The world’s Coronavirus cases have exploded with 1,141,378 as of April 4th having exploded through the 1 million case milestone.  The US has turned into the epicenter of the world with 291K cases which is more than double the next country which is Spain with 125K. Although testing is still very limited in the US so we know it is way worse than the reported numbers.  New York and New Jersey continue to be the epicenter in the US with California, Michigan and Florida following behind them. 

The number of deaths in the US has surpassed China and hospitals around the country are running short or out of critical supplies such as masks and gloves.  Additional US states have issued lock down orders with 265 million Americans being urged to stay at home.  Bill Gates, who prophesized the whole pandemic last year, says that it will be 10 weeks after all 350 Americans are in lockdown and the clock doesn’t start until everyone is in quarantine.

Dr Fauci says that if the US has perfect compliance with social distancing and sheltering in place, there will be between 100K to 240K deaths in the US.  Keep in mind this is a theoretical best case scenario as everyone knows there will never be 100% compliance.  Don’t believe me, just look at pictures of the Florida beaches during spring break.

Trump extended federal guidelines on social distancing until April 30th after initially trying to convince people everything would be back to normal by Easter on April 12th.  

The Prime Minister Johnson of the UK has tested positive. The Tokyo Olympics have been officially postponed a year after several countries and sport’s governing body yelled vociferously about their athletes putting their health at risk running around trying to find training facilities.  US Olympic swimmers were driving around neighborhoods knocking on strangers’ doors asking if they could use their backyard pool to train. India has locked down the entire country of 1.3 billion people. 

The US has passed a $2 trillion stimulus bill but unemployment claims are through the roof casting a dark harbinger on the economic devastation still to come.  

The travel and tourism industry has been eviscerated. Kyle reached out to all the tour guides we befriended along our trip to wish them health and safety.  They are all safe from a health perspective but facing a very real financial crisis. For many countries, Jan – May is their peak tourist season.  Tour guides often have to save enough in the peak season to carry them through the off season.  Because the Coronavirus wiped out the peak season, many are left wondering how they will feed their families in the current environment.  Younger guides are moving back in with their parents. Our guide from Machu Picchu tells us that there are still over a thousand people stuck in Cusco who are starting to panic because the food is running out.   

Meanwhile here on the island, the Antiguan government has slowly been shutting things down.  First, all the cruises ships were blocked from entering port.  The government even turned down a cruise ship with an infected passenger seeking Coronavirus asylum and permission to dock in the port. Now even private yachts are not allowed to enter the port. The airport has been closed for all commercial flights. 

The number of confirmed cases currently stands at 15 but the number is virtually useless as Antigua is not yet up and running with their own testing so they have to rely on sending samples to Trinidad and Tobago and thus only the extreme cases get tested. 

An infectious disease team of 6 doctors and 25 nurses from Cuba were flown into Antigua to help support the government’s efforts. 

The Antiguan Prime Minister Browne had enacted a nighttime curfew from 8pm to 6am as well as implementing social distancing rules, ordering the closure of “non-essential businesses,” and banning gathering orders with over 25 people. 

Then after few days of what might be deemed as “inconsistent compliance”, the Prime Minister goes on TV saying how upset he is with the Antiguan people for not following his directives.  In fact, he has the police burst into a church and arrest the minister for holding a service with a large gathering and no social distancing.  

The Prime Minister is clearly fed up so it should be no surprise when he announces on April 2nd with a one week 7-day, 24-hour curfew with everyone ordered inside with anyone found on the street will be fined $5,000 and thrown in jail for 6 months. Curtis as well as the owner tell us they are dead serious about enforcing it too.  Message – don’t test fate. 

As of April 4, we are on day 3 of the 24 hour lockdown but life hasn’t changed much in our little cove other than some limitations on exercise as we were effectively in a self-imposed 24 hour quarantine prior. 

We have well passed our 14 day anniversary from when we arrived on the island ensuring that we didn’t bring this bug to Antigua from Turkey, Egypt, London or any of the flights in between.  Amongst the seven of us, not a sniffle, not a cough, not a hint of fever.  Thank Goodness!  

If it we end up contracting the “rona-rona” after this point, it will have been from our limited exposure to the grocery stores here but that seems highly unlikely given we’ve only made a few trips and were well armed and protected with face masks, gloves, wipes and sanitizer.  We took a trip to the grocery store and we were literally the only people wearing masks.  Kids stopped and stared at us; adults would avoid our paths completely with one u-turning their cart completely from our space.  And well, there were some pointing and giggling going on too.  Little did they know, we were just “trend-setting” the next fashion accessory here on the island. 

We learn of people we know directly and cherish who’ve contracted the virus.  The beloved Monsignor of our parish who is 82 years old has it and has been in and out of the hospital.  A few friends and relatives contracted it as well.  It is real and it is really scary.  We continue to pray for our friends, family, loved ones and all those impacted by the Coronavirus. 

When will we return to the states? The real answer is who knows?  Predicting how the Coronavirus will play out both in the US and rest of the world is like predicting the stock market on a daily basis.  

The US Department of State said we should be prepared to stay in Antigua indefinitely as so we are. The Antigua airport sits idle as commercial flights have ceased and the port sits closed.  Even private yachts banned.  The owner Maureen has let us know that the house is empty until the end of May and likely beyond that. So we will take it one day at time as we watch the Coronavirus pandemic play out across the world from the safety of our little cove in Antigua.