Tag Archives: coronavirus

masks off!

25 Friday Jun 2021

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no masks

So first of all… that’s a misleading title, like many of the headlines I’ve been reading this week about Spain returning to “life without masks”. What IS true is that from Saturday June 26th people are no longer required to wear masks outdoors IF they can maintain a distance of 1.5 metres between people not from their household. Which, as you can see from that photo, is not actually possible in city streets. Heck, some streets in Sevilla are barely 3 metres wide. The other thing the media has been neglecting to point out is that we are still required to carry a mask with us at all times or risk a 100 euro fine if caught without one.

Meanwhile, in spite of the central government’s decision, the regional government in Andalucía is asking us to keep wearing masks everywhere due to our continued increase of infections (we have the highest Covid rate in the country and the EU Council has placed us in their “high risk” level). Given that the Delta/India variant is highly contagious, I am really hoping people will be sensible (fingers crossed). Because this pandemic is far from over.

staying masked up

09 Wednesday Jun 2021

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me

There’s been some talk about Spain removing the mask mandate soon, but only when outside and while maintaining a social distance of 2 metres. We’ll still have to wear masks indoors. And all I have to say to that is – HA YEAH RIGHT. Well okay, that’s obviously not all I have to say, so here goes.

I’m the first person who would love to not wear these fucking masks any more, I find it very hard to breathe with them on and can sometimes get panicky to the point of having a tachycardia episode… but these fucking masks have helped keep us safe over this past year and a bit. There’s no doubt they work and, although I am leaning towards believing the science about the virus being less contagious outdoors, I am not about to suddenly start believing in humans.

Continue reading →

freedumb

10 Monday May 2021

Posted by in coronavirus, covid, sevilla, spain

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freedumb

Spain’s state of emergency officially ended at midnight on Saturday, a day earlier than originally planned, and predictably streets throughout the country filled with drunken assholes celebrating their freedumb into the wee hours. It is to weep. Lots of tweets from health care workers expressing everything from fear to heartbreak to rage.

The most important changes are the end of the curfew, extension of opening hours for hospitality, allowing large group events, but all of these still require that people wear masks (inside and outside) and maintain social distancing. Which is the ONLY reason I’m going anywhere in the next couple of weeks. The government says they are adopting a gradual de-escalation with the goal of returning to “normal” by July. Because hey, it worked so well last time. Gawd help us…

maskless asshats

07 Friday May 2021

Posted by in covid, sevilla, tapas bars

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maskless

I’m kind of annoyed with myself. I had seen a new account pop up on Instagram for a very typical old-style tapas bar in Triana. It had a cute logo and seemed to be keen on interacting online, so I decided to go try it out. Because as much as I love many of the new innovative bars and restaurants in Sevilla, my heart belongs to the traditional tapas bars. Anyhow, on Wednesday I asked Peter if he wanted to go there with me and at first he said he didn’t really feel like going out, but in the end I convinced him that a walk and some nice food would do him good. Plus I had a nice “take away” for him to pick up on the way home.

And yes, it was a nice walk. We stopped for a quick cold beer en route and then managed to get the last available table at our destination (inside, but next to an open door and window). Unfortunately the food wasn’t great, but that wasn’t the reason I ended up regretting going. At first everything seemed fine, with all the waiters wearing masks and there were only three tables inside, spaced well enough apart. But then half-way through our meal I noticed that the guy behind the bar (serving drinks to the waiters taking care of the terrace and food to the tables inside) started pulling his mask down while he was behind the bar (he’d pull it up again if he stepped out from behind the bar, but still). And then just as we were about to finish I saw the cook and his assistant come out of the kitchen AND NEITHER OF THEM WERE WEARING MASKS. They didn’t have them pulled down, or on their wrists. They simply weren’t wearing them at all. So we quickly finished our last tapitas, got the bill and left. Continue reading →

one down, one to go…

12 Monday Apr 2021

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So after spending all day in a total tizzy (my vaccination appointment wasn’t until 5.30 pm) I made my way to the health centre, bared my chubby arm, got the jab, and then went for a cold beer. Peter had met me there on the off chance that someone might not have shown up for their appointment and he might luck out and get his too. But it turned out that they were calling people by year of birth and he is just a couple of weeks away from his. It was actually very efficient. I was called within less than a minute of arriving, then was told to wait for 15 minutes before leaving. I waited half an hour just to be sure – I once had an anaphylactic reaction after a chemo infusion (after I got home!) and don’t ever want to experience that again.

And so that’s one down and one to go. On July 1st. Guess I should know soon enough if I am going to have any nasty side effects. So far so good… 🤞