Diary of my quarantine in Peru
The news about the Coronavirus suddenly reached all of us. It reached me on March 9th while I was in Amsterdam. I had to rebook my return flight from Amsterdam to Lima overnight. “Tomorrow,” they said, “Do you want the flight or not?” The decision had to be made in seconds. There was no other option than to rush back to my home country and go into quarantine there.
The next day I took the train to Schiphol. The empty train at this time of day surprised me. At Schiphol I saw the stress of other Peruvian compatriots who wanted to return home. Once past customs my compatriots seemed calmer, now that they were assured of a place on the plane. On the plane the tension increased again because of the proximity of so many others. Almost no one used a face mask on the plane.
Simply visiting the toilet was an adventure, as every move you made could bring new dangers: from opening the door to using the tap correctly. If there was an infected person on board, every action could lead to contamination. The presence of a sick person on board was enough to infect me through the air conditioning. I counted the hours until I could finally breathe fresh air again.
Arrived in Lima
Once we arrived in Lima, everyone wanted to get out immediately, but the pilot instructed us to sit down again: we first had to fill out some forms for the Ministry of Health. At the airport, employees of the ministry were waiting for us to take our temperature. They hoped to be able to pick out any passengers with the Coronavirus. Fortunately, I was not one of them and was finally allowed to go outside.
Outside, my taxi driver was waiting for me to take me home. He wasn’t wearing a mask and didn’t seem to be afraid of getting infected. Or maybe he was, but his job outweighed his fear. The streets we crossed on our way home were empty. This was in contrast to the normal chaos of people and traffic that you see on an average day in Lima.
Before I got home, I called my sister to warn her. They could expect me, but not welcome me; my family had to keep their distance in case I was infected with the virus. Only now did I realize that I would be isolated from them for 2 weeks in the same house.
Isolated in my room, I did activities to get through the day such as fitness, taking online courses, reading blogs, video calling with friends, etc. On the news I saw every day that the number of infected and dead was increasing and the president appeared on TV every day at noon to tell how the fight against the virus would continue.
On March 16, the president announced a national quarantine. During the day, after applying for special permission from the national police, only one person per household was allowed to go outside to do essential shopping. There was also a curfew from six o’clock in the evening. After this time, no one was allowed to be on the streets. This led to discontent, not everyone adhered to these rules. Thousands of people were arrested.
The environment
In Lima, as in other places in the world, we see positive changes in the environment. The sky above Lima is no longer as gray as we had become accustomed to. It is almost unbelievable how clear the sky is now. On the beaches near the districts of Miraflores and Barranco, there are flocks of birds that are not bothered by people for once, and there are also groups of dolphins that can be seen with the naked eye from the beach.
The situation with the Coronavirus has an impact on the lives of many, but it also offers an opportunity to reflect on how we want to live our lives after this and what is really important in our lives. I continue to hope for a quick way out of this nightmare and a return to normal life, but hopefully the Corinavirus will also bring us beautiful insights.
Orlando Vasquez, Tura-Travel Peru
