I live in a small country in Asia. We had some good controls and fabulous contact tracing and things were very calm. Restaurants were still open and people still went to work.
There were distancing measures, and restaurants had clearly demarcated not-to-be-occupied seats and tables.
Groups of more than 10 were not allowed, and only family members or people who lived in the same household were allowed to sit side by side.
We went out to celebrate the boss's birthday yesterday and encountered this new seating rule first hand for the first time. (Over the last couple of months the only "going out" I've had is with BIKSS for quick dinners once a week maybe.)
The waiter asked if we were family and we said no. Then he proceeded to put some tables together so that they could accomodate all 4 of us in a space that would ordinarily seat 10.
It was interesting, to say the least. And tiring cos we had to speak to each other at higher than usual volumes.
But all that changed after I got home. The Prime Minister addressed the nation at 4pm and new measures were announced.
We had 5 deaths (6, as of this morning) over the week, and with the increasing number of imported cases, community spread was also rising because PEOPLE WERE JUST BEING IRRESPONSIBLE!
New clusters including 2 nightclubs were identified, and a nursing home was also hit yesterday.
I am now in a pseudo lockdown, without the government actually saying so.
These are some of the measures that have been put in place - I love that people take the time to put it in pictures.
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As to which sectors are business as usual -
For a while I wasn't sure if I still had a job cos even tho I'm in healthcare (and that's part of 'essential services'), we're situated in a factory setting and our only patients are the employees in that factory. So if they stop work then we would be made redundant too.
Thankfully we got news after a couple hours that they have been given the go-ahead to continue operating so it's work as usual for me this Monday onwards.
However, the downside is that since schools are now shut, some of my kids' parents have decided to take a break from piano lessons - this means I'm down a third of my salary. I understand why, I'm just not happy about it.
I'm even MORE unhappy at how they phrased their reasons to me - I wish they would just say "We're going to apply the no-school rule to all areas of learning" instead of "Oh, your mum lives with you so it might be risky for her if we come to class, so it's better we stop for now."
Dudes, now that the new rules are in place, it's even safer for mum. Cos you people won't be travelling to and from work, or hanging out at restaurants with friends, or whatever nonsense thing you were doing right up till yesterday while your kids were coming for lessons.
So don't say now that new rules are in place it's more risky for mum. If you thought it was risky you would have stopped coming to class 2 months ago given you were still happily gallivanting all about town.
But anyway. Whatever.
The shops were crazy packed yesterday and not just after the speech. Pictures of empty shelves had been making the rounds since morning, even before the PM went live on TV. I guess some people got the news early and started panic buying.
The grocery chains around me are bare. Which sucks cos Friday tends to be my grocery day. AND I'm just about running out of TP and need to get some.
BIKSS came round to help me patch up a section of my ceiling last night and offered to take me grocery shopping after - like close to midnight kind of after - cos he needed to pick up stuff too and hopefully it wouldn't be so crowded late late at night. And also he planned to go to an out-of-the-way 24 hour grocery store that was NOT near any residential estates so that the likelihood of being able to find stuff was higher.
We managed to find some items, altho there wasn't a lot of choice - definitely wasn't the same as grocery shopping on a regular day. But at least it wasn't ALL bare.

There was no TP, as expected, and pasta, pasta sauce, chilled meats (beef / pork / chicken) were all out. We managed to get some frozen chicken cuts. (Later on we drove to a gas station mini mart to look for breakfast ham.)
I found some not-my-favourite-brand canned tuna and picked up the last two tins of stewed pork that I wanted. Managed a tin of pate for mum, but no crusty bread in sight.
And there is now a nationwide shortage of baked beans. I'm not kidding. NO BAKED BEANS in any store. It's like they got a fright and went into hiding.
I did find some salted macadamias which at least made me feel better. With everyone on a healthy-eating kick over the last few years it has been almost impossible to find salted nuts (except for peanuts which I don't like). And yes, it IS ok for me to have salt in my nuts because #LowBP.

We made do with whatever brand of yoghurt we could find, cos our usual was out of stock. I also picked up some
fishballs, fishcakes and similar things (I don't know if you are familiar with that so I included a link, but it's pretty common in Asia - see pic) and a big ol' bottle of Ribena cordial for myself. Because that makes me happy, and I could do with happy right now.
BIKSS was really sweet. As soon as he heard about my income loss he offered help. And I said ok. Well, I went around the bush first, *then* said ok.
He offered to help with buying groceries, and then said if I needed cash just ask.
To be fair, he has always been quite happy to pick up the tab for my groceries, but I'm a proud woman and I've always just said I would pay my own way - and he can just buy us dinners on dates instead.
I also worry that I'll be putting a strain on his own finances, I mean he's not exactly rolling in dough yanno? But he reassured me saying that since we don't eat out as much these days with the virus on the loose, he's doing ok cash-wise so I should ask him for help if I need it. I guess if there ever was a time that I needed to trust him, this is it. In fact, if there ever was a time that we ALL needed to hold on to trust (and faith) in ANYTHING, this is it.
So that was my rather emotionally exhausting day... I'm glad BIKSS managed to come by for cuddles and back scratchies. The physical intimacy (along with some twiddling and sex) did relax me heaps, even tho I'm convinced my lady-plumbing is getting more and more broken, thank you perimenopause... but that's a story for another day.