Well, it's official. As of 11:59pm NZDST on Wednesday 25th (1059hrs UTC), Te Whare Mayfurr is on a mandatory four week minimum lockdown due to COVID-19, and a state of emergency is now in place for all of New Zealand for the duration.

The good news is that I can continue to work remotely over the internet like I have been doing since Monday (assuming all my tools continue to work), and because it's autumn here now I can harvest goodies from my garden like feijoas and tomatoes. In fact, having a garden, lawn and deck will be good to not be totally house bound for the duration. Our Sheltie, Anton, is already enjoying having me around for company and our newly created routine of a lunchtime walk, and has already been introduced to my work colleagues over the videoconference link

On the other hand, Mrs Mayfurr is auto-immune deficient so it's gonna be me doing whatever shopping runs we need. It was a major mission to try and "social distance" in a supermarket yesterday, and quite a number of shelves of things like flour and pasta had been stripped clean.

It's already spooky. The expressway not far from my house is practically empty of traffic and everything is still.

"What were once considered introverted interpersonal behaviours are now good social distancing skills."

Stay safe everyone, and be kind to one another.