Strange Times

 Even here in Rurutu we cannot escape the Covid-19 pandemic. Currently there are no official cases, but there have been several in Tahiti, thankfully no deaths so far. The first official case recorded was one of our deputies at the French National assembly, who is thought to have caught it from a French Minister! She is now recovering well, but managed to infect a tourist on the same flight as her, and there have been a couple of other cases just starting to show up. Currently there are 30 cases in French Polynesia (but it is likely to climb over the next few days after our first week in confinement), only one requires hospital care, but all non-residents are being refused entry and Air Tahiti Nui are stopping all international flights for at least a month as of Saturday. There are no commercial flights from Tahiti to the outer islands, so in theory if it hasn't already got here, we should be safe! We are nevertheless all confined to barracks for at least the next two weeks, more likely a month or more, depending on how things develop. It's pretty drastic, but it definitely could stop the epidemic in its tracks here, we are very grateful for that. Maybe one advantage of living on an island is that we are more or less in natural quaratine from the rest of the world, though once the virus gets here it could easily spread!

On the economic front it's disastrous. We, like many here in French Polynesia and elsewhere in the world, are left without guests or income for the forseeable future, and even my translation work is on hold, as the airlines themselves face a truly difficult moment and the magazines' release dates have been indefinitely suspended. The next few months will be a difficult time for all of us. But at least we are all healthy, this is an opportunity to count our blessings and take time for ourselves and our families, something that we rarely have time for otherwise! There are definitely worse places to be confined...

We wouldn't choose the enforced holidays, but we are lucky to have a garden and space for the kids to play. We're trying to make the best of it, and it's given us time to do some cooking (we've been baking our way through confinement with coconut retia, chicken samosas, brioche, custard tart, breadufruit homefries and chocolate chip cookies). The only problem is that there is no more flour in the stores (we're probably not the only ones baking to pass the time here on Rurutu!). Again we are grateful that we actually have food in abundance: coconuts in the garden, bananas, papayas, breadfruit, fish in the sea and taro or tapioca, so we aren't going to starve, life is indeed kind to us in the tropical Pacific.

Our hearts go out to all those in the medical profession, fighting on the front-lines, particularly in Europe, three doctors have already been among the victims of coronavirus in France, with almost 2,000 recorded deaths already. We are thinking of all those out there suffering the effects of the virus and its economic fallout. Keep safe, wash your hands and stay at home as much as possible!