduled a trip to Naples at the end of March, it was when we realized that our family vacation would not happen. A few days later, all schools, universities and nurseries were closed, which affected us directly.
While all this happened, we watched the distance: we were on a ski trip in Austria, between March 11 and 15. We returned home quietly by car, but it was the last day before all the borders were closed, the hotel and the ski resort where we were closing.
So we decided to work in a home office, sharing shifts with my husband: we try to balance the work, the care of the children, the cleaning and the kitchen, while we try not to go crazy.
We are at home, we cannot meet with our parents and we are looking forward to what the next information will be. We are not optimistic about the future.”
Arthur, in Lima, Peru
“My name is Arthur Vido Silva, I am a businessman and I am in social seclusion in Miraflores, Lima, along with my wife Elisa. We arrived in Lima on March 15 in the morning and at the end of that same day there was the decree of the Peruvian government saying that the borders would be closed in just over 24 hours. In fact, this occurred at midnight on the 17th.
We tried to go to the airport and take a flight to leave on March 16, without success. Avianca, as well as other companies that would make the Lima-BH, Lima-SP and Lima-RJ excerpts, canceled the flights because the crew was Peruvian and they would not be able to return to Peru in time.
The region of Miraflores is very quiet, we are allowed to circulate to buy food and also for medical care.
With the failure to schedule a flight on March 16, we went straight to the Brazilian embassy. There, there was already a group of twenty Brazilians and more people arrived all the time.
On that day, we were not met, we managed to talk only to a Peruvian security guard who asked us to return on the 17th. That’s what we did. On that occasion, three Brazilian women came in and talked with the ambassador. The rest of the group, about 30 people, stayed out and served us water. In this conversation, he reported that the embassy:
1. I would act with the Peruvian government to authorize the departure of foreigners
2. 2. I would provide forms on their Facebook page for those who were interested in leaving here
One form took personal information and the other information from the originally scheduled flight. At that time they were not yet available and even warned us that it would take a few hours. We went back to the hotel, near the embassy, and had access to both the decree and the forms. We fill out and now we are waiting for the next steps.
It is important to note that the embassy also directed us to look for the airlines. Attempting to contact them has been a failure, queues waiting on calls that are never answered, lack of guidance and standard answers.
Most of the information was obtained thanks to the creation of groups in whatsapp, an initiative of Brazilians. For now, the divisions report that the operations will resume on April 1. We have the impression that the embassy is acting, while the airlines seem out of context.”
Update: Itamaraty is already organizing the return of Brazilians imprisoned in Peru. However, Arthur tells us that they are still in the fight to be able to return, because the repatriation flights are for Gol and LATAM customers. He, the wife and hundreds of Brazilian Avianca clients are still imprisoned in Lima, Cusco and other Peruvian cities.
Arthur says they are fine, with a hotel that has made a better price and serves breakfast. But he remembers that there are Brazilians scattered throughout Peru in more complicated situations, without having to get to Lima.
