Lockdown 2.0

Sydney’s now into its 15th week of a comprehensive COVID lockdown. Without a doubt, this second lockdown has been a lot harder to handle. Last year the whole affair was new and exciting. This year, the novelty factor has gone. As a result, the whole experience had been emotionally draining, to say the least.

I’ve been working alone in the company's office for months while the staff work from home. To help maintain morale, we've been hosting daily debrief video calls with everyone before we finish for the day. They've become the high point of our day as we spend 30-40 minutes catching up with one another and letting off a little steam.

We’ve also entertained ourselves with a series of photo competitions (a new theme each day like garden life, nature, colour and so on), shared highlights of our favourite travel experiences and given each other’s favourite recipes a try. The team has become more creative, proposing plenty of novel activities as each week passes.

On the home front, Garry and I have been keeping ourselves busy. Garry's repainted the kitchen ceiling. It's been waiting for this final flourish after a leak was repaired in the skylight several years ago. I've made friends with IKEA and recently replaced our kitchen table. The old table was purchased almost 30 years ago.

After months of restrictions, the light is finally at the end of the tunnel. We’re scheduled to hit 70% double vaccination in NSW tomorrow and 80% by 18 October. If the current trend continues, we’ll pass 90% coverage of the adult population in NSW by late October. Garry and I have had our two shots, the first in May and the second in August, shortly after the latest lockdown began. We'll then have a booster shot sometime in January next year.

The State Government has announced that restrictions will start easing next Monday (11 October) as we pass 70% and then some more around 25 October after we pass 80%. This means non-essential retailers will start reopening again on 11 October. Supposedly we’ll achieve “COVID normal” living by 1 December. That is, some health restrictions will remain in place for the foreseeable future, but life will effectively become as normal as it’s likely to be by this date.

International borders are also slated to start opening by late November. However, home quarantine and testing regimes will remain in place. There’s also still a lot of confusion about vaccine passports and other requirements. We’re also being warned that restrictions could change overnight if a major outbreak occurs internationally. Ironically, within Australia, state borders may not open before Christmas. We may find ourselves able to fly to London before we can fly to Perth.