Installment 27

Madagascar Buzzard is one of the most common raptors on its namesake island. This one was on the heights of the Andringitra Massif.

I sense pandemic fatigue both in others and myself. Unfortunately though, the virus marches on. Here in its Madagascar, it's at its worst point yet. There are hundreds or thousands of serious cases, perhaps because of the arrival of the "South African" variant. This surge has been more than enough to overwhelm the capacity of hospitals in many places. We hear stories of people desperately searching for working ventilators in the capital. International flights have been stopped, and some internal regions have closed their borders. Schools are once again closed. Officially, cases have surged from 20,000 to 26,000 in the last month. But from what I have observed these numbers have almost no relation to reality. The true number of cases is probably at least 100x higher.

Unfortunately, my family and I have been part of this latest "surge"; we all came down with covid a month ago. Everyone has recovered well, but I will write a few details about my personal experience with the illness in my next post.