South Australia Lock-Down November 19 – 24
Noel Mansfield MSC
There has been an outbreak of Corona Virus in parts of Adelaide during the past week. It has only been in restricted areas. However, the Government has decided it is better to be on the safe side with this new surge.
It is a very strict; lockdown. Churches, schools, hotels, gymnasiums recreation and other parts have been closed completely. Schools will be opened only for children of essential services. It is drastic but seemingly necessary.
Over the past couple of days, there have been no new cases of the virus. There are some who are now saying that there is great pain for very little gain.
It is not my intention to write about the pros and cons. I do not want be the judge of this. Yet I would like to express what it is like to go through a very strict lockdown.
The first thing that strikes me is the silence. There are some cars and buses running along Seaview Road.
Some cars are parked along the street, these are the exception. This is usually a very busy and noisy road. Now it is just the reverse.
The telephone in the house is normally a constant part of the noise. A very significant part of the silence is the absence of constant phone ringing. Our phone system rings at every phone that is in every room. So the constancy of this ringing is so obvious. Its absence contributes to the sense of silence in the whole house.
The staff are here to serve the needs of the parish and we recognize their importance. But their constant movement within the house adds another dimension to the constancy of noise. Their absence is tangible.
Backtracking
Let me back-track and show just how fast things are moving at this time of the Virus.
Only last week, we received this email from the Archbishop:
Dear sisters and brothers,
As you would be aware the South Australian Premier Steven Marshall made an announcement late this morning. The state-wide lockdown will cease effective from midnight Saturday, 21st November 2020.
This means that churches may re-open following the guidelines outlined below:
- Churches are capped at 100 people whilst maintaining 1 person per 4 square metres.
- Funerals are capped at 50 people whilst maintaining 1 person per 4 square metres.
- Weddings in churches cannot exceed the 150 people permitted in church whilst maintaining 1 person per 4 square metres and registration of all guests are required with SA Health.
Within a few days of that announcement, the whole scene was reversed. The state-wide lock-down was to start again on Thursday at midnight and to last for six days. So, we all received this short email from our manager cancelling most plans:
Hello Everyone,
Unfortunately, with all these COVID-19 Interruptions we couldn’t proceed with our end of year get together. This will happen, and during the week a new date will be set. Most likely a Friday evening. Hope this works for you all.
While all these changes are going on, we need to be aware that the communal health is more important than our own convenience. This has been shown in other countries. Here in Australia, it has happened to other States. We certainly do not want to follow the example of countries like the United States and many countries in Europe.
It is now Saturday, 21 November. Yesterday, we were informed that there was some mistake in the information presented to the authorities. So, the lockdown will end at midnight tonight. Instead of being six days, it will now be only three days.
There seems to be no sensible reason for the changes. In many businesses, people are frustrated and have lost a good deal of money over this mistake. It appears that someone gave incorrect information.
The public were beginning to buy up big on toilet paper and other essential commodities as they did in the earlier occasions. Now there is a rush to get things up and running again. I feel for the business people who have suffered enough over the past couple of months. Now they are having to work overtime to get things ready to open tomorrow, Sunday.
It is still quite an eerie feeling about the silence in the district. I do hope that we have learned something from this turne around.
What have I learned?
The peacefulness that comes with the silence in the whole district is some that I have come to appreciate. In the silence, I have become more attentive to my own inner needs. I am beginning to appreciate that silence is a wonderful positive sign in our world today. We need to embrace it as a friend.
There must be some really important things happening in our world that need our attention. Looking out on our troubled world, we can appreciate the needs of others in our lives. As Pope Frances constantly reminds us: The poor need our attention. We need to reach out to them.
At the same time, Pope Francis keeps reminding the world of our need for prayer. Only last week, he remarked that some are saying he is talking too much about prayer. Then he reminded us that prayer was at the heart of our getting to know the Lord and Master of the Universe.
‘Prayer is the centre of life.’ He made this comment in his talks on the Psalms which he started in May and he has now returned to speaking about prayer as we still face issues with Covid-19.
There must be other important things that I have not attended to. I am writing this from a very personal perspective.
We will be opening the doors of the church tomorrow
It would be interesting to hear what others have experienced during this time.
Jodie Scott (Nicholls) was a student at Monivae when I was there. Her medical condition has kept us in contact for many years. She now lives near Geelong.
Hi Noel,
Thanks for your news.
I think that the silence is the best, it's beautiful and allows time for reflection. The world has grown too used to being constantly entertained in my eyes.
As Victoria has had strict lockdown for 7 months on and off, I have to say that I prefer it with restrictions lol. There were no colds over winter, I could smell the earth, see the sky over the closest city, there were less cars on the road and less pollution, our garden had more veggies than ever. We are now just coming out of restrictions and the traffic is unbearable, the tourists are in their thousands, prices at the supermarkets and petrol stations are high again.
The lock down has been an amazing eye opener for children who have mostly grown up not knowing that the sky is clear blue and the sides of the road have no rubbish, I have welcomed this "tune up" with the earth and the groundedness that it has provided.
Jodie
