Corona Saga: Lock Down - 15th Day (continued)

Twas the morn of the 16th Day of the Lock Down. Cinda had announced on the 15th Day that all who showed up at the borders of the Land of the All Black Tribe would henceforth be automatically placed under supervised quarantine for a period. Previously returning members of the tribe had been allowed to go home on the understanding that they would quarantine themselves at home and be checked upon by officials. This procedure was found to be unworkable in one out of three cases, hence the change in policy.

The wisdom of Cinda's policies was becoming apparent to all. Less than 1300 people had been bitten by the Coronavirus Monster in the Land of the  All Black Tribe, and over the last four days the number of people recovering had exceeded the number of people diagnosed. The plague had peaked.

Sadly, the plague had not peaked in the world beyond the sheltering  seas in which the Land of the All Black Tribe nestled in comfortable isolation. The All Black Tribe watched in helpless horror as tribe after tribe suffered the predations of the Coronavirus Monster.

Information from medical research was beginning to flood into the Centres of Learning and like a picture emerging from the pen of a pointalist artist the outlines of the Coronavirus Monster were coming to clearer view as they were illuminated by facts. The facts, while they were still bad, were increasingly less Apocalyptic. The projected death toll in the Land of the Starts and Stripes Tribe had reduced from an initial worst case scenario of a quarter of a million people to just over 60,000. Nevertheless, there was still not enough information.

No one really knew where the 'lines in the sand' were. A full scale lock down was safest but unacceptable in the long run. A full scale re-opening of the economy was inevitable, but what level of Coronavirus deaths were acceptable and inevitable for the economy to run? At point could these two polar opposites be reconciled and balanced? Cone Man reassured himself that the torrent of information reaching policy makers would ultimately answer this question, but for now he could only hope.

Confined, if not to the catacombs, the Cult of the Shepherd King found they were able to congregate virtually via the Internet. Things had certainly changed since St. Paul had written half the New Testament while dictating letters to scribes  in Greek for the benefit of far flung congregations geography and his chains preventing him from preaching to in person.

Confinement did not prevent members of the Cult of the Shepherd King from praying in their own homes. Furthermore, there was much for them to pray about. The national sky canoe tribe had just announced that 1460 people were to lose their jobs. "That adds a new take on the old phrase 'on a wing and a prayer'" Cone Man thought as he wondered how they would keep their homes ...