I have fared pretty well during Levels 3 and 4, leaving home infrequently, only to make trips to the supermarket where, after one or two teething issues with keeping my distance from other shoppers, I encountered no real problems. Being in lockdown in a town with no reported cases, the arrival of Level 2 seemed like an opportunity to release the shackles a bit. I had decided to try to follow the sage advice of the government and to shop as much as possible in local businesses, particularly those that have been shut down for 7 weeks. Visits to Mitre 10, Liquorland, the greengrocer and the bookstore were uneventful; Mitre 10 was busy, but there was no restriction on entry, people kept a reasonable distance in the store by themselves and the queues for the checkouts were well spaced and orderly.
I have disliked the way supermarkets were given a monopoly over the last 7 weeks, resulting in a drastic reduction in special pricing because of an almost total lack of competition, but nevertheless, a visit was required. The queuing for entry was unchanged, but once inside, the store was definitely busier. Most people were not worrying too much about keeping their distance, but as I am asthmatic, I take a little more care than most about social spacing. Waiting in the checkout queue, however, as the customer ahead of me was packing her bags at the exit point of the checkout, I started to unload my groceries onto the belt. Immediately, I was yelled at to stand on the ‘red circle’. This meant that, even though the previous customer and I were now at least 4 metres apart, I was not able to unload my groceries until she had finished. This had never happened under the previous levels. Resisting, with difficulty, the temptation to tell the Stasi on the checkout where to go, I glanced over at the queue for the express checkouts, where people were standing considerably less than 1 metre apart. If you ever wondered how the Nazis were able to rise to power so dramatically, wonder no more. Some people just love even the tiniest bit of power over others, even if it makes them hated. (She did it to the customer behind me too. I said “Thanks, Eva” on the way out.)
That evening, we went out for dinner for the first time since lockdown. Again, I was motivated entirely by supporting businesses that had been closed for the last 7 weeks, but it is amazing how quickly your local patriotism can drain away. There were hazard signs and barred entry everywhere. Only one way in, and we were admitted only after completing the entry register, giving name, address, email address and phone number, and then being given a dollop of hand sanitiser. We were led to a table by the waitress and instructed not to leave the table for any reason, as she would take care of all our needs. I looked under the table for a commode, but an elbow in the ribs stopped me from asking where it was. The restaurant was less than half full, and while I know such establishments are required, under threat of closure, to comply with the rules, it all seemed completely unnecessary and reduced the enjoyment of the first evening out in ages. Everyone else just complied like sheep. I felt irritated and annoyed all evening.
Where are we most at risk of catching the virus? In a fairly crowded supermarket, where the width of the aisles make social distancing quite difficult; in a hardware store; or in a half empty restaurant? The supermarkets have not been contact tracing at all, not even at Level 4. If I caught COVID-19 that day, it would most likely have been at the supermarket or the hardware store, and it would have been impossible to trace. Yet businesses where there is considerably less risk are forced to go through the tortuous and unnecessary process of tracking everyone that comes onto their premises, for no obvious reason. It is nothing more than over-regulated madness.
I had given the government the benefit of the doubt in the early days of the lockdown, accepting that the situation was unprecedented and that silly mistakes would be made, but they have had enough time now to iron out the discrepancies and get it right. I understand the desire for contact tracing, but it has to be across the board, or nothing. Exempting retail from recording customers but forcing every other business into the slow and tedious process makes no sense when it comes to tracking the disease. We either do it properly, or not at all.
My experience, that Level 2 is in fact much worse than Level 4, makes no sense. In the meantime, I am going to go back to shopping as infrequently as possible, avoiding the Stasi checkout operators, and unfortunately, waiting until Level Zero before attempting anything enjoyable, such as a meal in a restaurant. Independent businesses will bear the brunt of that, often to their detriment. Most of them are forced to operate at about 50% of normal trading anyway, due to Level 2 restrictions on numbers, so this will further damage their turnover. I fear that many, hopeful of a return to normal trading, will not survive.
As our attempt at contact tracing makes little sense, like many things the government has done during the lockdown, I can only assume this is more about government control than beating the disease. They love to tie us down with regulations and red tape, but the reasoning behind it is often flawed. Nothing new here.
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