Alas, we have another week of Coronavirus lockdown imposed on top of the existing two weeks! It affects me very little in truth, except for the cancellation of volunteer jobs. I do miss friends dropping by, but I have a family around me so loneliness is not a big problem. And I have the inside of my head, which is labyrinthine.

But I am sure that isolation is a huge problem for some people - those who live by themselves, for example. It is not the same kind of isolation that would have been experienced before mobile phones and the internet came along, something which would have been more of a social blackout, save for the radio and television. Then again, community and neighbourly contacts were more tightly knit back then and far fewer people lived by themselves. I am not sure how to properly balance this equation.

Putting things further in perspective, our closest neighbour, Indonesia, is currently deep into the pandemic, with predictions of potentially 100,000 reported infections each day in the near future. Hospitals are full. Compare that with today's total in NSW of 26. I hope that Australia acts with speed and tact in offering assistance of whatever kind the Indonesians require. It is not about self-interest, though I know that there are those in Canberra with just such a calculation in their heads, but about our common humanity.