Cases here have spiraled out of control. It was clear what was going to happen, there are a lot of people here that live in such close quarters, 8-10 people in a 400 square foot house or apartment. Many live day to day, doing informal work like selling stuff at markets or working as nannies. They don't have the luxury of staying home, and living in cramped situations means that the virus spreads quickly. Some such areas were already under quarantine for up to 4 weeks, such as where my husband works. Last Friday they quarantined all 32 municipalities of greater Santiago. They also added 6 other areas that are in the Metropolitan Region, including where I live, although our cases aren't so bad here. It's more rural/suburban and spread out.

As it was, we weren't going out much, but we could at least go for a drive or walk around our neighborhood. Now you need a permit to do anything. Half an hour to walk your dog, 3 hours to buy basic supplies, etc. The military is on the street enforcing things. It's no joke. It stresses me out just thinking about it.

So, we are back to protests, despite the quarantine, in some areas due to lack of basic food and supplies. It's exhausting. The 18th marked 7 months since the metro stations were burned and the protests started, now we have the virus. Our president is a billionaire. I guess he and his cabinet didn't even understand that if you quarantine people that are barely getting by they will need assistance. Finally, they are organizing to send some sort of boxes of basic foods and other supplies to families in need. The secretary from my husband's office lives in a hard hit area close to where he works. She's a community organizer so we are going to see if we can coordinate something with her to send assistance to her neighbors in need. I feel like we should do something.


Keeping my mental health in check is tough some days.