Each day I open up Worldometer’s coronavirus page to check the state of play. It’s a slightly voyeuristic habit, and almost has the qualities of a cheap 80s game show. But it’s not entirely without purpose. Although admittedly, one checks the USA chart in exactly the same way one rubber necks at a car crash on the opposite carriage way.
The UK chart must be checked so that I can make a reasonable assessment as to whether it is safe to open my front door. One checks Sweden, because everyone is so fascinated by their ‘success’ in a non-lockdown approach. I think their success is judged by a poor choice of comparisons. Perhaps Japan, another non lockdown country who had some initial success, can give us a sneak preview of Sweden’s fortunes. Only time will tell.
I also look at Spain, for the same reason Sweden fans might check out Japan. In case their is an omen there for our own future. And then my interest moves on to Portugal. We have flights booked to Porto in one months time, but the country is still on the quarantine list. We can change the flights up to 14 days in advance, so we are looking for a Plan B.
I therefore also check Croatia and Greece, where there is no quarantine. At the moment. But whilst Portugal’s infection rate is headed down, their graphs are on an upward curve. Yes, yes, the actual number of infections is still very low. It would make no sense to put them on the quarantine list. But we have a government at the moment which doesn’t always make decisions that make sense.
It would be just our luck that we pay a little more to change our flights, then find in a few weeks that Portugal is off the list and Greece is on it. Uncertainty reigns supreme at the moment. So I’m holding steady. We remain Portugal bound. This is a decision that, for once, is best left to the very last minute.
The Mexile 