People abroad - tell us what’s happening in your country

[Velvetpeel]

Everything feels such a mess in England with ease of lockdown ‘plan’
Is this what it’s like in other countries? Are your rules non sensical and confusing too?
Tell us what you are ‘allowed’ to do and what life is like.

[NoHunGosh]

Italy: no school until September but the summer holidays were due to begin at the start of this week anyway. Summer schools for kids have the ok to open from 15th June. Bars, shops, restaurants open with distancing in place. Gyms and swimming pools are open. Cinemas due to open soon. Masks compulsory for any enclosed public space and in shops. Gloves compulsory in supermarkets. Free to meet friends and family. Travel within Italy is allowed though certain regions are asking non-resident visitors to fill in an online form with their details. Waiting for Austria and Slovenia to reopen their borders with us - should happen soon. Lot of people are back at work (with masks and distancing) but lots are still working from home or furloughed. Parents can request a €600 babysitter bonus to help with childcare costs. There's also a scheme to help city dwellers buy a bike to reduce the number of people on public transport and a voucher scheme to help low income families have a holiday in Italy this summer.

[AgentProvocateur]

I’m in a different emirate to @sofato5miles so my curfew is 11pm! Three hour limit for restaurants (strictly enforced) and shopping malls (not sure how they enforce that). Sanitiser everywhere! Reduced capacity on public transport with seats marked out of bounds, and taxi drivers are surrounded by a cocoon of plastic with a flap for the money/card machine.

Huge fines for breaking the rules on masks/gatherings/not using the app if you’ve tested positive etc.

[whattodo1976]

Egypt

Schools closed around the 9th March. I'm in Luxor which is a hot spot due to the large number of tourists we have coming in during the winter.
International airports were closed 16th March and still haven't opened apart from for repatriation flights.
We have a curfew at night as during the summer months it gets very busy at night due to the daytime heat. Hotels are closed apart from those that have procedures in place and can open to 50% capacity to domestic visitors only.
Masks were made compulsory 1st June with a fine for not wearing one.
I know many people here that have had Covid-19, one that has died. I know of several others that have died.

[PeartreeProductions]

Ireland here. We closed our schools on Friday the 13th of March and they won't be opening till September. We had a very strict lockdown, we are now in phase 2 of a 5 part reopening plan.
The daily death toll is down a single figure most days, but it does waver.
Hairdressers etc wont be opening till the 21st of July. Pubs and restaurants later.
The government response has been good(excluding nursing homes). We immediately had the private hospitals open their beds to the public incase it was needed.

And everyone working whether full or part-time got a payment of €350 per week, there were also mortgage payments freezes for up to 6 months if you had lost your job, and help with renters, giving them protection that they could not be evicted during the pandemic and rent allowance increases. Help for small businesses etc.
Not perfect, but definitely could have been a lot worse if we didn't act quickly and effectively.

[PeartreeProductions]

*daily death toll is down to a single figure most days, but does waver.

[FruChoc]

Also in Aus (SA). Schools never shut (thankfully, reading the schools threads on MN makes me so anxious). Quite happy with govt response - both fed and state. resturants /cafes open, travel/holidays within borders are ok. Very confident in track and trace. Presuming we might have some borders open up once we see the R rate post protests in a couple of weeks.
Dh work remained open to production staff while time (ie couldn't wfh) whilst admin staff Wfh - tho most are/have returned (site has 300+ ppl)
Cellar doors/tourism around us have re opened - limited numbers but it's a start
Personally assuming no international travel (aside from covid free countries - nz etc) until well into 2021
(covid has given me a kick up the arse to be grateful for my lot in life and how our limited "lockdown" experience has been)

[CroissantsAtDawn]

I'm in Paris where the restrictions are slightly higher than elsewhere in France.

Masks must be worn on public transport and peak hours are reserved for those with a certificate from their employers saying they must come in at certain times. I think that's to be lifted soon - I've WFH throughout lockdown and post lockdown but from beginning July have to go back to the office.

All public parks and gardens are open (YES!) including play areas.

Masks can be mandatory in the shops- it's up to the individual shop but where I live for ages it was 99% of people wearing masks outside and its starting to drop to 90%.

Cafes and restaurants can open but only if they have outside space. They are allowed to take up more pavement than usual so there are many many tables everywhere and lots of people using them.

Schools vary. I have colleagues who can't get their DC back into school as they could WFH but at our school anyone who wanted to come back could and did. But they are continuing to set all the school work to do at home (an average of 25hrs a week for my 8 year old) and the DC are only in school 2 x half days a week. In small groups (8-10 although they are allowed to go up to 15 per group).

Social distancing here is 1m and the children must respect it in school even during playtime. Running is not allowed at playtime but the school has been good organizing games / sport for them which they don't usually do at playtime.

Sports centres dont open until June 22nd and with strict sanitary measures.

[TrueNorthStrongAndFree]

Canada here! All the provinces are slightly different, but here in BC things are starting to open up. Elementary school pupils are back 2 days a week, with high school students approx 1 day a week (although my 14 year old's school is only encouraging students who are struggling in specific subjects to come back for tutorials).
Non-essential shops are now open with social distancing, restaurants are allowed to open with a 50% capacity - but many restaurants are being allowed to open temporary patios on pavements or closed lanes in roads to increase capacity. Hairdressers, dentists, massage therapy clinics etc are open - but all with distancing and masks being used, and lots of government issued safely protocols. We still need to social distance, and are being encouraged to work at home where possible. The local council has also finally permitted drinking outdoors to allow people to socialize outside in the sun!
The borders are closed except for essential travel and will stay closed for at least another month. 14 day quarantine for all new arrivals - and that has been in place for months.
We haven't had a death for 5 days and new daily cases are down to single figures.
Non-essential medical procedures were all cancelled but are now being rescheduled. We can't gather in groups if more than 50 do all festivals etc are cancelled.
Overall - it seems like there is a light at the end of the tunnel

[Lemons1571]

Insane reading these. I think the UK is probably months behind these countries. Nowhere still seems to have the hundreds of deaths every day that we have. We have no plan for schools going back, apart from Boris posturing about September with a massive caveat “as long as were in a position to do so”. It’s all gone wrong somewhere along the line.

What happens if there’s a second wave when we’re still in the first wave?

[CroissantsAtDawn]

Paris again - lots of handgel everywhere, even at bus stops (Ive not used the metro but I imagine there too). Every shop, school etc.

Im surprised UK is still sticking to the 2m rule. But had a weaker lockdown than other countries who stopped the spread much quicker.

[FruChoc]

@Lemons1571as DH is British we've been watching the Uk govt response from afar (and whilst I heartily acknowledge Aus is in hardly a comparable position) it honestly looks completely shit and farcical response.

[AuntieMarys]

My god, the UK is an embarrassment.
Has there been a second wave anywhere?

[toria658]

NZ a very strict lockdown and mainly people properly observing ( nothing apart from supermarkets was open) and we are down the Level 1. Borders are shut, but life is back to normal, although I notice people still quietly being physically distant ( they do love to hug on greeting here). I really feel the NZ government got it spot on, the cost to unemployment and the economy is yet to be seen.

[Velvetpeel]

Thanks for all your replies. Glad to hear some countries are getting it right and are close to more normality.
As a Brit it makes pretty depressing reading that our Government has and is still messing it up. I feel like we are not been given any news from other countries as they don’t want us to realise what a shambles they are.

[Bearlet]

I'm in Berlin. Lockdown was never as strict as in other places (even during the height of it, we were always allowed outside with other members of our household, and people living alone were allowed to meet one other person outdoors, observing distancing).

They started easing restrictions about a month ago. I thought it was a bit too soon, and the rules have been relaxed in confusingly quick succession (without waiting to see what effect each step was having), but to be fair the numbers here have remained very much under control so far.

DD has been back at nursery for a few weeks (smaller groups, shorter hours).

Medical care never stopped (DD had her regular checkup about a month ago; I had a dental checkup and cleaning a few weeks ago). I think they did cancel non-essential operations for a while when they thought hospitals might get overwhelmed, but that never actually happened.

DH and I are still working from home. Shops are open, but we're still avoiding them where possible. I'm avoiding public transport and cycling everywhere instead. Restaurant are open (with certain restrictions).

I'm feeling cautiously optimistic.

[bluetongue]

I’m in South Australia like Fruchoc. I feel that we could actually step down restrictions more here as we haven’t had a case of community transmission for about 50 days in the state. Luckily I have a secure civil service job but really feel for all the small businesses here that can’t open properly. There may be some announcements re opening state borders tomorrow.

Masks have never really been a big thing (thank god because they make me claustrophobic).

As a country we’ve reached a bit of a tricky point even though the numbers look really good. Borders are closed and we need permission to leave the country. Unlike NZ however, we can’t lift all social distancing restrictions as most states have active cases and Victoria keep getting community transmission cases pop up and they have had most of the recent clusters. If we could somehow sort out the issue with Victoria we could lift restrictions for the whole country. Until then we in the Covid free states are starting to get frustrated and restless.

[B1rdbra1n]

Thanks to those who have taken the time to describe the situation in their countries 🙏💙
I'm interested to know which countries have gyms open and what measures are in place if anyone wants to share?

[sofato5miles]

Definitely no gyms open in the UAE, and my mate just told me that she has put on 9kgs!!

It is so hot and humid it is v difficult to exercise outside. We are getting desperate 🤣

[AgentProvocateur]

There are gyms open in Dubai now, I’m sure (not that I’ve ever been) but at reduced capacity, and booked and timetabled equipment so they can be cleaned between users.

[paap1975]

Gyms are open in Belgium but with limited capacity and no changing rooms or showers. Gaps between classes to allow for cleaning. Still not going, as a result

[ITonyah]

It seems like we are hearing next to nothing about other countries from our own media

The Times have run a very good series of articles detailing other countries approach. Called "the first wave".

[OverseasTeacher99]

Singapore here.

Schools open with social distancing - so mostly alternate weeks.
Masks mandatory at all times anywhere other than the house for everyone over age 2. (Children up to 12 and teachers when teaching can wear shields instead).

Essential shops only open.

SafeEntry (QR tracking) mandatory to enter all businesses, shops, schools, etc.

Not yet allowed to meet up with others at all other than parents or grandparents.

Food delivery still going but no eat-in or bars, etc.

Groups are not supposed to go out together, including to exercise. So, a bit of a grey area as to whether children can go for a walk. Many do. Pools, gyms, everything like that closed.

Can leave the country but only citizens can come back in. So, you can't really leave if you want to come back.

[ITonyah]

I feel like we are not been given any news from other countries as they don’t want us to realise what a shambles they are

The Times has daily news from other countries.

If you only read the guardian then the reason there's no news about other countries is that a lot of them are as confused as we are, which doesn't fit their narrative.

[stellabelle]

Australia here too - Queensland. Just a comment about schools - the kids were home for 9 weeks, doing home learning. Went back 2 weeks ago. They have all had screening tests to see where they are up to, and the vast majority are bang up to date. Any children who need to catch up, are getting a couple of extra periods per week to get them on track, but most of the schools are reporting that few actually need it. Happy days ! I'm highly impressed by our governments response to the pandemic .

[TheCanterburyWhales]

Nothing much to add to pp in Italy other than foreign tourists are now coming in from places like Germany.

Our schools finished last Saturday in my region anyway, and the kids have had 3 months of live online lessons and we have just had the final school meetings where their end of year marks have been decided.

In my region, summer day camps for kids started this week, and nightclubs and discos etc can open up this weekend.

Students doing final year school exams will only have an oral test not the 3 written papers plus oral. These will start next week, take place at school in front of an examining commission and the school is providing a "pack" for each person (examining teachers and students) of masks and hand gel.

I feel we are pretty much back to normal. My dp was furloughed but has been back for 3 weeks now. I am a teacher.