Day 2 Madrid Lockdown: Life in the Time of Coronavirus
By: Emilie White
Tags: Spain, Madrid, Diary, Coronavirus

Thursday 12 March 2020

I started writing daily updates to the family WhatsApp group to keep them informed during the Madrid Coronavirus lockdown. As Spain takes measures before the UK, I share our story for inspiration, as warning, and to help prepare, not panic. They asked me to blog it. Day 1 of lockdown for us starts with school closure on 11 March.

First thing I called to check if they would prefer I don’t go to my routine checkup with a gynecologist (my first ever visit at the age of 40! In Europe everyone has a gyno.) They said to come in. Since it takes as long to walk as take the bus, I walked and took the scenic route which was through a huge park. I want to avoid getting close to older people (who generally fill the buses here), since we are potential spreaders with a toddler. Just saw dog-walkers and runners as normal…

Brother 3: 👍🏻 Do u have enough toilet roll?

Yes, plenty and our local shop has plenty of stock. They were low on fruit and veg yesterday evening but that’s normal at that time…

There was a young woman wearing a mask and a couple in the queue to get a ticket from the machine to let you know your turn number. The woman in the mask was uncomfortable and trying to keep a metre away from us. A woman who seemed in her fifties gave her a ticking off saying if she’s sick, not to be coming here. Young woman was upset by that. I took my ticket and went to the waiting lounge. I say lounge because check it out…

I know this won’t impress Bro 2 but I thought it was awesome. It’s a Best In Class unit and has a giant screen with helpful messages, like videos showing what it’s like to give blood. And the screen calls the ticket numbers.

It’s not Coronavirus related but the gyno appointment was just like in the movies. Cutest guy! 😆 I will keep up the regular checkups as needed!

I then walked to my optician appointment (another 45 minute stroll). It was beautiful. Less than average number of people on the streets but super calm. I came across this:

Brother 3: 😎

I bought home schooling props to keep JP active in case we get shut in. I did something which might be seen as stupid. Judge for yourself. I went to a MAC shop to get makeup as for my work I need to be presentable on online videos. People are currently in need of help on how to transfer their work and learning online. I’m an expert on this so I’m helping out. (I held my first major global online event this week and it was a knockout success!)

The MAC lady greeted me warmly and grew increasingly horrified that I was there. She had gloves on and disinfected everything before and after I touched it so I thought she did a great job of keeping us safe. She kept a metre between us most of the time.

All the shops are open and though there were few people around, the staff were there and desperate to help me because they were bored! Customer service is not normally a strong point in Spain in terms of speed.

Given the MAC lady’s behaviour, I feel they will close imminently.

Sister-in-law-3: Love all positive in this crisis 😊 hey l could get you Mac discount 😜 x

Me: Thanks! I went there because of you!

Sister-in-law-3: 👍💜

The 45 minute walk home was around lunchtime. People were filling the outdoor cafes as normal. The tourist areas were open but not full. It was 24 degrees so a day for the outdoors. I was wearing my new shoes which cut my heel. So I went to a pharmacy for plasters.

There I was greeted by a woman in her 50s to 60s with the kind of open face that would get her cast as the wise family matriarch in a movie. She gave me disinfectant and the best quality plaster I’ve ever had and showed me to a tiny sofa in a nook that you’d never know was there right in the middle of the shop.

She confirmed there’s no hand sanitizer gel nor masks left in Madrid. She taught me a trick for masks that I’ll share with you later.

There were more people wearing masks today than yesterday, but still very very few.

We are part of a WhatsApp group run by the nursery that connects all the parents of JP’s classmates. A parent informed us of his concerns with his daughter who developed a fever the afternoon before. This led to many messages of support and saying that Coronavirus is usually mild for little ones and to keep monitoring without panic. There were doubts as to whether they should call the Coronavirus hotline since she didn’t have any other typical symptoms. Just fever.

This morning we learned she has Scarlet Fever. This sounds scary but is an illness on the rise which can be treated effectively with antibiotics and affects children more than adults. It is highly contagious for 7 days before symptoms and 24 hours after antibiotics. https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/scarlet-fever/

Mum this means you are likely clear as you left 8 days before symptoms. We will monitor JP.

So it’s business as usual for the kids viruses! Hopefully we’ll get a break from those next week. Pfff!

My take on March 12 developments in the news: The Coronavirus has established itself as a celebrity illness that rich people and gorgeous prime ministers get (Justin Trudeau’s wife confirmed). And the big actors: Tom Hanks. And football players.

This means the story is changing from the racist China-bashing narrative to an aspirational illness. This will increase the number of reported infections from social influencers and the like. I could see it turning into people wanting to get the illness sooner than later so they feel done with it and immune for the future. Particularly regarding children. A bit like what people do with chicken pox parties. Let’s see.

…ooh and the final story of yesterday: the gas company decided it was ok to keep sending their personnel to check gas installations in every home of every single building. He had no mask and no gloves. He stayed 5 minutes checking the gas appliances with a magic wand. He asked us to sign his ipad with our finger. We respectfully declined. We expressed our dismay for him that he worked for such a rubbish company. He said they had communicated nothing, nada. We wished him luck. If he doesn’t have it by now I’ll be surprised. We kept our distance and I disinfected everything he touched.

Brother 3: Well here the people are dealing with this in typical British fashion — going out shopping 😜 Panic buying is well under way. We went to Lidl last night (cheap date) and many shelves were quite bare…some completely. Hardly any pasta (not sure why… maybe in solidarity with the Italians 😁) …and absolutely no toilet roll (and we actually need some soon 😳). The staff said deliveries had not been affected but turnover was over twice what it normally is. Brother 2:

My new skis: atomic Titanium racing carvers! Sister-in-law-2: Quoi???? Brother 1: Are you panic buying skis ? Brother 3: Yeah! I think you have the wrong idea here.. you should be out panic buying toilet roll !!! 🙃 Sister-in-law-2: 🧻🧻🧻🧻🚽🧻🧻🧻🧻. Me, I am buying medicines- vitamin C, paracetamol etc. In case…. Brother 2: The masses are buying food and ignoring the important stuff : no demand for skis so got 50% off these beauties! Sister-in-law-2: 🙈🙈🙈🤦‍♀ Mum: Not sure where the ski resorts are open 😕 Sister-in-law-2: Here yes….No problem. All is working normally, only some discos are closed. Mum: Stacks of toilet paper in Tesco on Tuesday, but no pasta🤔

Me: Too right Bro 2! You get it.