Half-way through January

It's only three weeks since Christmas. That's easy enough to calculate, of course, but it feels like much, much longer. December - when we were still able to have up to ten people meeting at a time - seems like a distant dream.

Christmas Day was pleasant despite being unable to see any of our family. We were able to go to a church service in the morning, albeit in a masked and distanced way, and it was good to see people. Our closest friends came over for lunch, and games in the afternoon, followed by a high tea where none of us felt hungry, but all of us ate plenty.  

On Boxing Day we didn't do much; on the Sunday we had some other friends to lunch and mainly ate leftovers. 

It almost felt like normality. 

But the Covid numbers were climbing. On December 28th, there were 751 new cases announced in Cyprus.  That's equivalent to around 50,000 in the larger countries of Western Europe, or the UK. This is a small country, and while the hospitals weren't yet full, the authorities were getting worried. The restrictions - such as they were - from mid-December were due to end on January 11th. Schools were closed until then, and only two people were supposed to meet outside, although - bizarrely - we could still be with up to eight other people indoors.

On 29th December, after an emergency meeting, the government announced that people could no longer visit anyone else's home. That was in place until December 10th, we were told, but on New Year's Eve there was a relaxation of the rules. We could invite one other family to our home, and the curfew would not start until 1am on New Year's Day rather than 9.00pm as it had been the rest of the time. 

So Richard took the opportunity of inviting some friends to sail on New Year's Eve; it seemed reasonable to be able to count his boat as part of our home, and was safer (from the virus perspective) since it's outside rather than indoors.  And as the wind was light, and the weather not too hot, I went too. For my first time on his boat Liza. 

It was an enjoyable day, and I said I might even go again at the end of 2021. 

In the evening we were the one household invited to our other friends for an evening meal and games; I just about managed to stay awake. I really wanted to make sure 2020 had gone... even though it took me a few days to catch up on the lost sleep. I don't do well with late nights!

So from January 1st we were back to virtual meetings only, with the exception that two people from different households are still allowed to meet outside for exercise. So I continued walking first thing with my friend Sheila. Sadly, although daily Covid case numbers dropped a bit, they were still in the four hundred range, so we knew the restrictions were not going to be relaxed on January 11th. Indeed, it was fairly certain that we'd be subject to another lockdown. 

That has proved to be the case; it was announced last week that from January 10th until the end of the month we must stay at home, other than 'essential' outings, for which we must send an SMS request to the government. But it's not as strict as the lockdown last spring.  For one thing, we're allowed two daily requests rather than being limited to one. Somehow that makes an enormous difference.

We're also allowed to walk in parks or on beaches, as exercise is one of the permitted reasons for going out. And two unrelated people can still meet for exercise, though no more than two (unless one of them has under-age children with them). 

The weather has been very mild, with no rain at all until Wednesday when there were several heavy showers. That meant that on Thursday morning, the flamingoes were much closer to the shores of the Salt Lake than usual. I didn't have my camera with me, of course, but was able to take a slightly better photo of a few of them with my phone: 

And I took a video, albeit not great quality, showing flamingoes walking, and some of them flying.  (If you decide to watch it, it looks better if you either use the full-screen option or click the YouTube option to see it there).

Walking first thing is not just good exercise, and a chance to spend time with a friend, it's a great start to the day, which gives me more energy and focus.  At least, in theory. It's not easy to get things done in this continued uncertainty. And while we had plans to do various things in the house, we didn't manage to get organised enough to buy what we needed before the current lockdown. All shops deemed non-essential are closed, although many more now offer online ordering. 

So the first week has almost ended, and it hasn't been too bad. Perhaps it's easier because we've done it before. Maybe it's less stressful because we're no longer worried that the virus might leap up at us from the supermarket. We all wear masks, and of course we do wash our hands when we arrive home, as it's a good idea in general. But I often forget to sanitise my hands on the way in and out of shops, and it's not enforced. Nor is anyone wearing those horrible disposable plastic gloves that were required back in the spring last year. 

And perhaps it's less worrying because, although the scope of Covid has been far, far worse than anyone imagined, the vaccinations offer hope, at last, that the elderly and the most vulnerable will be safe. Of course it's very difficult for many businesses, hard hit by last year's lockdown, suddenly having to close again. Some may never recover. 

The positive case numbers have been a bit better - around 250-350 the last few days, reflecting the fact that we haven't been able to meet in other people's houses since the start of the year. We don't know what will be announced for February; perhaps 'non-essential' businesses will be able to open again, if the numbers stabilise and the hospitals stop being over-crowded. But I doubt if we'll be allowed to get together with friends inside for some time to come. 

Restrictions for the first half of December, island-wide

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote about the latest restrictions on travel, shopping, meetings etc in Cyprus. These were introduced in the hope of curbing the sudden increase in Covid numbers. Limassol and Paphos had stricter regulations than the rest of the island, but the only new thing that affected us was not being able to do any shopping before 10am. Which, in the scheme of things, is no more than a minor inconvenience.

Unfortunately, the number of new cases testing positive each day has remained in triple figures, mostly between 180 and 260. That's a lot when the population is only around one million. Equivalent to around 14,000-20.000 in the larger Western European countries, and they've had much stricter restrictions over the past month. 

Here's how the overall case number chart is looking for Cyprus now, in bar chart form: 

It's not good. 

Part of the reason for the increase in positive cases is that testing has been increased quite significantly over the past couple of weeks.  But if the cases weren't there, they wouldn't be found. Many are asymptomatic, of course, which makes it harder to find them, particularly when people are casual about isolating, and reluctant or even unable to divulge all their contacts. 

On a global scale, Cyprus hasn't done so badly:

Compare, for instance, to three of the worst-hit countries in the European areas:

(To read the statistics, you probably need to click the images to see them rather larger)

The significant figures are the total cases and deaths per million. The worst European country is Belgium, with nearly 1400 deaths per million. Of course different countries calculate statistics somewhat differently, and one has to take into account the age and general health levels of the populations. But those are unlikely to be significantly different in countries such as these. 

Still, despite having done reasonably well overall, the recent increase in numbers in Cyprus is very concerning, and all the more so because the health system is beginning to struggle, as more and more people are having to be treated in hospitals each day.  A bar chart of the deaths doesn't look too bad - most days it's just one or two people, the majority with underlying health conditions. But each death is a tragedy for the family concerned. And the trend is not encouraging:

So, on Wednesday the health experts met with government advisors, and various scenarios were discussed, though no details were released at the time. Today there was another meeting, and the new regulations were announced shortly after 1.00pm. 

Road restrictions to Limassol and Paphos have been lifted. The case numbers in Paphos have apparently improved, and limiting traffic to and from the cities was causing major traffic jams as well as a logistical nightmare, with everyone eligible to go to these towns needing to be tested for Covid first. 

However, the entire island has a new, stricter set of regulations from November 30th-December 13th, in the hope of reducing numbers significantly. One that is going to affect us and our friends is:

Curfew from 21:00 until 05:00

That stops people having long drawn-out evening meals together (particularly Cypriots, who often don't eat until eight or even nine o'clock), and it will prevent us from our regular evening get-togethers for board games with friends, usually twice per week. But it's another minor inconvenience in the cause of preventing spread of the disease. 

A slightly surprising new restriction is: 

Restaurants to be open until 19:00 with the exception of take away and delivery.

Many restaurants don't even open in the evening until seven o'clock anyway. And even if one goes to an all-day restaurant at six o'clock for an early evening meal, it would be quite rushed to finish and be out within an hour. So this essentially stops people eating out in the evenings. 

We were also surprised to see this:

One person for every 10 s.m. for shops.

It had been one person every 3 sq m, as far as I remember. This is going to make it more difficult to do any shopping - and we didn't think there had been any cases of people being infected via shopping. Hand sanitisation and mask-wearing have become 'normal' in shops, and people are pretty good at moving out the way of other customers, and keeping a couple of metres apart most of the time. 

Other restrictions - the closure of gyms and casinos, public transport to operate at 50% capacity, and so on - don't affect us personally.  And, again, they're irritating to those involved, but in the scheme of things not a huge problem, particularly if it's only for two weeks.

We had expected a reduction of the number of people allowed in private gatherings in houses, but that's still set at ten. It doesn't even have to be the same ten people: there's no 'bubble' system operating here. We could theoretically invite eight people over one day, a different eight people the next day, and so on, leading to nearly fifty close contacts in a week. 

We don't do that, of course. We normally see our closest friends a few times each week, and a limited number of other people.  But we were expecting some reduction in the numbers allowed for private gatherings, as those are where the transmission of the virus is most likely. Masks and distancing are not required or even expected in private gatherings, possibly because it simply wouldn't happen here. 

As for what will happen from December 14th onwards, that will depend in part on the epidemiological situation. But according to this article on the Kathemerini site (right-click to translate, if necessary) they hope to return the curfew to 11pm rather than 9pm, and to allow restaurants to open until 10.30pm again.  Between December 23rd and January 1st, they plan to allow 15 people in private gatherings rather than 10.

Christmas is inevitably going to be very subdued this year. Maybe things will start to get back to normal in the spring: there's been some apparently encouraging news published about vaccine trials. But according to the Lancet, the results haven't yet been peer reviewed.  There's a concerning phrase in that article:

"How well the vaccines work in older people or those with underlying conditions and their efficacy in preventing severe disease are still unclear."

If the vaccines don't make any difference to those most at risk, then it's hard to see how we expect any semblance of normality within the next few months. 

Further restrictions in Cyprus

It's only a week since I wrote about some new restrictions in Cyprus, until the end of the month.  The only one that affected me was that shops would only serve those who were vulnerable and/or over 65 from opening time until 9.00am. And that masks are required outside as well as in public places, other than when exercising, or in quiet street with nobody else around. 

Sadly, it hasn't made any difference to the number of new cases being diagnosed daily. Here's the Worldometer graph that's now showing:

There was a shocking peak of over 300 one day last week, although thankfully that has not been repeated. But the numbers in hospitals are high, and yesterday four more people died. The hospitals are not able to cope with many more admissions; this is a small country. So on Monday the epidemiologists and other advisors met, and last night there was a meeting to determine exactly what new restrictions would be in place.

We were more-or-less prepared for another lockdown, although we didn't expect it to be as strict as the one that started at the end of March. More is known about the virus, and it was fairly certain that schools would not close. I didn't expect to go back to the SMS system of needing authorisation to leave the house, either.

So last night, around 8.30, I kept checking the various local news sites. I was most hopeful about Kathemerini, a Greek site which seems to get the news more quickly than any of the others. And, indeed, it did. It gave a live stream of the Cypriot President giving a speech asking people to follow the new regulations, and then one of the Health Minister explaining what the new rules are. The Greek was much too rapid for me to understand more than about one word in five, but text was being updated every minute or so as he spoke, and I right-clicked 'Translate to English' to find out what we would be facing.

It turns out that, other than for folk in Limassol and Paphos, not a great deal has changed. The measures from a week ago are still in place, and will remain so until the end of the month. There are some additional rules: no visits to nursing homes or other high-risk areas; the shopping time for the vulnerable and over-65s is extended by an hour. But we can still meet in private homes or outside in groups of up to ten people, which is the most significant thing for us at present. 

However, as the article (and others linked below) points out, Limassol and Paphos have had around 70% of the new cases in the past couple of weeks (compared to 28% in the Spring), and have also had around 70% of hospital admissions currently.  Seven out of eight of the people who have died with Coronavirus in the past week are residents of either Limassol or Paphos. So there are gong to be much stricter measures in those two districts, starting today. 

For one thing, movement is going to be restricted, to ensure that nobody can get in or out of Limassol or Paphos, other than for essential work (health care, mainly) or going to/from an airport. For another, they are having a full curfew from 8pm to 5am (it's 11pm to 5am in the rest of Cyprus). 

Also the universities and lycaeums (schools for age 15-18) in Limassol and Paphos are closing, with online learning only, and various activities are cancelled.  Many businesses are closed too. Shopping malls are shut, and outside groups of more than two are not allowed. However, surprisingly, up to ten people at a time are still allowed to meet in homes in those towns too. 

I was mildly amused at the auto-translation of the notification that churches are closed in Limassol and Paphos: 

"Ecclesiastical and other forms of religious worship in religious places are performed without the presence of believers."

Today there was a summary (in English) on the Cyprus Mail website although I don't think it's particularly helpful to use the word 'Draconian' in the description of the not-quite-lockdown for Limassol and Paphos. It is, after all, nowhere near as severe as the restrictions during April.  

However the best place to look for all the details is the press release on the PIO site.  I checked, out of interest, and the phrase about church services in Limassol and Paphos states:

"Church services and other forms of religious worship in religious places take place without a congregation present."

Which is how we had understood the odd auto-translation above. While this still sounds a bit strange to those of us of Protestant backgrounds, it's important, as I understand it, for the Greek Orthodox priests to say/sing their liturgy in their church buildings on Sundays and other special occasions, but it doesn't matter so much whether anyone else is there. The Protestant churches will have to return to live-streaming, probably from their homes. Or maybe from their church buildings, if they are able to do so without any congregation present. 

So Cyprus has essentially introduced a 'tier' system, a little like those which the UK and various other countries have adopted, although it hasn't been officially described as such. But I assume that, if cases start to get worse in Larnaka, we too are likely to have these stricter measures implemented. 

We just hope and pray that numbers will reduce, here and elsewhere, and that the hospitals will cope. There are more effective treatments now available, as the virus is better understood, but all over Europe and the United States people are still dying, more than did back in the spring when some of the treatment was guesswork. 

New restrictions in Cyprus for November

Yesterday I refreshed various news sites on my browser several times. Partly, out of mild curiosity, to see if anything had progressed on the other site of the Atlantic. It hadn't.

But also in part because we knew that the government here was meeting to discuss new measures to restrict the spread of Covid-19.  Cyprus was doing pretty well earlier in the year, with a very strict lockdown in the spring, and gradual return to - almost - normal life during the summer. 

However, we were aware that countries in the Western part of Europe were seeing seriously high numbers of new cases again, from about mid-September onwards. So it wasn't really a surprise when it started happening in Cyprus too.  Here's how the graph from the Worldometer site looks at present: 

In many of the other European countries, the big numbers currently were partly due to increased testing. Or, rather, then lower numbers shown in the spring were due to lack of extensive testing.  But in Cyprus they implemented a track-and-trace system pretty quickly. They determined where the first cases came into the country, and in every case, at least during March, they knew exactly where the virus had come from, and were able to test and isolate known contacts. 

The small spike in August wasn't considered too serious; it wasn't due to tourists, who began coming to the island again when the airports opened to visitors again in mid-August, but in many cases due to residents returning from seeing family and friends elsewhere - mostly Greece, but some in the UK and other countries. 

But since the middle of October, there have been far more cases than there were in the spring. In the past couple of weeks, between 100 and 200 cases have been reported every day; some from contact tracing, but mostly from 'private initiative' - people with symptoms going to get tested.  There are still very few discovered at airports. It's clear that the virus has a hold in the community, and can no longer be suppressed by individuals self-isolating.  

If you think 100-200 still sounds like very small numbers, remember that this is an island with a population (in the south) of less than a million.  Many of the bigger European countries have populations of between 60 and 70 million.  So it's equivalent to between 6000 and 14000 cases in a country with 60 or 70 times the population. 

Part of the problem is that some people have violated quarantine rules; part of the problem is that people, often younger ones, but not exclusively, assume they are not vulnerable, and continue meeting.  Not everyone knows or understands what is and isn't allowed, and even in this little country there are people who believe Covid-19 doesn't exist, or that it's no worse than an ordinary cold. 

Not many people here have died of Covid in Cyprus; the rate here is much lower than many other places, but the number of folk in hospital is increasing, and there aren't all that many allocated beds. So it was clear that new measures had to be taken, and last night the government met with the health advisors, and came up with new regulations.

It's not another lockdown, as we had feared, though perhaps it should have been.  Schools are still open, shops and restaurants are still open, though with some restrictions. Churches can still meet, albeit with masks, distancing and limited numbers, as has been the case for the past few weeks. 

Here's the link to the full list of current restrictions, though many of them are not new:  Press Release about the new government regulations

Limassol and Paphos have stricter measures, as they have had the most cases recently.  So after spending most of the day wondering if we'd be able to see our friends within the next month, and go out for walks, there are in fact very few changes as far as we are concerned. Rules about conferences and weddings don't affect us. The curfew from 11pm to 5am is not a problem at all.  We can still have up to ten people (including us) in our house, and we can eat at a restaurant, should we wish to, so long as we're not in a group of more than six. 

It's been a bit complicated working out what to do with the local Christian writing group, which has more than ten members, but we've found compromises - and this month is no different, regulation-wise, from last month. Indeed, there's just ONE thing on that list which affects me personally:

1. Retail businesses of beverages and foodstuffs (supermarkets, minimarkets, butcheries, etc) and pharmacies, shall only serve persons who are over 65 years old and persons with disabilities, from opening time until 9am and from 1pm until 2pm.

Back in March, this particular regulation related to people of 60 and above.  But back in March, I only shopped once a week, and went in the afternoon, so it wasn't relevant. I turned 60 towards the end of April, and then during the summer months started doing my local shopping between 6.00 and 7.00am as I normally do.  I think the rule was rescinded, but it was introduced again a week or two back. At the froutaria nobody asked me for my ID, and as there were only ever a handful of people in the shop, I guess it didn't matter much anyway. I'm pretty sure there were people there who were considerably younger than I am.

But now the limit is 65.  So I am no longer eligible to shop first thing, when it's peaceful. Just as well that the weather has turned much cooler in the past couple of days, so it shouldn't be a problem to shop later; I'm unlikely to want to go anywhere between 1pm and 2pm, so that bit shouldn't affect us. 

Still, in the scheme of things that's very minor.  We can still have friends over, we can still go to church services, we can still go out and about.  We hope and pray that these restrictions will make a difference - the Cyprus President made a speech, last night, appealing to people to follow the rules so that we can all benefit from more freedom in December, and next year. 

Lots of rain in Cyprus... and lots of mosquitoes too

Every cloud, as they say, has a silver lining. And sometimes it seems as if the reverse is true. We've had one of the wettest winters I can remember in Cyprus, in the past couple of months. Oh, there has been plenty of sunshine, and the daytime temperatures haven't been TOO cold. We keep having a week or two when it's mostly dry and sunny, then out of the blue, yet more rain.

Today it came on to pour just after lunch. For about five minutes, it was absolutely torrential, and even included some hailstones:

I was glad not to be outside in it. Glad, too, that the reservoirs are filling up, and the water table doing better, and that, with the new desalination plants currently being built, water shortages in Cyprus should (probably) be a thing of the past.

So, the clouds in Cyprus do indeed have a wonderfully silver lining. But the resultant rain brings another problem, which I hinted at when I wrote about going for a walk to the Aqueduct.

Yes. All this rain, and relatively mild temperatures means that there are also more mosquitoes than I can remember at any time of year, let alone January. We don't normally expect them at this time of year at all. But for the last few nights, I've been awakened by that annoying bzzzzzzzzzzz in my ear more than once. I've been here long enough that mosquito bites no longer cause pain or even itching, but it was a bit of a shock to discover, yesterday morning, just how many bites I had on my face.

Today there were even more. I look almost as if I have chicken-pox. I even took a very unflattering photo of myself, enlarging the middle area to demonstrate my current spottiness:

And there are more on my forehead:

There are some on my arms, too. None of them itch, but they're not very pretty.

This morning I did manage to squash THREE mosquitoes that were resting on the bedroom wall, low enough for me to hit them. While I don't like destroying any living creature, I'm afraid I have no compassion for mozzies. Particularly since it was evident on their demise that they had, indeed, been biting me...

Restrictions of Water and Electricity in Cyprus to start tomorrow, July 13th

So... after yesterday's tragedy, and loss of the main electricity power plant in Cyprus, we are, as rumoured, going to experience serious restrictions of electricity for some time to come.

There's an official press release about the planned restrictions on the Cyprus Electricity Board website. Since the announcement is in Greek only, I put the web page into Google Translate. In English, the news is:

The EAC inform customers that should be expected disruption of electricity daily from 08.00 to 20.00 approx. The interruption in electricity supply will be sequentially approximately every 2 hours for a duration of 2 hours that each establishment should expect to have electricity two hours every second. Clarified that during the evening hours (from 20:00 until about 8:00) will be attempting such a provision is made ​​consistently to all customers of EAC.

The exact time duration of the interruption and the areas to be cut off depending on electricity demand and available production.

To reduce the number of sites that will cut to a minimum, consumers are invited to make as much as possible energy savings.

They are also those who have electric generators to make maximum use in accordance with Directive of the Cyprus Energy Regulatory Authority (CERA).

You should also note that the EAC will make every effort not to cut off such supply to critical services like hospitals, airports, ports, etc., as well as tourist and industrial areas.

So. It seems that we will have power every night from 8.00pm until 8.00am. Which is a relief since it would be difficult to do without lights (it gets dark by about 8.00pm even in the summer in Cyprus) and VERY uncomfortable to have to survive without any air conditioning overnight, when it is likely to be humid for the next couple of months.

However, it seems that we can expect electricity on for two hours at a time, then off for the next two hours for the other twelve hours during the day. We don't know whether we'll have it for the first couple of hours after 8.00am, or whether it will go off then and resume at 10.00am. And it's 'approximate', so it could be more, could be less. We might find, if people are extra-careful with their electricity usage, that we have more than two hours at a time and fewer cuts, but I'm assuming it will begin as described.

As for water - I can't find any official announcements at present, but we've heard that there is likely to be mains water on for about twelve hours in every 36. So, something like: one daytime, then 24 hours off, then one night-time.

How will it affect us personally?

With just three of us (while Tim is here) and reasonable-sized tanks, we're unlikely to run out of water so long as we're reasonably careful. We lived in Cyprus ten years ago when we had far more water restrictions; there was one period when we only had two 12-hour periods of water every week: one day, and one night. We learned to deal with it. I did all the laundry on the one day that it was on, and our tanks filled up with the one night. We only ran out a couple of times when we had visitors. We'll have to start storing more mains water, for drinking, but we did that for years so it shouldn't be too difficult.

As for electrical cuts, it could be worse. Fridges and freezers should be fine with just two hours off at a time, even in the summer; at least I hope so. Using my slow-cooker (crockpot) could be a problem since it's usually on for eight or more hours continually... and I shall have to be organised enough to make our morning coffee and squeeze fresh fruit juice before 8.00am each day. And since (if they do stick to the schedule roughly) our electricity should either be coming on or going off around 2.00pm, we'll just have to be a little flexible about when exactly to have our after-lunch frappés. The washing machine and dishwasher will simply stop working when power goes off, and start again when it resumes. I don't suppose that will matter (although I will try to run them early in the morning or, with the dishwasher, after 8.00pm where possible).

The biggest problem I can foresee, from a personal perspective, is that the bread-maker programme runs for nearly three hours. Perhaps I will just have to get up at 5.00 on the days when I want to make bread. Or use water rather than any kind of milk, and set it on the timer to start at 5.00. We don't use bread at breakfast, but eat it at lunch, so I usually start it around 9.00am. Having made our own bread for five and a half years now, I really don't want to have to go back to buying it again.

For the summer we will have to learn to cope without air conditioning for much of the day, and without being able to use the computer at home. I'm thankful for auto-saves in Blogger and Gmail, which mean that I won't lose too much if the electricity goes off suddenly.

Richard, meanwhile, is busy installing a new generator at his office. They have far too much going on, with important servers and other equipment running continually to be able to deal with two-hour power outages, so he had to buy a generator yesterday. Many businesses will be using generators where possible, just to keep going.

I know we Westerners are very spoilt compared to most of the world. I hope we can put up with a bit of discomfort and some careful planning to make the best use of what resources we have, and to appreciate how blessed we are. I hope, too, that tourism won't be too negatively affected, and that the island won't entirely grind to a halt.

Restoring the electricity plant is going to cost countless millions and may take eighteen months or more. What a tragedy that lives were lost and so much disruption is resulting, just because the government - or whoever was responsible - didn't feel that they had the time and resources to deal with the confiscated munitions.