The Year We Were Forced To Stay Home

The twin year's piercings

Dead at 4 years old. A little girl who will never know what it's like to  attend Primary School and meet life long friends or be a teenager  at high school or to experience the road to adulthood. Her life snatched away by this dreadful virus. Oh the tears the family cried as their hearts were crushed by this news.

In all the news being heard worldwide,  the children were always spared. What the hell was this dreadful disease trying to prove by spitting in our children's faces? It seems their was no ending to this plaque. JUST BAD NEWS.

One night in April our numbers soared from 72 to 105 in one evening. It shattered us because we were not expecting such high rise. The new victims were from a call centre in Portmore ,Jamaica. The Ministry called for an immediate lockdown of the facility. It seems that all this time no protocols were being followed at the workplace. No social distancing , no hand cleaning at entry and no wearing of mask.
Immediately following the news the entire roads leading out and in to Portmore was blocked with traffic trying to get out. It was a disaster
.People were moving with furniture strapped on top of vehicles such as beds. It was a crazy panic filled night.

The next two days , the numbers rose from 105 - 143. It caused wide scaled panic and the government was forced  to close all the facilities.  There were 38,000 people working at the call centres in the country. It was one of or the biggest Employer in the country.
On the 23 of April there  were now 253 victims. More than three quarters from the call centre and relatives they came in contact with. Jamaica was heading for the peak. How much further was it going to climb? We wondered. All persons were  now being required to wear a mask in public spaces. We were now placed under lock down and curfew times to curtail all movements so as to contain this runaway train.
All persons over 65 were required to stay home. We were only allowed shopping days only three days ,by alphabetical order and one person per household . We were now prisoners in our own homes.

This sparked widespread gatherings at the bill payment  and the worst of all the
remittance services . The lines were almost a 1/4 mile for all these services which includes,JN money transfer, JMMB, Zoom, Money gram,Western Union. It seems everyone was either collecting or sending money.
Fights and  disagreements broke out causing the security forces to take strict action which included pepper spraying to achieve management control. People's tempers were at a high. Three feet apart was just impossible with so much congestion in a town where all the businesses were beside each other. This caused people to be angry and disgruntled and on top of that there was no shelter from the sun's piercing Ray's.

Can you imagine being hot and sweaty and people just bunching together invading your personal space? It brought out the worst in human beings. There was only so much one person could take. By the end of the first 7 days the government  announced another shopping day to dispel the gathering but it was worst than before. It was a relief for most people after 14 days , when the lockdown and curfew came to an end.We were back to some sort of normality.
On May the 5th our numbers rose to 478. Most victims were  still from the one call centre and people they contacted with. We were taking extra precautions. Everyday they were changes to ensure peoples safety. Only two passengers were to be seated in a taxi's back seats. All hands were being sanitize before entry and a thermometer forehead check done before entry to any essential services. This includes all supermarkets and food shops. Restaurants, bars,churches were still ordered to remain closed. All curfew was 6 pm- 6am. There should still be no gathering of ten persons or more.The slogan ' tan a yu yard ' (stay home) was still in full effect. We now had 8 deaths. No one wanted to be the 9th.

While all of this was happening the smaller children could not comprehend what was going on. Their little minds saw the changes and they were told about the virus but they could not  fathom it.
Why can't I go to school? I want to see my teacher.  I miss my friends.I dont want you to teach me you are not my teacher. I dont remember my classmates. 
These were a few questions and statements that parents shared with me about their children. Small children enjoys predictability.  They get confused when there is a long change in a pattern
they have learnt to manipulate. I was really sympathetic with the parents and the children. I ensured that even though they saw me on the class work videos during the week ,I would leave a personal message for each of them even once per week telling them how proud I am of them . It really helps with their mental health.
No one was spared from the effects  of this beast. It came to ravish, kill and destroy and noone was going to prevent it from leashing its wrath on us.
The only weapon we had was keeping our hands clean and away from our faces and to practise social distancing. The piercings were sharp and painful but endure, we must. As my mother always reminds us with a statement from the Good Book - The battle is not for the swift but for those who will endure to the end. We would survive this because we were and always would be a resilient people.

( pic at the top . My lil cuz in England all suit up. )