Life after lockdown

We have been out of confinement for almost  three months now. In July we got back into the rhythmn, with a steady flow of local tourists, an astonishing number in fact, everyone in Tahiti was itching to get out, but not able or willing to go outside French Polynesia. 

 

And even in June we were busy enough with various other projects: an official government visit (just days after lockdown was lifted and inter-island flights opened, the entire government flew to Rurutu for the day and gave us all big hugs and kisses, Polynesian habits die hard!), we've also been getting to grips with our sawmill, hosting a poi-making competition to help compensate for the lack of a heiva, horse-racing (Rea won again easily!) and I've even been enlisted as a local correspondant for a newspaper in Tahiti, hilariously enough writting in French! My editor has his work cut out for him.

Lockdown is a hazy memory, however, with international flights open since July 15, Tahiti has been receiving both European and American tourists, quarantine has been cancelled and the arriving tourists are required to test negative 3 days before leaving and to use a self-test kit 4 days into  their stay (though the incubation period is in fact 14 days)! Surprise, surprise there is a new outbreak of Covid on Tahiti and it's highly likely it has already reached many of the other islands, there's a potential outbreak in the Marquesas. The threat of Covid is once again quite real here, though it is worth pointing out that we are lucky enough not to have had any deaths yet. In response to the new outbreak (already at least 130 cases, including an American tourist on the Gauguin cruiseship that was supposedly a "locals only" cruise) masks have been made obligatory in all public areas, including stores, schools, hotels, guesthouses and church, and school transport! This morning certain schools in Tahiti have been closed, after students were tested positive over the weekend.

 

The biggest clusters were due to a big party at a restaurant in Tahiti in late July, where no social distancing measures were in place, attended by an infected primary school-teacher just arrived from France. This resulted in both policemen and hospital personnel getting infected, causing a couple more clusters. Working with tourists we are more exposed than many, so we're going to have to just get used to wearing masks and socially distancing ! 

All this drama has made Heimana's high-school debut pale into insignificance, though Matotea still can't quite believe she's going to have to share the space with her sister. It's going to be a rough year for us all! Amai, however, seems quite pleased to be going to primary school all on his own now...

Officially out of confinement!

We are officially 'free' again, and can timidly venture out onto the beach, social distancing is still encouraged of course!

The population of French Polynesia is now said to be Covid-free. The kids are al back at school full-time (this was less well received, we like two-day school weeks!). Oh well, will just have to eat those taro scones all by myself...

There have been no further Covid positive-tested individuals in Tahiti since last week, bringing the grand total number of cases to 60. All the recent cases have been people already in quarantine (i.e. arrived from elsewhere since lockdown). However, the very same day that our official Covid counter struck 0, an Ecuadorian fishing boat radioed in, wanting to anchor in the Marquesas, it turns out 29 of the 30 crew are Covid positive; one of them in particular is suffering with severe respiratory problems and has been air-lifted to hospital in Tahiti and is being kept in isolation! So, we can all circulate freely, but having so efficiently kept the disease at bay, we still remain vulnerable and concerned. Difficult to imagine international flights starting up again, though supposedly it will happen in July, under increasing pressure from the local airlines and hotel companies. International tourism does respresent well over 10% of our GDP, not to mention all the other economic activites that depend on tourist money (arts and crafts, pearls, agriculture, fishing etc.).
Amusingly enough our President has been talking about promoting agriculture and a more sustainable economy. A surprisingly pro-independence stance, in a country where dependancy on European/French imports and financial assistance has always been encouraged; the value of imports exceeded exports by 45:1in 2018!
This change of heart may have something to do with the French government, in great financial difficulty itself, limiting the amount of financial aid available. Whatever the motivation, it can only be a positive step for an island nation like ours, brimming with natural resources. Like many, I hope that this crisis will allow us to more clearly set a course for a more sustainable future... On our side of things, we are also setting a new course. The crisis, while difficult for us financially, arrives just as we are moving forward with our sawmill project. After a good while stuck on Tahiti's dock, Viriamu's new toy has just arrived! More about our adventures in sawmilling to follow...

It's exciting and hopefully it will help us be more self-reliant: tourism is all well and good, but it needs to go hand in hand with the development of renewable economic resources, this is not the first crisis in the tourist industry that we have experienced, but it's definitely the worst.
Lockdown has inspired many Polynesians to turn back towards traditional crops, like taro.
Here's just hoping that the President's words are genuine and that the country will continue in this direction...even when Covid is behind us...

Cabin Fever!

We've now been in confinement for a month on Rurutu, and several batches of cookies, some coconut bread, more macaroons (in lieu of Easter eggs), taro scones, chocolate fudge cake later we're running out of ideas and flour! We're also two weeks into home-schooling. I won't lie, it's been lovely having the kids at home with no work commitments, they've been helping dad with the earth oven for Sunday. Here Amai's making taro tiromi to be cooked in the oven.But there is a lack of motivation on the schoolwork front here, and the social aspect is tough on all three of them.

We're ready to get out and about, all the more because there hasn't actually been a single case of Covid-19 officially recorded here on island. Consequently, the decision is in, as of today, we have a little bit more freedom, the kids can gradually go back to school, just to work on their homework and catch up with friends for a day or two a week. We can come and go rather more freely than before and even the alcohol ban has been lifted. No likelihood yet that flights between islands will be restored; Tahiti still has a handful of cases, there have only been three the last week, but they are still there... So this may just be a temporary reprieve! Then we'll have to try to deal with the aftermath, it may be a good deal tougher on us than the confinement! I'm guessing the whales will enjoy a peaceful time of it this  year...

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!