April 27, 2020 Covid
I wake up at some unnaturally early hour, unable to wake, unable to go back to sleep, and reach for my phone. Laying bed, browsing the phone I come upon a news item that’s been going through my head ever since: “A German virologist reports that had everyone worn a mask from the beginning on, the country-wide quarantine could have been avoided.” Apparently the German health minister has announced that we “all need to forgive ourselves for a lot of things” in this crisis, and I understand it is mostly uncharted territory, but that revelation—if true—nonetheless stuns me. We still have trouble accepting masks in Germany, and it seems that the whole madness of the last weeks might have been avoided with a piece of cloth?
Rocío drops by for lunch and we decided to have burgers at the shop close to work. You’re only allowed to go in one person at a time, make your order and pay, and then pick it up a few minutes later, with your number announced at a board outside the shop.
As I walk back to work, I pass an older lady on her bike. I try and keep my distance but she soon catches up to me, getting closer than anyone has come to me in days. “Young man,” she asks, using that expression reserved to any German male below the age of 50, “is it Saturday?”. “It’s Monday”, I go. “I hadn’t noticed,” she tell me. “Incredible how the days pass.”