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COVID-19 deaths have been going down in most countries. Spain has even been allowing children under 14 to go out for one hour a day -- so David who is 13 and 1/2 would be allowed to go out if we lived in Spain. There is no news on how they will ease restrictions in Romania -- but the death toll here has not been large with at most 30 people dying a day; a lot of them being with terminal diseases (various forms of cancers, leukemia, kidney failure, cirrhosis, etc) with infections likely incurred when going to the hospital to treat those conditions. Normally, about 800 people die every day in Romania. So, a number 30 or under is not a large perturbation to the daily deaths and the number of detected cases are going down. They are, of course, very dependent on how many tests are performed, but it may help with easing restrictions on May 15, when we hope the emergency state will end.

I can't wait for grandma to be free to go outside again -- without fear of huge fines. Like the therapist who treats grandpa says, when one is past 65 (he also past 70), one has few joys and those should not be taken away from them at the whim of a government -- any government.  I can't imagine being cooked up in an apartment all day long today or when I'll be 70. That's one reason we have not moved to England yet -- because dad has not had the time and energy to get a house. I can't see how being inside keeps them safe when the overall well-being a person at that age is very important -- sun, vitamin D, being outside, seeing people they love-- all that is connected to feeling alive and being alive. Of course, one can choose to stay inside and not meet people if it makes them feel safer at this time -- but it should not be an imposition by the government. 

They  had the first person die of COVID-19 from Belint -- it's the village next to Chizatau where we have a house -- the man who died was only 49, but was undergoing dialysis (perhaps he would have lived in normal circumstances). The former mayor who is in his seventies (he has cancer and is undergoing Cytostatic treatment) is also sick. We've met him once when we were trying to fix our electric system -- he had worked as an electrician before becoming interested in politics and still enjoyed small projects on the side. While it was nice to talk to him, our house was too large and had too much work needed at the time. We've heard that he was sick from Tanti Ana who is our next door neighbour. She is our source of news -- only we no longer talk to her in person -- just chat on the phone from time to time. She said several families are in quarantine in Belint and one family has a confirmed case in Chizatau. Belint was very silent today. It's the first time we've driven through Belint when there were no potatoes for sale outside the various gates. Belint is known for its high quality potatoes.

Quarantine by the government done for people entering countries is even worse. One does not have the comfort of familiar belongings. We've heard on the grandpa's radio how children and old people have trouble walking at the end of the 14 day period and they stumble as they go outside. They must understand how it feels to return from space to Earth -- only they don't have the benefit of an astronaut's training.  They are also not as healthy as astronauts to begin with.

The police even shot a person making trouble in a hotel in Bucharest -- after scaring the hotel staff, he attacked the police with some scissors and they shot him six times in the abdomen. He died pretty quickly after that. I've seen police confining people in Zurich -- likely some drug dealer -- several were sitting on one person lying down, but here they don't have the training to do that or even the aim to shot at one's hand and not in lethal locations. Later there was some claim that he was high on drugs. Many people use alcohol and drugs as way to cope with the confinement. We've heard teenagers shopping in the store and exclaiming who they need to be drunk to be inside.

It started raining this week. While rain has been sparse so far, I hope it will help with wheat and vegetable production, and that there will be less hunger because of it. It's been very hot up to now. The earth is dry and cracked. A few weeks ago, Mom and I planted potatoes, onions, tomatoes, radishes, pumpkins, parsely, salad and beans -- a few of the onions, a hand-full of the beans, two or three of the potatoes and more of the radishes came out so far. I am hoping the rain will help more of our seeds survive.

Yesterday we bought twelve new baby chicks and put them under Zburli's daughter -- a red chicken -- half Silky half egg layer.  She had been lying on eggs for a long time with Road Runner (a black hen), but Road Runner either stole or ate her eggs. So to console her, we bought her chicks instead. I am now building an enclosure for her. Road Runner is lying on the left-over eggs to see if anything comes out. Before we put them under the hen, James played with the chicks and put them in water. They did not drawn. I took them out, and mom brought a cloth to cover them. They seem fine today, and pretty happy to have a mother.