Quarantine: Day 2
As you would expect, we generate dirty clothes despite being basically locked indoors, so today was laundry day. I was delighted to find that our shower has a built in laundry line we can hang up the sink-washed clothing to dry today; Miles assisted me in washing duties while Baxter cleaned the toilet and sink. (Yes, the chores continue even in quarantine because I'm that sort of parent.)
We chosen very wisely to purchase a hand-press espresso maker as an essential piece of equipment for quarantine. Jeremy made a short timelapse video on the preparation process. We also have a battery powered milk frother so we can be FULLY ridiculous to have our lattes/cappuccinos during quarantine. In case you are wondering why we didn't buy a small nespresso or Kuerig and haul that with us, here's why: Small appliances from the US are designed for 120v maximum so they tend to get fried in the 230v!
Here's the bad news: One out of four of us is not eating enough in quarantine. You guessed right, it's Miles. He's surviving on snacks from my carb drawer (see yesterday's post) and cheese sticks I brought in with us. But we have a grocery delivery coming Thursday; sadly due to the Sydney lock-down that was the earliest we could have food delivered. The other three of us have found the food to be reasonable. Beginning tomorrow we actually get to select options from the food offerings at lunch and dinner, but many of the offerings aren't particularly friendly to kids with extremely picky food tastes.
As you can see from this sign (posted on the inside of our room door), you cannot OPEN the door unmasked. A few nights ago I heard a conversation outside my room door; this is only notable because of the rule - NO ONE CAN LEAVE THE ROOM, so the hallways are silent. But the person doing food deliveries was telling another quarantiner, "Go back in your room! You are not allowed out! You cannot be out here!" and the person was not complying. An hour later, the police were outside the door (the New South Wales Police are in charge here) reviewing what transpired; I won't lie, I was at the door listening to see how they handled this case. As they instructed us during intake, the second offense is considered a breech and the individual(s) are either ejected from the country or quarantine starts OVER at your own cost. I believe it was considered a warning, but believe me, I shared this cautionary tale with my kids so they wouldn't open the door unmasked! (see our mask selection photo - this hangs right next to our exterior door in each of our rooms as a visual prompt to MASK UP!)
Health update: At some point today we'll get our first of 3 COVID-19 swab tests. I'm honestly nervous about this as the swabs are not reputed to be comfortable so I'm worried about how the kids will manage it. Every day of our quarantine we get a call from the medical staff to check on our COVID-19 symptoms, other health concerns including mental health. Let's hope we get the gentle nurses for ours!
Outbreak update: We are watching the New South Wales (NSW) outbreak restrictions, but recognize that there isn't much we can do other than hope there is containment for the infections. At this point South Australia (SA) is closed to travelers for the next week; we hope that if the Sydney numbers drop off, then SA will open back up and allow us to travel on to Adelaide. We are hopeful this will be the case given the strict and swift attention that has been given to this most recent outbreak. Stay tuned.
