Thursday, November 5, 2009

Notes from the Quarentine

Tomorrow marks 1 week of quarentine. Cinemas have been closed, mass gatherings forbidden, the drugstores - of which there are many all have a booming business - but no masks. While some workplaces have sent employees home on "quarentine work from home" the metro is still packed at rush hour. Some people in masks, but most without.
The latest death toll is at 95.
All this less than two weeks after the Embassy and an article in the Kyiv Post - an English language newspaper - testified that the Ukrainian governement was prepared and that Ukraine might even miss the swine flu all together - who, after all, was traveling to Ukraine during the Economic crisis? Currently, WHO estimates that Ukraine is, and will remain, the worst hit country in Europe with over 12million Ukrainians becoming ill with the virus by next fall.
For now, we are on quarentine.
With apprehension I go to the not bustling market and buy produce, meat, milk - I asked Alister if I should start baking our own bread since it goes through so many hands - but he says that we put it in the toaster and so it should be fine. But here are people without gloves, without sanitary facilities scooping and handling my food - so yes some things are cooked - but what about the nuts? Or the water from the kiosk where the woman handles the cap, the spigot, and touches the neck and lip of the bottle with hands that I cannot garentee but with which I suspect she was eating a few moments before?
You become conscious of coughing, of sniffling, of wheezing and you wonder - how long until I get it?

2 comments:

Nicole S. said...

We will keep you both in our prayers, and hope that you don't get sick.

Unknown said...

Hi Sarah, this is Sarah Lachman. I found out you had a blog yesterday -- so I set out to find it for real today. I think of you regularly and am now praying that you stay safe and healthy.

A Return to the Blog

This blog first started after we arrived in Ukraine and set up house on the 14th storey of an apartment on the outskirts of Kiev. Since then...