Covid numbers keep rising; food finally delivered

The number of new Covid cases keeps creeping up in and around Dong Nai, the province in Vietnam where we live. Nothing huge, mind you, but the numbers keep rising. In Dong Nai, we've gone from 15 new cases, to 40, to 87, to 104 and finally, to at least 146 on Saturday, July 24. (I'm trying to interpret Vietnamese so the numbers could be higher or lower, but most likely higher.) Ho Chi Minh City is a hotbed right now with its neighbor Binh Duong second and nearby Dong Nai third. New cases in Vietnam have gone from about 1,000 or less a day a few weeks ago to nearly 10,000 on Saturday.  Thousands have been vaccinated in a country of millions, so a Covid vaccination is not an option for the common man or woman at the moment, and that includes our family. I guess you could get on a waiting list for a Russian vaccine, but for now we'll social distance, go with a mask and shield, and hope for the best. The best would be that my wife gets a waiver and visa to enter the U.S.
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We've been pretty much on serious lockdown since July 9, but the screws have been tightened a little in the past few days with reports of cases in markets and motels in our area. Everybody who goes out, even guys sitting on the bridge fishing, are wearing masks. A few people will stand in front of their houses without masks, and a handful of teens don't wear them, but that's pretty much it. Clear plastic sheets protect cashiers, and taxi service has been halted. Food isn't a huge issue if you can handle Vietnamese food. Neighbors share with each other and markets and supermarkets remain open even if the crowds are large and the inventory small. You can get food but it may not be what you would normally eat or buy. My wife got a bunch of canned liver ... that's not for me so I've been eating the stockpile of Korean cakes and other sweet items I bought at an expensive specialty store before the recent surge. So I remain fat while other folks scramble for vegetables.
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On July 4, we ordered groceries to be delivered from a local supermarket when the number of daily Covid cases began to increase. The groceries arrived July 22. My wife would call from time to time to check on the delivery since we were initially told the groceries would arrive July 6 at 2:30 p.m. When it became clear that cases were surging and we were facing lockdown, we stopped calling. The store reached out to us, was contrite but didn't need to be, and ultimately delivered the goods. If we pleaded starvation and played the kids-have-no milk-or-food card, the store would have somehow gotten the groceries to us. They said as much. People started stockpiling around this time, but it was no big deal for us. And many people here are willing to pull together for the greater good. The folks who have the least so often give the most.
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The lockdown is a little difficult on our kids, especially Joanna, 5, who wants to take walks and look for creatures. Creature searches have been halted by the park's closure, so we look for house geckos, spiders, flies and ants. Spiders are rare, but there are lots of flies and ants – too many, in fact – and geckos come out at night. With no real outdoor exercise for Joanna, bedtime has been gettng later and later, so she gets to see the geckos. Wakeup time is later as well. She's never napped. Her "studies" continue but they start 9:30 a.m. or thereabouts and go until lunch or thereabouts. She still loves to color and draw, and that gives me a little break sometimes. We could all use a break.
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My friend in the USA continues his amazing recovery from pneumonia, a fractured vertebrae, kidney issues and God knows what else the doctors have found. Hopefully, they'll stop looking for stuff soon so my buddy can eventually get out of the hospital and back to living his life again.