Red alert, day 48. Lockdown, day 38. Waiting for today’s figures.

Some food stalls at the Ipswich Market will reopen on Friday with distance markers.

Construction has resumed in Ipswich. The sound of drills was not missed while it was absent.

Among the sectors that are first mentioned as being permanently damaged by the pandemic is travel and tourism. I remember my one visit to Prague, for example, as being cheek by jowl with other tourists on the Charles Bridge, not actually seeing the city because of the crowds. This kind of mass tourism will become even less attractive. Small-scale, off the beaten track travel may flourish by comparison.

Painting of Prague by Martina Cleary salvaged from Antti Korpin tie renovations

I expect museums will have metered progression through exhibitions, with lines on the floor. Entry will be even more expensive than previously. British museums will have to start charging admission for the guards to enforce social distancing, at least until we learn. My usual museum style of going to crowded shows on the last day and darting back and forth to sketch and photograph favorite pieces is not going to fly anymore.

Speaking of flying, the sudden collapse of cheap air travel and calls life choices into question. I know a couple of people in long distance relationships who left the rest of their lives behind and flew out at the last minute to be with their partners. Definitely the right choice if you could manage it without losing your place/right to live in hte other country.

American Airlines has just written to its frequent and infrequent (me) flyers to say cabin staff will be wearing masks from May 1, customer surfaces and fittings as well as galleys and counters will be wiped down, HEPA air filters remove 99.97% of airborne particles, etc. Nice try after the Washington Post published an animation of how aircraft ventilation systems spread infection. I wonder if ocean liners are going to come back, or if sleeping in a sealed environment for longer raises the chance of infection despite the possibility of distancing on board.

Posted on by Diana ben-Aaron
This entry was posted in covid, covid.chronicle. Bookmark the permalink.