Day Eight of Spain’s Lockdown

As of today, there are 21, 571 reported cases of covid-19 in Spain, with 1,093 deaths reported. This is up sharply from 13,910 cases and 623 deaths three days ago. With these kinds of numbers, it is very hard to stay positive and hopeful. But the Spanish government has taken some wise decisions in reponse to the crisis. The ministry of health here has the authority to temporarily requisition all regional health departments, including public hospitals and health centers as well as all private hospitals, clinics and surgical operations.

Under the state of emergency the Spanish government recently declared, they also have the power to take any medical equipment they need from companies and individuals and to use any private medical facility they want to address the health crisis. With this kind of authority, the government will be better able to handle the influx of expected corona virus cases.

Soldiers from the Military Unit for Emergencies has been posted to cities around Spain to help the police, make sure people obey the lockdown restrictions and to disenfect the train stations, bus stations and airports. People not obeying the lockdown rules can be fined between 600 and 30,000 euros. Many people have been stopped by the police and asked to explain where they are going. Anyone going to work has to show a letter from their employer to prove it in case they are stopped by the authorities.

Grocery stores have gotten serious about making sure people keep their distance from each other. When we went to the Mercadona supermarket yesterday, we noticed that they had lines of 1 meter distance outside the store for people to stand on while waiting to go in. This avoids having people crowd together and helps reduce the spread of infection. Afternoons are less crowded than mornings so that’s when we went. They also have a rule that only one person per family can go into the store to shop. So I went in after Rick and would swing past his shopping cart from time to time and quickly throw in the items I wanted. I decided anything with chocolate was a must-have so I got crepes filled with chocolate and chocolate liquour to drink while watching Netflix every night! I highly recommend Babylon Berlin, by the way. This is helping hubby Rick and I pass the time after dinner.

They mean business here! Obey the law. Stay home. Do as you are told. Our neighbors had planned a get together with us for last night but then it had to be cancelled once we learned that we cannot go visit our neighbors. Some people without dogs to walk are getting creative about getting out. One of my Irish friends here told me that people she knows are walking around with empty grocery bags in their hands from one supermarket to the next, not necessarily in search of food but just wanting to get some exercise outside. They only go into the store and buy something when police question them about what they are doing out. Then they save their receipts to prove they actually did buy something, even if it’s only one bag of peanuts.

I definitely feel safer here in Spain than I would feel back in the U.S., where the response has been uneven across the states. For example, California, New York and Illinois have gone into lockdown like Spain, but other states still have not. The U.S. really needs a strong government response in all the states but with Donald Trump in charge I am not hopeful at all. Yesterday, when NBC reporter Peter Alexander asked the president what do you say to Americans who are scared, he replied, “I say that you are a terrible reporter. That’s a nasty question.”

I never thought Trump was a good president given how often he lies, among many other reasons to numerous to list here. (If you are really curious about how I feel about him, see my twitter account for details https://twitter.com/home). But now Trump continues to lie when lives are truly at stake. Another reporter asked him about the shortage of Covid-19 tests and Trump replied he wasn’t hearing about a shortage! God help us!

When a pandemic ravages a country, you don’t want a clown in charge. I fear catastrophe for my fellow Americans, both for my family, my friends and even for those people who watched Fox News and believed Trump when he repeatedly said the coronavirus was a hoax. When such a crisis hits a nation, it’s really important to have a competent leader in charge, not an uninformed con artist.

It is the worst of all possible scenarios. I wonder if any Republican senators are having second thoughts now about not impeaching Trump when they had a chance. It’s too late now and many people will die because the United States wasn’t prepared despite being warned at the highest level of government two months ago. https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/us-intelligence-reports-from-january-and-february-warned-about-a-likely-pandemic/2020/03/20/299d8cda-6ad5-11ea-b5f1-a5a804158597_story.html.

There are currently more than 18,000 covid-19 cases in the U.S. and 241 deaths as of today. No doubt there are thousands of other cases there but people cannot get access to testing yet to confirm this. And there won’t be enough masks and ventilators available to meet the anticipated demand. This level of government incompetence is criminal.