5th April 2020

Today I should have been going to Zanzibar but instead we are in lockdown and no-ones going anywhere. I hear from the girls that they got home safely, but only after a nerve wracking stop at Burundi where several people got on and just before take off were suspected of having C-19.  After a three hour delay, they eventually flew to Brussels and then back to the UK on Eurostar.

Later in the day, my landlady asks me if want to go to a shop with her in her car.  The streets are deserted and we head for a supermarket that sells nice bread, and I’m sure we’re crossing a district.  No one stops us, there’s less of a police presence today or maybe it’s just the time of day.  Everywhere is closed except food stores and there are very few people on the road.

I see on Twitter that Rwanda police have arrested a woman who was trying to hold a church service with a warning that those violating the guidelines will arrested, fined and their vehicles impounded.

People are still being stopped on the street and having their temperatures taken, and those with a fever are being taken to a medical centre to be tested

Four patients who have recovered from C-19 have been released today. None of the identified cases have needed a ventilator and most have had mild symptoms. There are just two more cases today, and all cases have been imported or located through tracing.

In the UK, Boris Johnson has been admitted to hospital with C-19. Only a few weeks ago he was boasting how he was shaking hands with patients during hospital visits and that he would continue to do so.