Day 7 of COVID-19 Lockdown

Cape Town, 2 April 2020.

Hello World

Can you believe it’s been nearly a week since we went into lockdown? Overall I think the government and general populace have done a remarkable job. Obviously there have been the problems with queueing for social grants but this was always going to be an issue. The effects of the lockdown seem to be showing in the stats too and over the past few days the number of new cases has risen only a bit to around 1380. South Africa’s COVID-19 related deaths currently stand at 5.

Markets remain volatile and the South African Rand continues to take a pounding (pardon the pun) with one British Pound buying 22 South African Rand. Of course if anyone needs to transfer funds from the UK to anywhere in the world do give me a shout as I should be able to get you a very good deal on your forex transfer.

Yesterday I left the house for the first time and ventured down to the shops to stock up on supplies. There was a queue outside Checkers but this moved swiftly and within ten minutes I was inside and moving around with unusual freedom, thanks to the 50 person indoor restriction. Queueing outside Woolworths afterwards was a much slower affair as they were only allowing a single person in at a time. However, the wait was worth it as I much prefer their meat products. After unloading the groceries at home it was time to prepare for another week of isolation.

Stay safe.