On March 19th, 2020, Argentine President Fernandez ordered a Mandatory Quarantine that started on March 20th at midnight and will last until March 31st. But as usual, we were always the last to know because we don't watch Argentine news on television or visit any of the online Argentine news forums. But we were already prepared before hand.
We've been living like hermits for nearly eight years since we moved to Argentina. The reason for this is that we've had way too many cultural clashes with the locals that have ended friendships before they even had a chance to start. Fortunately, we're not completely cut off as we've made a few decent friends who are understanding of the emotional turbulence we've encountered living abroad.
But there's one thing we've always been good at and that's preparing for the worst. So, we stocked up on enough food to ensure that we wouldn't have to leave the house for about two weeks, possibly more if we ration our supplies. On the other hand, the locals don't seem to be handling the situation too well.
There have been cases in Cordoba City where Infected or potentially infected locals have refused to adhere to the mandatory quarantine. Many of them were reportedly defiant towards authorities when cops tried to force them to obey the rules. If you can read Spanish, you can learn more about this here. You may have to use Google translate if you speak another language.
In the last 24 hours, Cordoba has gone from being full of people to becoming a ghost town. You can see some of the photos here of what Day 1 of the quarantine looks like. They're from a local online forum called La Voz.
As of March 20th, Cordoba only has 13 reported cases of infection. But there are currently 158 cases in the entire country, and the Argentine Ministry of Health estimates that approximately 250,000 people will be infected in Argentina by the end of April, according to La Voz.
This is what one local posted on their Instagram story.
It reads:
129 Infected.
470 Detained.
We have more idiots than sick people!!!
People are still being allowed to Buy Groceries or go to the pharmacy but the restrictions are horrible. My husband went to buy extra food on Thursday, but they were only allowing 5 people in at a time at a local Vea supermarket. The elderly were only allowed to buy groceries from 8 to 9 the morning. Once that window closed, they weren't allowed to shop, which I think is pretty bad. Then again, the elderly have the most to lose if they get infected, so I guess it makes sense. My husband just found it sad how people were treating an elderly man who wanted to buy groceries. But there was one other thing that bothered him and it bugged me to when he told me.
He overheard some of the locals in line claiming that the reason Argentina had been infected by the Coronavirus was because of Peruvian and Venezuelan immigrants. I hate that people have to turn to racism when everything goes down the crapper, but sadly, that's humanity for you. The funny thing is that the first patient infected with the Coronavirus in Argentina had returned from Milan, Italy. The second case was a guy in his 20s who also returned from a trip to Italy. In fact, a lot of the initial cases seemed to have come from people who had returned from Europe. But regardless, no one should be blaming anyone for this. We're all in this together. I don't care where you come from.
We're just waiting to see what's going to happen in the next 10 days. We're concerned for ourselves, but also our friends and family back home. For now, all we can do is hope for the best while we watch movies and binge watch "Grey's Anatomy" on Netflix.
Oh, and one last thing. I've read people online calling anyone who works from home during this crisis privileged. My husband and I work from home, and while his experience has been pretty descent, mine hasn't been. The pay is terrible. There are no health, retirement or life insurance benefits being a freelancer. So believe me when I tell you that we are in no way, shape or form privileged. We work hard. The pay is pretty sh*tty, and in my case, the work is not rewarding, at all.
So, there. I've said my peace. Stay safe. Stay healthy and do some jumping jacks every now and then so your muscles don't atrophy.
