Figuring Out a New Normal
[Photos from 22 – 31 March 2020, posted online 23 August 2020. We finally brought out the wood staining stuff, and got to work during this gorgeous weekend, me at house #1 and Finnur at house #2.]
It was weird not meeting any friends or family, it was just us for weeks on end. Emma met kids at school, but no such luck for Bjarki. We therefore let Bjarki hang out with 1-2 friends after his schoolwork was done, but that was about all the socialization that was on offer.
We ended up doing a fair number for workouts to let off steam, especially to begin with, but interest waned as the weather improved. Anna claimed the kitchen for epic baking sessions, I went on lots of walks to get out of the house, and scooters and bikes were brought out as the snow finally began melting properly. (55-ish images total)
Sunday 22 March 2020
Covid-19 Restricts Daily Life
[Photos taken 14 – 21 March 2020, posted online 22 August 2020. After a rainy August, we have a few sunny days before autumn hits.]
To begin with, Covid-19 got carried into Iceland mostly from people returning from winter-break ski-vacations. (The viruses got sequenced, and this article has a really good overview of how we got viruses from the entire world.)
From covid.is, the timeline in March was as follows
28 February First case of COVID-19 confirmed in Iceland. DCPEM declare the alert phase.
6 March First two transmissions within Iceland confirmed, traced to infected individuals who had recently traveled to Northern Italy. Alert level raised to emergency phase.
13 March Screening for the virus that causes COVID-19 starts among the general public. First cases of transmissions that could not be traced. A ban on gatherings of more than 100 people is implemented. Upper secondary schools (high schools) and Universities closed and operations of Kindergartens and Primary schools are limited.
14 March Icelandic authorities advise Icelanders from travelling and encourage Icelanders travelling abroad to consider hasting their return to Iceland.
15 March Results from screening indicates low rate of infections among the general public.
19 March All countries defined as having high-risk for infection. All Icelandic citizens and residents in Iceland arriving from abroad must undergo self-quarantine for 14 days.
22 March Minister of Health announces further restrictions, limiting on gatherings to 20 people or less. Sports clubs, hair salons and similar establishments are closed.
Bjarki and Anna did remote learning only from mid-March, while Emma continued attending school and aftercare throughout the school year (phew!). Finnur and myself also moved to working from home. It was quite the transition. (45-ish images total)
Saturday 14 March 2020
Bowling, Skiing & Furniture Building
[Photos taken 01 – 13 March 2020, posted online 13 August 2020. We’re dog-sitting!]
March was a bizarre month. Due to the looming Covid-19 threat my birthday and our 20-year wedding anniversary were relatively quiet affairs.
I somehow managed to take the kids skiing during the 2-day winter school break (Finnur had injured a finger in February, and wasn’t up to hazardous adventures) a couple of weeks before the ski lifts were shut down. Anna also began learning how to drive.
As more and more covid cases were diagnosed as Icelanders returned from ski-and football trips from abroad, my workplace began dividing up areas to reduce the number of people needing to quarantine. The call also went out for people to work from home if they could, so I set up a small home office. (65-ish images total)
Sunday 01 March 2020
