The corona crisis has long since reached us here in Curaçao. According to current knowledge – and these have existed for over a week – the virus is under control.

There are 4 cases in Curacao, all of them in quarantine for a long time. There are numerous measures that most people follow that I have observed so far. The Marina Seru Boca is very remote in the Santa Barbara Plantation. The risk of infection is low. Security is high and you can take the shuttle organized by the marina to the supermarket twice a week. In short – I’m physically fine. I now have enough time to deal with my blog and other things that are on the to-do list. But it is difficult to concentrate because I have so many questions and thoughts going through my head. I would like to share some of them with you today:

How is my family? Would it be better to be with them?

First of all, I keep my fingers crossed for all those affected, their families and friends that they will not be infected and, if they do, at least not get sick on it.

Should I register for the German return program and fly home? If I could do anything at home I would do it. But there, I also have to be quarantined first. In addition, on the way there, I expose myself to an increased risk of infection several times. So it would be an added expense and an added risk to the family. So doesn’t make sense in my situation.

What happend with my pan to circumnavigate?

That is probably the most interesting, but also the hardest question. In the recent past there was new information almost every hour about changing situations and rules in Curaçao, the surrounding islands and the rest of the world. Forming a plan on this volatile data is futile. Currently the facts are as follows:

• Colombia has closed the borders. They have a curfew and initial riots only in the prisons.
• Panama has closed the borders. A few individual sailing boats still go through the canal if they arrived some time ago. Others must stay and wait. According to an agent, this isn’t just for protection. Rather, the canal employees are overloaded by the increased hygiene requirements and the associated difficulties for the line handlers and the transport of the equipment (lines, fenders).
• Curacao has closed the borders. An arriving sailing yacht was threatened to drag her back out to sea. Of course they didn’t do it, but they had to state an example, otherwise more vessels would come.
• Almost all marinas / ports are closed to arriving ships. Only Dominica, Dominican Republic, Cuba and maybe two / three other islands / states are still open.

I think in a few weeks there will be changes in the manner of reopening the borders, initially with quarantine, later hopefully the time at sea will be included. But when the time comes is written in the stars. So you can only wait and see, support others here and there and work through the to-do list as far as possible.

End of April I will decide. Either it goes thru the panama canal or back to Europe.

What happens to the residents?

The measures to protect have serious consequences to the islands. First the tourists are gone. Then the workplaces disappears. Followed by empty household budget. Last but not least necessary things are out. Latest then there is either a comprising solidarity or riots begin.

What happens to us strangers?

Residents are still friendly and open minded. But this for sure will change the longer measures continue. The sentence “You foreigners brought us the virus.” has already fallen once. In the meantime it became known, that at least one islander brought it to Curacao. But should that count? Sure, mobility must be reduced drastically until better measures are known. It is also clear that you let your own residents back into the country.

But does it make a difference which country the carrier came from? Is it more comfortable to die with a native virus?

Does corona kill the globalization?

I’m sure the supposed weak point of global cooperation can turned into a strength and can improve the cooperation. There are some little but good sign (German sources):

• Scientists combine their research results
• Hospitals share their capacities
• Competing cloud computing capacities will be combined
• International exchange of necessary goods restarts after short paralysis
• The information from other countries is used to take the right measures faster.

Always look on the bright side…

I think you always have to keep in mind: The measures save human lives. In addition, there are other things that can be seen positively:

• There is time to think.
  • Am I on the right path in my life? Do I want to change something? What? What do I have to do for that? …
  • Are we on the right path? What needs to be changed, what can I do about it?
• The corona measures will certainly also drastically reduce the spread of other viruses. So, the number of flu, noro, measles and other viral diseases will presumably also decrease. (Why don’t you hear anything about it yet?)
• There is time for long overdue items on the to-do list.
• Nature can take a deep breath.