Coronavirus and its impact on me
I originally started this blog on Face Book but my Turkish friend suggested I did it via blogger.com to reach a wider audience so that's what I'm now doing. I'll be revisiting some of the posts I made on FB as that was only open to my personal friends.
Originally, I was trying to avoid reference to the coronavirus but it will become increasingly difficult as it impacts my daily life here and it did lead me to start a blog as part of my entertainment whilst I can't get out and about. Below I'll give the background of what led me to decide to stay here rather than return to the UK.
From January until early April, I didn't have British TV other than via a VPN on my laptop and I used it for catching up on Death In Paradise, Last Tango in Halifax and my guilty pleasure, Ibiza Weekender. Prior to that, I could only rely on coronavirus news from my friends in Tenerife via their 'Tenerife Lockdown' page, Turkish news translated in to English and Aljazeera International which was the only 100% English speaking TV station that I had access to. Relative to coronavirus, Aljazeera International reports equally on all countries around the world, showing their governments' daily briefings, reports from hospital staff and a daily briefing from the WHO leadership.
As far back as 20 March, having previously made a decision to cancel my flights back to the UK, as I felt safer here, I decided to voluntarily self isolate and stocked up on food to last me 2 weeks. My friends in Tenerife were already in a strict lockdown with only supermarkets open. Similarly in Turkey - schools were closed, non-essential shops closed, restaurants and public places closed. The news on Aljazeera International was very clear on what was to come and I was horrified that the UK government were not following the WHO advice. I tried warning friends and family back in the UK but was generally dismissed as scaremongering but now I can access BBC News, I can see why they thought that. There is little to no information on what is happening around the world and even now, the UK is one of the few countries not taking strict measures or enforcing a lockdown.
Here in Turkey, for weeks there has been a lock down for over 65s (that's me) and those with chronic illnesses. We are not allowed to leave our homes AT ALL!!!! Shopping is to done by family, friends or the council and if we need to go to the doctor, we phone the council. The police or someone else appointed, collects us, takes us to the appointment and returns us home. There are fines and/or imprisonment for anyone violating the ruling. More recently, the curfew has been extended to under 20s and travel between cities has been stopped.
Masks and other PPE are now to be issued weekly to those between 20 and 65 as they are still allowed to go to work and shop (although still all restaurants, hotels and non-essential shops are closed). From what I see on social media, Kusadasi residents are, in the main, being extremely cautious and staying in! I have a mask, although I shouldn't need to use it and I do have Turkish lemon cologne which is 80% alcohol content.
So, I feel safe and secure and hopefully will ride out this storm in a beautiful setting.
In my next post I'll be back to describing my surroundings and adventures to date.
Originally, I was trying to avoid reference to the coronavirus but it will become increasingly difficult as it impacts my daily life here and it did lead me to start a blog as part of my entertainment whilst I can't get out and about. Below I'll give the background of what led me to decide to stay here rather than return to the UK.
From January until early April, I didn't have British TV other than via a VPN on my laptop and I used it for catching up on Death In Paradise, Last Tango in Halifax and my guilty pleasure, Ibiza Weekender. Prior to that, I could only rely on coronavirus news from my friends in Tenerife via their 'Tenerife Lockdown' page, Turkish news translated in to English and Aljazeera International which was the only 100% English speaking TV station that I had access to. Relative to coronavirus, Aljazeera International reports equally on all countries around the world, showing their governments' daily briefings, reports from hospital staff and a daily briefing from the WHO leadership.
As far back as 20 March, having previously made a decision to cancel my flights back to the UK, as I felt safer here, I decided to voluntarily self isolate and stocked up on food to last me 2 weeks. My friends in Tenerife were already in a strict lockdown with only supermarkets open. Similarly in Turkey - schools were closed, non-essential shops closed, restaurants and public places closed. The news on Aljazeera International was very clear on what was to come and I was horrified that the UK government were not following the WHO advice. I tried warning friends and family back in the UK but was generally dismissed as scaremongering but now I can access BBC News, I can see why they thought that. There is little to no information on what is happening around the world and even now, the UK is one of the few countries not taking strict measures or enforcing a lockdown.
Here in Turkey, for weeks there has been a lock down for over 65s (that's me) and those with chronic illnesses. We are not allowed to leave our homes AT ALL!!!! Shopping is to done by family, friends or the council and if we need to go to the doctor, we phone the council. The police or someone else appointed, collects us, takes us to the appointment and returns us home. There are fines and/or imprisonment for anyone violating the ruling. More recently, the curfew has been extended to under 20s and travel between cities has been stopped.
Masks and other PPE are now to be issued weekly to those between 20 and 65 as they are still allowed to go to work and shop (although still all restaurants, hotels and non-essential shops are closed). From what I see on social media, Kusadasi residents are, in the main, being extremely cautious and staying in! I have a mask, although I shouldn't need to use it and I do have Turkish lemon cologne which is 80% alcohol content.
So, I feel safe and secure and hopefully will ride out this storm in a beautiful setting.
In my next post I'll be back to describing my surroundings and adventures to date.
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