Lying in bed this morning I was contemplating how many essential workers there are in Canberra, with the roads around my complex humming with what seemed like the usual activity of peak hour traffic. Although having not actually looked out the window I can't confirm what the traffic was like, but the constant sound of cars surprised me. Looking out of the window later, around lunchtime, the roads were indeed quiet, with only the odd car to be seen - a good sign that people are doing the right thing (no surprise given Canberra is a city of policy writers) - and I couldn’t help but think how lucky I am to have such an amazing view (pictured) while being stuck in an apartment during a lockdown. Personally, I feel much better equipped for this lockdown as opposed to March 2020: back then we lived in a one bedroom apartment, there was no certainty on the length of the lock down, nor any support for financial security (at the beginning), a vaccine was a mere concept and we still didn’t have a complete understanding of the virus. The announcement of a covid-19 case in Canberra yesterday didn’t come as a complete shock, but more of a reprieve from the anxious wait for Canberra’s daily covid update; it was unbelievable that we could go 398 days without a case, particularly given we are only 300 kilometres away from Australia’s current epicentre of the delta strain. It would be interesting to know how exactly the virus managed to arrive in the Nation’s Capital (I have a few theories), though I’m sure we may never know for certain. At work last week I was astonished to receive a call from a customer wanting to cancel their booking at the Portrait Cafe for the following day: “Hi, I just need to cancel a booking… we won’t be able to make it now because our LGA has been ordered to lock-down.” I couldn’t comprehend why they had a booking in the first place, though at that moment my gut feeling that a case in Canberra was inevitable, increased ever so slightly. While I’m positive that we can quash the virus here in Canberra, I’m not certain this lockdown will only last 7-days. Eitherway, I’m looking forward to tackling a good book or two.
