COVID-19 Update #5

Hola Todos! It’s been a while since I’ve written an update, so I thought it was about time I did. I have some good news this time around, so keep reading to find out what it is. This is a really long post, just a warning.

In the past month or so, the daily case numbers have stayed at the same range pretty much, with the average between 1250 and 1800 cases a day, roughly. It hasn’t really changed that much since my last report. All up, as of 29/09/2020, we’ve had 461 300 recorded cases, but there are currently only 13 781 active cases of COVID-19 in the country, and a total of 12 725 deaths. We’ve kind of hit a plateau of sorts with the pandemic, where we haven’t really had any day with less than 1000 cases but no more than 2000 cases a day, we’re just sitting in that middle space.

What’s happening in quite a few places around the world is a phasing out of lockdowns, and having different levels of restrictions, and so I thought I would explain what’s been happening here in chile.

So here there are a total of 5 different phases, and they are enforced by a council to council basis. So to put into perspective for Sydney, it would be like putting Hornsby Shire on Phase 1 lockdown but then Northern Beaches council might be in Phase 2, and your restrictions depend on where you are (I hope that makes sense).

Phase 1: Complete lockdown/quarantine.

  • You need permission from the police to be out of the house, you only get two permissions a week and they’re only for the essential necessities, like going to the supermarket or the doctor, and you can only go to work in person if you are an essential worker or your job cannot be done from home.
  • There’s a curfew between 11 pm and 5 am
  • The streets are patrolled by the police and the military, who have control points on main roads where they check your permission for being outside and enforce the lockdown laws and curfew
  • Masks must be worn in all public spaces, your temperature must be checked before entering businesses or other buildings, you must sanitize your hands whenever possible and physical distance must be maintained
  • Schools, dine-in restaurants, bars and clubs, sports facilities, non-essential stores and leisure centres (cinemas, theatres, museums) are all closed
  • No gatherings are allowed, not even visiting family or anything similar, the only exceptions are 5 people of the direct family at a funeral

Phase 1 is what I’ve been explaining in my past blog posts and what I’ve been in for about 6 months.

Phase 2: Transition

  • No lockdown/quarantine Monday to Friday, but the same lockdown conditions as Phase 1 for weekends and public holidays
  • You can travel between other councils in the same phase, or a phase that’s more developed, however, you cannot travel to a council that’s in Phase 1
  • There’s still a curfew between 11 pm and 5 am
  • The streets are still patrolled by the police and the military, who have control points on main roads where they check your permission for being outside and enforce the lockdown laws and curfew
  • Masks must be worn in all public spaces, your temperature must be checked before entering businesses or other buildings, you must sanitize your hands whenever possible and physical distance must be maintained
  • Schools, dine-in restaurants, bars and clubs, sports facilities and leisure centres (cinemas, theatres, museums) are still closed, but shopping centres can open and non-essential stores within shopping centres can also open (from what I understand)
  • Gatherings in open spaces, like parks, are allowed with up to 20 people, or 10 people in enclosed spaces like houses

Phase 3: Preparation

  • No lockdown at all, you can go out freely, however, you can’t travel to a council that’s in Phase 1
  • You can go back to work if your place of work is in an area in Phase 3 or more
  • There’s still a curfew between 11 pm and 5 am
  • The streets are still patrolled by the police and the military, who have control points on main roads where they check your permission for being outside and enforce the lockdown laws and curfew
  • Masks must be worn in all public spaces, your temperature must be checked before entering businesses or other buildings, you must sanitize your hands whenever possible and physical distance must be maintained
  • Dine-in restaurants, bars and clubs, leisure centres (cinemas, theatres, museums) are still closed
  • Sports facilities and shopping centres can be open, but with restrictions and conditions, schools can also open but with physical distancing and it’s up to the school whether they open or not
  • Gatherings in open spaces, like parks, are allowed with up to 50 people, or 25 people in enclosed spaces like houses

Phase 4: Initial opening phase

  • No lockdown at all, you can go out freely, however, you can’t travel to a council that’s in Phase 1
  • You can go back to work if your place of work is in an area in Phase 3 or more
  • There’s still a curfew between 11 pm and 5 am
  • The streets are still patrolled by the police and the military, who have control points on main roads where they check your permission for being outside and enforce the lockdown laws and curfew
  • Masks must be worn in all public spaces, your temperature must be checked before entering businesses or other buildings, you must sanitize your hands whenever possible and physical distance must be maintained
  • Bars and clubs are still closed
  • Restaurants, sports facilities and shopping centres can be open, but with restrictions and conditions, schools can also open but with physical distancing, and while it’s still the schools’ decision to open, it’s expected that they will be opened in this phase
  • Gatherings in open spaces, like parks, are allowed with up to 100 people, or 50 people in enclosed spaces

Phase 5: Advanced opening phase

Almost everything is open like normal, with only a few restrictions

  • There’s still a curfew between 11 pm and 5 am
  • The streets are still patrolled by the police and the military, who have control points on main roads where they check your permission for being outside and enforce the lockdown laws and curfew
  • Masks must be worn in all public spaces, your temperature must be checked before entering businesses or other buildings, you must sanitize your hands whenever possible and physical distance must be maintained
  • Bars and clubs and otherwise recreational spaces may operate at 50% capacity, respecting physical distancing
  • Gatherings in open spaces, like parks, are allowed with up to 200 people, or 100 people in enclosed spaces

I know it’s a bit of a read, but I thought I’d just explain it in detail once, so if I refer to the phases in future blog posts, it would be easier to just have the base.

And now, the long-awaited good news! (massive drumroll please!!)

I’M FINALLY OUT OF LOCKDOWN!!! After 197 (I repeat, one hundred and ninety-seven) days, or 6 1/2 months of Phase 1 lockdown, as of yesterday, my council has finally moved on to Phase 2, transition. This means that during the week, I can travel to meet with friends for the first time in half a year, and even if I’m social distancing and not meeting friends, I can go to the national parks and just parks in general and explore Santiago a little bit more, and actually experience my exchange. When I heard the news, I cried for about 20 minutes with disbelief and happiness.

Of course, I’m still going to practice social distancing, and do everything I can to keep myself safe and others around me safe as well, just this little bit more freedom is so welcome. It hasn’t been easy these past 6 months, for perspective, I’m a 17-year-old girl living in a foreign country where the language isn’t my mother tongue and I have no family or connections with people I’ve met before, which is daunting enough, but then I’m also living through a global pandemic with millions of cases and hundreds of thousands of deaths, and on top of that, I haven’t been able to use my normal coping skills, like meeting with friends or even going for a walk to deal with it all. It can get really overwhelming sometimes, and so just this little bit of normal, it’s welcomed with open arms (that have been sanitised and are at least 2 m away, and I’m wearing a mask).

I’ve written enough about the pandemic for now, I know we’re all sick of hearing about it. I hope you are all doing well, wearing masks, sanitizing your hands and maintaining both physical and social distance as much as possible, coming from a place that has had it a lot worse than what’s going on in Australia, please don’t take what you have for granted.

Cuidate mucho, hasta la proxima!