I have been working from home since March due to COVID-19. These 4 months of staying at home have completely changed my lifestyle and daily routine, as well as my physical and mental state.

I wrote a post on 1 April about my life during the pandemic but my thoughts are evolving every day. I want to keep a ‘pandemic journal’ in my blog because we are living through such an unprecedented time.

 

Latest update of Melbourne

We are back in lockdown again, and now everyone must wear a face mask

Before I start, I want to share what is happening here. At the time of writing, Melbourne is the worst affected city in Australia. The stage 3 restrictions were originally put in place in March and then it was gradually easing, but the COVID-19 infection cases skyrocketed to a few hundred cases per day in the recent weeks.

On 7 July 2020, the premier of Victoria had a big announcement – Melbourne is back to Stage 3 restrictions again for (at least) 6 weeks.

And then there was another announcement on 19 July 2020 – that everyone in Melbourne must wear a face mask when leaving home. This will affect many people because most of the people are not wearing masks outside.

Now there is speculation about possible Stage 4 restrictions (though no one knows what it looks like) or extension of Stage 3 restrictions. We live in a time of uncertainty. Ben and I are intimidated to go out and we tried to stay at home as much as possible to avoid getting the virus.

 

But sometimes I feel guilty for just staying at home.

I think it is because I have more time at home now but I feel that I have not done many value-added activities, and have developed some bad habits such as eating junk food.

For instance, I found myself exercising less often now. I also did not update my blog so often as I like to update my travel stories. As much as I would like to blame the pandemic for all these, but I think the truth is that I simply become lazier at home since the lockdown started.

Sometimes I do not go out at all and stay at home for 3-4 days in a row – which is something I cannot imagine in the past! When people encourage me to go out, I feel reluctant as I am scared of getting the virus outside and end up lying on the bed longer than I should.

Another thing bothering me is that, I gained quite a lot of weight (at least 7kg). My skin condition is also deteriorating.

There is no one to blame but myself! This is the lifestyle that I have chosen in the last few months, and I know I need to change it.

 

Personally, I think the lockdown is disappointing but necessary.

Though it is not good for our physical and mental state, I still think it has to be done.

When the restrictions were gradually lifted a few weeks ago, the cafes and restaurants were always full of people which was worrying.

At that time, Ben and I inspected a house and saw a super long queue. There were about 40+ people in the queue outside and 20 people inside the house at that time, so in total there must be more than 100 people inspected the house on the same day – and we could not see anyone wearing a face mask except us!

We also went to see an auction. Despite the rule stated that any gathering must not exceed 20 people, there were definitely more than 50 people onsite that day and had no social distancing at all, and again we were the only one who were wearing a face mask.

Therefore, I think going back to stage 3 is not a bad thing but I also think the message is not well-enforced. For instance, shopping malls are still open despite in stage 3 restrictions and I do not get it…

 

But it is easier to say all these at home especially we are not the most affected group.

To be honest, Ben and I are very lucky as compared to many people as we still have a job (at least for now), and do not need to wear a face mask for work. I feel uncomfortable by wearing it for an hour, let alone 7-8 hours. We are very grateful for it.

Many people have lost their job and the small/medium businesses are struggling. Some people said the second lockdown in Melbourne is harder than the first one. The government support package has been extended but is less generous than the first one.

Due to the lockdown, we have learned to be more appreciative of everyone and be more tolerant.

Just a few days before the government re-imposing the stage 3 restrictions, I went to a beauty salon for facial. I told the staff that my skin condition becoming quite bad since I stayed at home. Her immediate response was ‘lucky you!”. Then I realised how lucky I was because I still can work from home.

Some industries are suffering more than the other, such as the tourism industry. It may not be restored in the short to medium term even if the restrictions are lifted, as people may still feel uncomfortable to travel.

Ben kept asking me “when can we start travelling again?”. I do not know the answer but I miss it so much too. Travel is a big part of my life and I feel that our life is less fun without it.

 

Maybe it can be a good opportunity?

Many people are suffering from COVID-19 (either financially or mentally), but there are still a small number of people who are thriving and in fact, are better off than before. I want to be one of them.

Perhaps, it is a good opportunity to finish the book that I have always wanted to read, or improve my cooking skills, or maybe do other stuff.

A few things that I want to achieve by the end of this lockdown:

• Restore my body weight and skin condition
• Keep a pandemic journal
• On the road of finding a suitable permanent job
• Learn something new

Hopefully, this is the last lockdown that we have to go through in our life and hope it can be done right this time.

I believe the world will change post-COVID19. Our life may not go back to what it was before – but it may not necessarily be bad. One day this will be a memory for all of us. 🙂