03 May Pandemic Days in Panama
Our world has changed lately with the recent outbreak of the COVID – 19 virus. Panama has implemented strict rules during the pandemic that changed our daily lives. We want to say Thank you to Allison Weiser Guinn for giving us an inside view on how it impacted her and others in the community during the last weeks.
I am not a writer. But from the age of seven, I have always written things down in a diary (those little ugly books with a lock), a simple spiral notebook, my blog, or in a calendar with very big squares.
I use the calendar on my computer now as my journal. Like so many retired expats, my 2020 calendar showed many busy weeks ahead. There were celebratory parties, overnight trips to Panama City, Embera and El Valle trips; one week of nothing but pickleball events; and of course movies, dinners, and happy hours spent with friends. After spending two weeks in Virginia, friends were coming to Panama and my daughter and her friends were also coming to Panama. That was only the first three months of the year.
And then, the coronavirus reared its ugly head. Just like the rest of the world, the COVID-19 pandemic came to Panama. It was announced by the Ministry of Health in Panama that the first case was March 9th , but contact with the virus was believed to be as early as February 14th . This, the virus, is the UGLY of this blog.
This article is not meant to be political or to be about could have’s or should have’s. It is not intended to gloss over the mayhem and chaos this virus has caused around the world. It is certainly not meant to contribute to the negative behavior that has been seen on social media or to sugar coat or insinuate all things “sugar and spice” with this pandemic.
On March 19th , we were given 72 hours notice that Tocumen International Airport would close to all incoming and outgoing flights. Snowbirds knew what they had to do, but expats living in Panama full time had to make a decision to stay “locked down” here or fly out to be with family or friends in other countries. Those that chose not to leave within those 72 hours had a chance to take one of the few humanitarian flights out of Panama scheduled in the coming two weeks. In our situation, the night we were given notice that the airport was closing, we called our daughter and parents to make decisions. Our family had been self-quarantining for two weeks. We weighed our options, many of which are now no longer feasible. I am sure like many of our friends and our neighbors, we thought of the things we could and would do in another place that would be different from staying in Panama. The most important realization was that we would still be isolated from family and friends.
Emotionally and economically for us, it made more sense to stay here, stay safe and stay healthy. We have stayed the course with our family and friends agreeing it just made sense to stay put in Panama.
Now to jog our memories just a bit, on March 13th a National Emergency was put in place in Panama. Schools were closed. Beaches, swimming pools, and rivers were closed. Tennis courts and golf courses were closed. Restaurants were closed except for take out and delivery. Sanitary fences were put in place to keep movement around the country to a minimum. Curfews were set to keep people at home for longer hours. Walking, biking and hiking was not allowed, and even walking dogs was not permitted (this ban has since been lifted). Buying and consuming alcohol was banned. Non-essential businesses were closed, leaving only gas stations, banks, grocery stores and pharmacies open. Next came the decree that gave us two hours a day for travel and to shop for essential goods. We could leave the house everyday except Sunday. We were assigned a number using our National ID Card (Panamanians) or passports (Foreigners). Those aged 60+ were given a different two-hour time slot. Children were not given any assigned time, so they stayed home.
One week later, we went to a gender-based movement, where we find ourselves now. Sundays are still restricted and, for the past three weekends, men have not been allowed to shop on Saturdays. The weekends have been locked down, and all essential businesses are closed. As of this writing, some variation of “Personal Movement Limitation” (aka lockdown) has been in effect for four weeks. Yes, there certainly are many more “bads” in lockdown, so much “ugly” and a lot to be concerned about in this brave new world. However, thinking about the bad 22+ hours a day is not what almost all of my friends here have chosen to do.
So here is the VERY good of this article and the situation we find ourselves in now. With no people to see, no events to go to and with very little to do, many of us have become more relaxed being at home. Surrounded (virtually) by encouraging and optimistic friends, a poll with three simple questions was recently taken and tells what friends have been doing during their extra time. To lighten up the mood, to show the good, and to give ideas to those that have run out of them, this is what our community in Panama has been doing to keep busy these past four weeks.
What have you done during lockdown that you have never done before or it has been too long since you have done?
The Top 10 answers are:
- Virtual Everything: Virtual exercise classes; Virtual happy hours; Virtual teaching; Virtual parties
- Food , including Cooking & baking; trying out new recipes and new ways to cook/bake, ordering in
- TV Time and Online Time : Watching movies/binge watching tv series;
- Housekeeping/gardening: Everything from cleaning the house to planting a garden
- Ordering delivery of groceries and meals; A huge thank you to our local businesses for staying open
- Playing games; either with our significant other, friends or online
- Napping; now is the time to do so
- Learning Spanish; no more excuses, the time is right!
- Donating groceries (with time restrictions); Coronado Concierge has received almost daily bags filled with groceries and essentials for the Sharing is Caring program, thanks to all the great people
- Wearing a face mask in public
Answers that did not make the top ten but are perhaps novel ideas to try:
Making bread without using yeast, making hand sanitizer, watching Panama news nightly (learning Spanish here), making face masks using socks, fostering pets, and specifically for a few men, marathon grocery shopping and growing a beard or mustache.
What will you most likely continue to do when the lockdown restrictions have been lifted? Exercise program and online classes; online business; garden and sew; cook using different recipes; blog, journal and book writing; grocery shop a little less; work at home more with less hours; donate time to community and church
What do you want to do first and foremost when you are no longer restricted from doing so?
The overwhelming response was to see friends with the next closest “to do” will be to swim in the pool and ocean. Then came sports: run, walk, hike, bike, golf, play tennis and pickleball, and to train with teammates again. And, of course, go to happy hours and restaurants, drive anywhere other than to the grocery store/pharmacy, leave the house at different hours of day (!) and drive with spouse and friends not carrying our passport.
As of this writing, there have been 7,090 confirmed cases of Covid-19 in Panama, and no one knows how many more days are left to this strict lockdown. But to continue focusing on the VERY good in this article…there have been countless acts of kindness, neighbors helping neighbors and acts of prioritizing time with friends and family.