So, here’s the thing: there’s a big bad virus spreading fast and wide around the world. China was first on the list, and that was least year, but nobody thought that it will go this far.
First to close its borders in Europe was Italy. It happened at the beginning of last week, on 10th of March. Few days later Norway decided to do the same. The prime minister of Norway declared a two-week quarantine so the country slowly started to shut down. At that point Norway had 1000 positive cases which is 0,02% of the total population. Obviously enough for the government to make such a drastic move.
Munch museum was one of the first public venues to close its doors here in Oslo. Than schools and kindergartens. And one by one followed restaurants, bars, cinemas, theaters, some of the business and shops. Basically, anything that couldn’t guarantee safe social distancing.
My last tour was on Wednesday, 11th of March, but I had two more scheduled for the weekend. Hope remained. And than USA banned people to travel outside the country. Majority of our clients is from America. That means, for the time being, I’m out of work. But I’m not the only one. Anyone in the hospitality service or working with other people has been affected. Over 84 000 people have been sacked and many of temporary laid off employees currently are applying for the unemployment benefits. Luckily Norwegian money fund is strong and they will be able to take care of everybody. The only one left hanging in the air is us, the freelancers. The last time shit hit the fan this hard was WW2 and a lot has changed in the meantime. The government now is trying to figure out how to help everyone in need, as they don’t have the usual measures. I hope they find a solution soon, because the shops are going empty faster than they can get refilled and many of the Norwegians fled to the their cottages. Such behavior is not helping the situation, so the government called everybody back. People are stupid, regardless.
“Go Home!” Norway PM Orders Norwegians to Leave Mountain Cabins
The city of Oslo is maybe closed but not dead. Since there’s very few places open, there’s less people inside of closed spaces, but with currently sunny and nice weather everybody’s outside. Within a meter of distance people are walking the dogs, walking, running.
In the meantime, I’m taking this quarantine and avoiding the socialization really serious. It’s not that hard for me. Spending day after day with people at work, I need some time alone. I finally finished my puzzles. And I will continue to study Norwegian now that I have all the time in the world. And there’s plenty of books and movies to catch up. Debeli’s probably going to lose his mind as he has to be surrounded by people. Will have to help him stay sane. My only concern is; am I going to able to fit my clothes after all this? We’re eating so much 🙂
I hope you’re all doing fine and that it will stay that way. Take care of yourself and I will keep you updated in ten days after the first two weeks of this quarantine situation.
UPDATE on 27th of March after two week lockdown. 3187 infected, 14 deaths, the government has declared another three week isolation for everybody, the ban on selling alcohol except Vinmonopolet, the ban on heading to the cottages, but everybody books the hotels in the near for the Easter vacation 🙂
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ŽIVOT U VRIJEME KORONE
Dakle, svijetom harači opasan virus koji kosi sve pred sobom. Širi se brže od gripe i nema cjepiva. Prvo je stradala Kina i istočna Azija, ali nitko nije mislio da će otići ovako daleko.
Prvi koji su zatvorili granice i stavili se u karantenu bila su Talijani. Prošli tjedan Italija je odlučila ostat doma, radije nego družiti se vani uz čašu aperitivčića. Par dana kasnije Norveška je uvela slične drastične mjere. Ministrica je najavila dvotjednu karantenu i zemlja se polako počela gasiti.
U tome trenutku Norveška je imala oko 1000 pozitivnih slučajeva što je 0,02% ukupne populacije. Očito dovoljno za ovakvu drastičnu odluku.
Prvo što sam uočila da se zatvorilo bio je stari Munch muzej. Potom su uslijedile škole i vrtići. Pa ostatak muzeja, barovi, restorani, kina, kazališta. Sve što nije moglo garantirati dovoljnu fizičku međuljudsku distancu.
Moja posljednja tura bila je u srijedu, 11. ožujka, no imala sam još dvije planirane za vikend, a onda su i one otkazane kako je Trump zabranio izlazak svima iz USA. Većina naših klijenata su iz Amerike. Znači, za sad sam bez posla. No nisam jedina. Ugroženi su svi koji su uposleni u ugostiteljstvu ili rade s ljudima. Generalno svi. Direktno ili indirektno. Svi koji su privremeno ostali bez posla masovno se prijavljuju na burzu da bi ostvarili pravo na naknadu za nezaposlene. Srećom Norveška ima dovoljno za sve, manje-više. Više za one sa stalnim ugovorom, manje za nas slobodnjake. Ali obzirom da i mi plaćamo porez i punimo kasicu, naći će se nešto i za nas. Zemlja je zadnji put bila u ovakvim g**** u drugom svjetskom ratu, a od tad su se zakoni i pravila, a bogami i dubina norveških džepova dobrano promijenila. Vlada ubrzano radi na planu da pomogne i onima koji imaju honorarne ili slične ugovore. Stvari se doslovce mijenjaju iz minute u minutu i nadam se da će ishod biti pozitivan. Inače Debelom dugujem i svoje drugo nerođeno 🙂
Trgovine se prazne brže nego što ih radnici stignu napuniti, a brdo Norvežana je zbrisalo u kolibe u pripizdinu što svakako ne pomaže u svemu ovome. Vlada ih je odmah pozvala nazad.
Grad Oslo je možda prazan, ali svakako ne mrtav. Obzirom da je dosta barova i restorana zatvoreno, manje je ljudi u zatvorenom, ali Norvežani su veliki pobornici aktivnog života, pa svi koriste prve zrake proljetnog sunca da izađu na zrak. Ekipa šeta paščad, hoda, trči, rekreira se.
Mi smo, uglavnom, ok. Nitko od naše male hrvatske zajednice nije pogođen i nadam se da će tako ostati. Meni izolacija ne pada teško za sad. Kad radiš s ljudima, dobro dođe ovakav predah. Mislim, uspjela sam konačno složiti puzzle, a odlučila sam se i potpunije posvetiti savladavanju norveškog. Imam gro knjiga za pročitat i dovoljno serija i filmova za pogledati. Preživjet ću. Debeli malo teže, jer je navikao i voli biti okružen ljudima. Da ne svisne kupio si je j*** mikser za spravljanje tijesta za kruh i tjesteninu. Ako ništa drugo gladni ne bumo. Samo da se ne usvinjimo pa da nemremo stat u odjeću 🙂
Ostajte dobro i slušajte naputke koji vam se savjetuju. Svako zlo za neko dobro. Evo, Zlatokosa je bila zatočena u zamku gdje je upoznala princa. Ne znam tko će vas doći spasiti, ali ponekad to morate napraviti vi sami.
Javim se za deset dana kad istekne dvotjedna karantena!
UPDATE 27 ožujka nakon dvotjedne izolacije; 3187 zaraženih, 14 mrtvih, vlada proglasila dodatna tri tjedna izolacije, škole i vrtići zatvoreni do iza Uskrsa, ekipa odlučila ne ići u vikendice već su bukirali hotele u okolici (idioti!), zabrana prodaje alkohola u preostalim barovima/restoranima, osim u Vinmonopoletu, trgovine, pošte, odvožnja otpada i dalje radi, ljudi i dalje bauljaju po gradu, doduše manje nego inače, Oslo ima trećinu više zaraženih od ostatka države.
