May The Fifth Be With You

So the forth was yesterday...

Reposting and rewriting part of a letter to a friend:

We are well, thank you. I wish the same for you and  your family. It is amazing how close the Covid-19 touches to our lives and the people around us. I honestly have to say, we have been very lucky here. Though as I just said, you don't have to look far to find somebody that has been effected or lost a loved one. 

Yesterday was the first day of phase two to reopen from the lockdown. Manufacturing is gearing up and some additional travel for family purposes is allowed now within the individual regions and people are allowed to go out for exercise or to go to the parks. The activities are limited to some extent and to be interpreted in the execution per the social distancing guide lines. I accompanied Mrs C and the kids to the park this afternoon after lunch and was asked by a police lady to kindly not have the kids kick a ball around in the field. Exercise is allowed, but play is not. In the sense, play can be construed as a group activity. I get it, but then they are just my kids who have been in lockdown the entire time together and playing in a wide open empty field to burn through some stored up energy and emotions. So... I am a team player; I get it. The police lady was apologetic in delivering her message. That is just the way of things at the moment. Let's make it a group effort! 

The total number of positive cases is coming down very slowly and yesterday marked the first time under a 100k positive cases in a very long time and less than 200 deaths in a single day. The number of deaths is coming down slowly, but today was back up a bit.  We still have +1-2k new positive cases each day with about half of that always in Lombardy region. So, I just pray that we don't fall back as the lockdown eases up. 

On a positive note, I read today that a team from the University of Utrecht has found an antibody and successfully tested in a lab environment on mice. Let's pray that it is the real deal and not hyped news. 

Then, just as quickly I read another article where a study shows that the virus has mutated and has become even more contagious. 

Flip another page and another study in Arizona finds that maybe it is weakening.

#1 too much news.
#2 too much news..
#n+d too much news...

I fully intend to work from home for a while yet as my job allows me. I don't want to jump the gun.  I will take the kids out to the park and do necessary shopping, but I still very much feel the weight of the decision each time to go out of the house as something potentially very dangerous to myself or to my family.

All in all, the walk to the park today felt great to stretch the legs and finally do a bit of street photography!!!