Letters to my Grandchild

Hello my darling Em,   We've had  Level 4 restrictions from1 May to 30 May.  This meant we could leave our cottages again or walk in the village at Sandown.  Now we are allowed to exercise - walk, jog, cycle between 6am and 9am within a 5km radius of our homes.  People who work are not happy.  They have to leave early to get to work and can't exercise after 5pm. Next month we could go to Level 3 and then we might be allowed to travel out of our municipal district.  If that happens we might go to iMfolozi for a day visit.  We still can't stay overnight anywhere or drive out of our province which is KwaZulu-Natal. I ordered a Corona Fighting Princess face shield for you and your Mom and Dad got you a face shield as well! Gumpie and I are wearing our masks all the time too.  Because we can't go out to buy potting soil, and garden stuff isn't 'essential' we still can't buy any soil or compost.  So I've started collecting the s...

On 1 May we went to Level 4  As at 1 May  the total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in South Africa was  5951. The total number of tests conducted to date is  217 522 , of which  9992  were done in the last 24 hours Recoveries stand at  2382  as of 29 April 2020 “Level 4 means that some activity can be allowed to resume, subject to extreme precautions required to limit community transmission and outbreaks,” Ramaphosa explained. Dlamini-Zuma in her presentation described this level as when the virus is spreading at a moderate to high rate with the health care system having little to moderate readiness.  Simply put, this means that the virus is spreading rapidly and infecting a large number of people, more than what the health care system will be able to handle. Sale of cigarettes and alcohol prohibited The sale of cigarettes and alcohol, however, remains prohibited. Any form of liquor is also not permitted to be distributed. “The non-sale o...

Hello my noo-noo, W hat a relief that you were in your new home before the lock down!   By the way, this is your 4th home!   When you were born in 2008 you were taken home to No 7 Shiraz in Peach place, Glen Hills where Mark and Tammy lived before you were born.  It is a nice place but the parking was very difficult.  When the owner told them that he was coming back from Australia in January, we helped your folks look for a new place so that you could move before Christmas. We found a lovely place in Anthony Mews, 100 Anthony Road in Riverside and you moved there in December 2008.  The landlord wasn't always the greatest but you enjoyed many happy years there.   Your Mom had a thriving cake business and once you started school spent many hours baking specialty cakes for weddings and anniversaries. In February 2018 you moved to a bigger house at Mt Edgecombe Golf Estate on Golf Course 1.   Did you know that it was here in Golf Course...

Hi Em, This is what has happened to our world since the pandemic was announced on 11 March 2020 -Petrol price  R13.76 - Rate of exchange R20.55 to €1 -Schools cancelled -Tape on the floors at grocery stores and others to help distance shoppers 2 m apart from each other. -Limited number of people allowed inside stores, therefore, queues outside the store doors. -Non-essential stores and businesses are closed. -Parks, trails, entire cities locked up. -Entire sports seasons cancelled. -Concerts, tours, festivals, entertainment events - cancelled. -Weddings, family celebrations, holiday gatherings - cancelled. -No funerals -No masses, churches are closed. -No gatherings of 50 or more -Don't socialize with anyone outside of your home. -Shortage of masks, gowns, gloves for our front-line workers. -Shortage of ventilators for the critically ill. -Panic buying sets in and we have no toilet paper, no disinfecting supplies, no paper towel no laundry soap, no hand sanitizer. -Shelves are bare...

Hello my darling, At the moment practically the whole world is living under a lock-down due to the new virus that has spread across the world.  Once overcrowded cities are empty, there are no planes in the skies, roads are empty, and satellite photos show clear skies above previously smog covered cities around the world.  In some cities, animals are returning to the streets and suburbs. London with no traffic The COVID-19 Lockdown has cleaned the air over Nepal and northern India. So much so that for the first time in many years.  Mt Everest can be seen again from Kathmandu Valley even though it is  200km away.   After the first positive case of Covid 19 we were all asked to  practice  social distancing by staying at least 2 m apart from each other.  The President announced the closure of schools from 18 March and a week later President Ramaphosa and his Covid-19 task team announced that the lock-down would start at mid-night on 26 March....