According to French Grammar, COVID-19 is Now a 'She'

Friday 10 April 2020

It’s Good Friday today. Yet had I not been told, chances are I might not have even known. Looking out the window I can see a fine day — a day as fine as it’s been for the most of this period. Outside, the Eiffel Tower continues to stand majestically in the distance, a national symbol built during happier times.

It’s also quiet outside, and aside from the rumble of a passing car, there’s not much noise. Although Easter would usually be quieter than normal days, anyway, the confinement ensures that from a sound standpoint, it can’t isolate itself from the rest of the calendar.

As of now I’ve spent around 30 consecutive hours inside. During this reclusive period, my only interaction with nature has come in the form of opening my windows and letting in the breeze.

To say the last couple of days have been stressful would be quite the understatement. I woke up to an email from the New Zealand government — or the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, to be precise — exhorting Kiwis in Europe to consider booking flights home. The email mentioned there are currently only two ways back to New Zealand — via Doha and Malaysia — and that these flight paths might not be available in the near future. They even suggested there might not even be any routes between New…