Lockdown Deep Red
(Not a new feature film starring Gerrard Butler, apparently.)
If you’re outside Greece, you may not have heard that Rhodes and surrounding islands that fall under its jurisdiction are now in the ‘deep red’ zone. This is because of the increase in cases nationally and, in the case of Rhodes, locally. This means Symi is also in the deep red zone, though there are yet to be any reported cases of you know what on the island. Schools have gone back to online learning. You can only venture two kilometres from your home for shopping or walking and must stay local. Masks are compulsory in the street and in the shops that are allowed to open. At least, that’s the theory. (It seems appropriate today to post some photos of gates and bars.)
Future walks in this clear, but sometimes chilly spring weather will have to be local, so no more wandering to the hinterland, and we will continue to be cautious when we are out for shopping or essentials like the bank and pharmacy. Sadly, not everyone is so good. The other day, I took a walk around the village lanes. I passed very few people at first, but after fifteen minutes of solitude among the ruins, taking paths to nowhere, I unexpectedly bumped into someone in that classic comedy film fashion. We met at a blind corner and took each other by surprise at close quarters, resulting in two exclamations of ‘Oh!’ followed by a shared laugh. Luckily we were both wearing masks over both nose and mouth; otherwise, we would have shared breath at less than two feet from each other. Later, coming down the main village lane past the shops, I saw several more people, none of whom showed any sign of wearing a mask, nor even carrying one.
Okay, so if you’re on the hillside or wandering an open road and there’s no-one about, maybe it’s acceptable to wear your mask beneath your nose, it’s hard to breathe otherwise, and if you wear glasses, it can be dangerous when your lenses steam up. But, in the street, with people coming in and out of the bakery, or in blind alleys when you don’t know who’s around the corner, and certainly inside the supermarkets, well, not wearing a mask there is just plain stupid. It’s certainly disrespectful. ‘But we have no cases on the island,’ some people complain. ‘As far as you know,’ I reply. ‘But we can’t go to Rhodes, so we’re not going to get it.’ Well, you can go to Rhodes with permission for medical reasons, and while you’re there, who’s to know if you pop to a large store or visit family? Huh. Not impressed by those who do. Also, through no-one’s fault, it’s possible the ‘thing’ can come ashore here via the innocent and necessary act of meeting supplies from the boat. A crew member who regularly meets people from Rhodes to Patmos and back could easily pass it on to someone here picking up supplies for their shop. You just don’t know. And let’s not talk about some of the hawkers who have, somehow, been allowed to travel between the islands to sell their wares – they are few and far between, but one is enough.
Anyway, I wasn’t here to be sceptical or moan, and I’m not moaning. I’m just pointing out that if others don’t care about themselves or you, the island’s future trade and tourism, and think every mask is contaminated with a microchip and every vaccine too, well, that’s up to them. It’s also up to the police to police it, and they have been doing that, I hear. By the way, what’s the point of saying there’s a chip in your vaccine when you’ve already got one in your invaluable phone far more powerful than anything you could pass through a syringe? Hey ho! On a positive note, the KEP office asks people over 60 to ring and confirm their details so they can get the first jab, hopefully, this month.
