Corona Daily 002: Flashback: Part Five

At the beginning of March 2020, life was absolutely normal in Bombay, students going to school or preparing for exams; traffic jams, pollution, packed parks; malls, crowded trains, cinemas and theatres. Sunday, 8 March, after my long run, I was chatting with my runner friends at the local park. That day, I think, was the first time we discussed the virus.

“Nothing will happen in India.” Said a fellow-runner. “Our immunity is very strong.”

“True”, another friend said. “This happens in cold countries. Hot weather kills all viruses.”

“And we have got the triple vaccine as children. That protects us against most diseases. All this talk of a deadly virus…. mark my words, we will not have a single case in India.”

I corrected him saying India has already had cases. I had read enough to feel the danger was global. But all of us had just run 21 km. When you are in good shape and form, your sense of danger is low.

*****

The Indian government had proposed a new law that planned to find the “illegals” in India, and deport or imprison them. By offering amnesty to non-Muslims, the law had targeted Muslims. As mentioned earlier, protesting Muslim women had blocked a central street in Delhi. On 8 March, a local newspaper had published my half-page article explaining the nuances of the discriminatory law. The government machinery planned to run a six month campaign from 1 April to find the “illegal Muslims” (mainly former Bangladeshis and their progeny).

The egg-seller near my house is a bearded Muslim. I had discussed this issue with him to learn his views.

“Allah will not let it happen.” He said.

“But the campaign to find the illegal Muslims begins on 1 April”. I said.

“Allah will not let it happen.” He repeated, confidently.

A year later, when buying eggs from him, I reminded him of that conversation.

“Yes, Allah is almighty. I hope the Indian government learns its lesson now.”

*****

Things started moving rather fast after that. Tom Hanks tested positive in Australia. I am a Tom Hanks fan, and I earnestly hoped he was stronger than the virus.

On Thursday, 12 March, the stock markets crashed. They apparently act as a measure of the global sentiment. In a week’s time, I predicted the markets will further fall by 30% before starting to slowly climb again. I am left with egg on my face, rather a whole egg omelet. The world’s longest running pyramid scheme continued to prosper. Bitcoin shot to the moon. Bored young people put their stimulus money in the casino. New platforms such as Robinhood allowed people to trade stocks with zero commissions. The markets showed they had little connection with the real world.  Markets can reach their records at the height of the pandemic, and may crash once the pandemic is over. I have stopped making any market-related predictions, thank you.

*****

On 13 March, Trump, perhaps shocked by the market crash, declared a national emergency.

17 March was the day when newspapers in North America and Europe talked almost exclusively about coronavirus. It is noteworthy that the first vaccine trials by Moderna began on the same day. This was an absolute record in vaccine development needing only 66 days from the virus’s genetic sequence to the first human injection. The credit went to earlier epidemics like SARS and MERS, when scientists spent much effort in development, but the epidemics ended prematurely.

On 18 March, the tables turned. Deaths outside China overtook those inside China. China, in fact, started preparing to get back to normal. Except Wuhan, travel restrictions would soon end. In two days, Italy became the no.1 coronavirus victim. Already, some 500 Italians were dying daily.

*****

On 19 March, PM Narendra Modi addressed India. India would completely shut down for a single day, on Sunday, 22 March.

“Why is he doing this?” Said a runner friend the next day. “There is nothing here. Our immunity is so strong. And the virus doesn’t survive in our hot climate.”

“This is just a trailer.” I told him. “The film will begin soon thereafter, and I am afraid it is going to be a rather long film.”

*****

Ravi 

Corona Daily 003: Flashback: Part Four

In February 2020, Ilaria Santi, a councillor in the Italian city of Prato, in Tuscany, visited the canteen of an elementary school. A Chinese school girl asked her: “Aren’t you afraid of sitting next to me?”

“Why should I be afraid?” asked the councillor.

“Afraid I infect you with the coronavirus.”

*****

In some Italian schools, Chinese children were now called ‘Cinavirus’, occasionally harassed and bullied. After the Diamond Princess, the outbreak in Italy was the big news. (I covered the Diamond Princess story in four parts: 1, 2, 3, and 4).

Why Italy, many had wondered. I had spoken to Antonio, my friend, who lives in Napoli. He was the first to describe to me what a lockdown was. A person could leave the house for absolutely essential things – but not without government permission. If an Italian wished to go to the chemist to buy medicines, he had to first fill a form online, send it to the ministry. If he got a positive response from the government, print the consent, and show it to the policeman on the road. India was still free when I spoke to Antonio. I wondered how an average poor Indian would seek ministerial consent on the internet.

Some 310,000 Chinese live in Italy, not including those who already are Italian citizens. The majority lives in the north, with large concentrations in Prato and Florence. Most of them are textile workers. Prato alone has over 30,000 Chinese working in the textile industry, without contracts, some part-time, some paid in cash, with limited or no access to social security. The fashion centers in Milan and Padova can’t run without Chinese workers. Many of the Italian Chinese had gone back home for the Chinese New Year.

*****

On the other side of the ocean, Chinese in America were already subjected to suspicion, ridicule and bullying. American history talks about people fixing blame for a contagious disease on outsiders. Swine flu was associated with Mexican Americans, SARS with Chinese Americans, HIV with Haitian Americans. AIDS was called the “4H disease” in America, the 4H referring to Haitians, homosexuals, haemophiliacs and heroin users.

Racism against the Chinese was, in fact, institutionalised in 1882, with the passing of the “Chinese Exclusion Act”. It provided for an absolute 10-year moratorium on any Chinese wanting to enter the USA. The Geary Act of 1892 required Chinese residents to register and obtain proof of residence or be kicked out of the country.

*****

The Chinese Lunar New Year festival witnesses a massive human migration. Chinese, living inside or outside China, travel back to their hometowns. Usually, they make close to 3 billion trips over the 40-day travel period (Chunyun). The timing of the emergence of the novel coronavirus was an ironic tragedy for the world, because it coincided with the Chinese New Year holiday.

About 5 million people left Wuhan, and travelled around China, went to Italy, USA and other parts of the world; before China imposed a travel ban on 23 Jan 2020. Criticism with hindsight is usually unfair, but in this case most evidence had pointed to a serious epidemic by December. Had China shown the ruthlessness it is capable of, and banned travel at the beginning of January, the pandemic could have been a stillborn baby.

This failure of the Chinese State resulted in a display of xenophobia in several countries. For a nation’s sins, its innocent citizens usually pay a price.

*****

On 31 January 2020, Britain, with its newly-acquired independence, brought home 83 British people from Wuhan in an air force plane and quarantined them. The first British to die was a cruise traveler on the Diamond Princess. Six days later, a woman in her 70s died in hospital in Berkshire. Covid-19 was no longer a story happening somewhere far.

The 8 March Guardian talked about British supermarkets starting to ration toilet paper, pasta, anti-bacterial wipes, hand soap and children’s medicines.

On 13 March, WHO declared Europe had become the epicenter of the Covid-19 pandemic. Outside China, Europe had more cases and deaths than the rest of the world combined. Italy had Europe’s largest outbreak. By the second week of March, US and European news outlets were exhaustively covering the Covid-19 story. So much that it was difficult to find any news without the mention of the coronavirus.

*****

Ravi   

Corona Daily 004: Flashback: Part Three

The story of Dr Li Wenliang was a big, suppressed story in China in February 2020. The New York Times already started reporting it on 1 February. Dr Li was a 34- year old ophthalmologist from Wuhan, and had one child. He and his wife were expecting a second child in the summer of 2020.

 On 30 December 2019, Dr Li issued a warning about the mysterious illness. “Quarantined in the emergency department”, he wrote about the patients in his hospital on an online chat group. His message emphasized that a very contagious virus resembling SARS was active; everyone should take care, and let everyone in the family pay attention to preventing the spread.

Though he wrote it to his medical school classmates, his post went viral across the Chinese social media. “So frightening. Is SARS coming again?” asked one person.

On 3 January, in the middle of the night, the Wuhan health authority officials summoned Dr Li, and demanded to know why he had shared that information. He was taken to the police station, and detained for spreading false rumours. He was forced to sign a police document admitting he had seriously disrupted social order and breached the law. In exchange for signing the statement, he would not be arrested. That was enough to make Dr Li sign it.

On 8 January, he treated an 82-year old lady for acute glaucoma. He couldn’t know she had already been infected with coronavirus, probably by her daughter. On 10 January, the woman and her daughter developed high fever. Dr Li started coughing, and was soon admitted to the intensive care unit.

*****

Dr Li Wenliang had already become a hero for issuing an early warning to those on social media. On 31 January, he published on social media his experience in the police station, and the letter of admonition. His post went viral, and users began questioning why he was silenced by the authorities.

While still in the ICU, with the mask on, he was interviewed by the New York Times and some Chinese newspapers. “If the officials had disclosed information about the epidemic earlier,” Dr Li told the Times, “I think it would have been a lot better. There should be more openness and transparency.

“I think a healthy society should not have just one voice, and I don’t approve of using public power for excessive interference.” He told Caixin, a Chinese magazine, courageous enough to report aggressively about the epidemic.

The Caixin and Southern Metropolis Daily reports have surprisingly survived Chinese censorship. “After I recover, I want to return to the front line. The epidemic is still spreading, and I don’t want to be a deserter” Dr Li told the Southern Metropolitan Daily. That was the last interview he gave.

On 7 February, Dr Li Wenliang died of coronavirus.

*****

His death sparked outrage among Chinese internet users. Censors were shocked at the scale of criticism. Many blamed the government and the Chinese Communist Party. China’s powerful anti-corruption body sent investigators to Wuhan for “a comprehensive investigation into the problems reported by the public concerning Doctor Li Wenliang”. A report was delivered in March 2020, which found that Dr Li had not disrupted public order, and that he was a professional who fought bravely and made sacrifices. The report said Li had not verified the information before sending it. The key recommendation was to withdraw the reprimand. Dr Li was posthumously officially exonerated.

This news was read on Weibo, (Chinese Twitter), by over 160 million. “Is that it?” said one user. “They might as well have not said anything.

Following his exoneration, Dr Li’s family received reimbursement of his funeral expenses, and compensation for a workplace injury. In June 2020, Dr Li’s widow gave birth to a second son.

*****

Ravi 

Corona Daily 005: Flashback: Part Two

Humans are capable of absorbing catastrophic news from abroad with tranquility. We placidly read about wildfires in Greece or Turkey. The agitation usually begins when the disaster reaches our own city.

*****

News reports on 21 January identify the first case in the USA. A single unnamed male in his 30s, residing in Snohomish County was America’s first patient. He was travelling solo since November in Wuhan. He landed in Seattle on 15 Jan. with a fever and cough, and in hospital four days later.

On 22 January, CNBC interviewed Donald Trump. An extract:

Interviewer: The CDC has identified a case of coronavirus, in Washington State. The Wuhan strain. If you remember SARS, that affected GDP. Travel-related effects. Have you been briefed by the CDC? Are there worries about a pandemic at this point?

Trump: No. Not at all. We have it totally under control. It’s one person coming from China, and we have it under control. It’s going to be just fine. I trust China. I have a great relationship with President Xi. We just signed probably the biggest deal ever made.

*****

On 30 January, the Hindu reported India’s first positive case, a 20-year old girl from Kerala studying in Wuhan University. On 23 January, she flew back from Wuhan, and four days later had a sore throat and dry cough. She had not been to the Huanan Seafood wholesale market. On a train from Wuhan to Kunming, she had noticed several people with respiratory symptoms. She was discharged from the hospital on 20 Feb 2020. (She stayed in India until July 2021 due to travel restrictions. Ironically, in July, she gave a test before leaving for Wuhan, and tested positive. She was re-infected after 18 months).

*****

On 1 February, BBC and other media reported the first two patients in the UK. On 29 January, a 23-year Chinese national called the NHS 111 phone line from his hotel room in York. Known in medical journals as “B”, this University of York student had fever, dry cough and muscle pain. His 50 year old mother “A” who flew from Wuhan a week earlier had fever, cough and sore throat. The pair was discharged on 17 February.

By January end, coronavirus had spread to 25 countries, with 7,818 confirmed cases and over 400 dead.

*****

On 22 January, WHO postponed a decision on whether to declare the outbreak a “public health emergency of international concern.” WHO Chief Tedros Adhanom said “this is an evolving and complex situation.”

Wuhan was closed off from the following day.

“At this time there is no evidence of human-to-human transmission outside China”. Said Adhanom. “That doesn’t mean it won’t happen.” He added.

On 28 January, it did happen. A German man was infected by a colleague who had returned from Wuhan. In Vietnam and Japan, the virus was transmitted from one person to another. On 30 January, a woman in Illinois back from Wuhan passed the virus to her husband.

 On 30 January, WHO declared the outbreak a global health emergency.

*****

WHO spent the first few weeks of February debating new virus names. On 11 February, the viral disease was baptized as Covid-19.

On 24 February, WHO confirmed at a press briefing that the coronavirus outbreak does not yet amount to a pandemic. “Using the word pandemic does not fit the facts, but may cause fear.” Said Tedros Adhanom. “For the moment, we are not witnessing uncontained global spread, and we are not witnessing large-scale severe disease or death.” He added.

By 2 March, the virus had spread to over 60 countries. Adhanom said most cases were linked and could be traced to known contacts, with no evidence of the virus spreading freely in communities. “As long as that is the case, we still have a chance of containing the virus.” He added.

*****

Before the end of January 2020, USA, India, UK and many other countries had had their first infections. On 24/25 February, Donald Trump, his family and entourage were visiting India. As part of the Namaste Trump tour, more than 100,000 Indians were cheering Trump in India’s largest stadium (now renamed Narendra Modi stadium).

On 11 March, WHO declared this was a pandemic. In the previous two weeks, cases in China had grown 13 times. “Describing the situation as a pandemic does not change WHO’s assessment of the threat posed by this coronavirus.” Said Tedros Adhanom. “Pandemic is a word that, if misused, can cause unreasonable fear, or unjustified acceptance that the fight is over, leading to unnecessary suffering and death.” He added.

*****

(Continued)

Ravi 

Corona Daily 006: Flashback: Part One

January 2020 was dominated by news about the US senate’s impeachment trial of President Trump, bushfires raging in Australia, the Brexit drama finally ending with the EU-Britain divorce on 31 January, and Muslim women occupying a road in central Delhi to protest against India’s proposed discriminatory law. Only cover-to-cover readers came across a small news item talking about a mysterious flu in China turning parts of urban China into empty places.

*****

Now, nineteen months later, I tried to find the first mention of the coronavirus in any major international newspaper. It is perhaps a 6 January report by Sui-Lee Wee and Vivian Wang in New York Times. It quotes Lee Poon, a public health expert at the University of Hong Kong. “I hope this pathogen is a less harmful one so it would not cause a major epidemic similar to SARS.” He said. “It would be a nightmare for all of us.”

“The (Chinese) authorities have acted swiftly to clamp down on discussion about the outbreak. Censors blocked the hashtag #WuhanSARS. The police said they were investigating eight people in Wuhan for “spreading rumours” online about the disease.” NYT reported.

*****

On the following day, 7 January, the US embassy in China issued a health alert. It said: “Travelers to Wuhan should avoid animals (alive or dead), animal markets and products that come from animals (such as uncooked meat). They should avoid contact with sick people, and wash hands often with soap and water.”

A longer article appeared in NYT on 8 January. It boldly, but not prophetically said, “There is no evidence that the new virus is readily spread by humans, which would make it particularly dangerous, and it has not been tied to any deaths.”  

“The initial cases were linked to workers at a market that sold live fish, animals and birds. Workers disinfected and shut down the market after the city health department said many of the cases had been traced to it.”

It is strange, if not suggestive, that the Chinese articles hyperlinked in the NYT have disappeared. You only see “404 not found”.

*****

On the same day, 8 January, a Hong Kong newspaper reported about a 36 year old woman returning to Korea from her business trip in China. She was diagnosed with pneumonia and was isolated.

The Washington Post dated 8 January also confirms “there is no clear evidence the unidentified disease can be transmitted between humans.”

The post is more graphic in describing the Wuhan market. “The 1000-stall bazaar sold not only seafood but marmots, spotted deer and venomous snakes, according to state media reports that described the market as filthy and messy.”

The article has an ominous sentence: “If the Wuhan pneumonia were found to be contagious, it could pose a major public health challenge coming just before the Lunar New Year Holiday, when more than 400 million Chinese are expected to travel, including 7 million who vacation overseas.”

Thankfully, the report ends on a comforting note. “Xu Jianguo, a former top Chinese public health official, struck an assuring note and said the government’s disease control capabilities today are much stronger than they were in the early 2000s. More than a decade has passed. It’s impossible for something like SARS to happen again.”

*****

Though I mentioned 6 January NYT article as the earliest, articles in local newspapers precede it. On 5 January, the Bangkok post talks about Thailand officials running thermal scans on passengers arriving from Wuhan. Every week, 24 flights arrived from Wuhan to Thailand. “China Southern Airlines will operate additional flights to Phuket from Jan 10 to Feb 3 to cater to the Chinese New Year festival” the report adds.

Now we know that the special flights went ahead, and Wuhan passengers in thousands landed in Phuket to celebrate the New Year.

*****

Judging by the newspapers in January, those in and around China who had experienced SARS were terrified the mysterious pneumonia may cause a SARS-like toll. That was the imagined limit. (By the way, SARS globally caused 8,098 cases and 774 deaths.)

During SARS, the doctors and nurses were ill at the start of the outbreak. This time, that was not the case. That misled the Chinese officials to believe human-to-human transmission was not possible.

*****

(Continued tomorrow)

Ravi 

Corona Daily 007: Unfinished Learning

Two months ago, I wrote about our fitness going down as a result of the shut gyms and swimming pools, as well as general reduction in exercise. In June, I rejoined the gym after a fifteen month gap. I am still unable to lift more than 75% of weights I could effortlessly lift before the pandemic.

Something similar has happened with the school students. Two USA reports published last week, one by McKinsey and another by an organization called NWEA show that the steepest drops have been in two subjects: Mathematics and reading.

On average, students fell five months behind in mathematics, and four months behind in reading by the end of the school year. Historically disadvantaged students lost even more. Students in America’s black-majority schools ended six months behind in Mathematics, low-income school students seven months.

McKenzie uses the term ‘unfinished learning’ to capture the pandemic fact that students didn’t get the opportunity to finish the learning they would have in a typical year. In many countries, students are promoted to the next grade with or without a reliable way of assessments. However, even imperfect education systems use building blocks, particularly for Mathematics and reading. How to continue with the construction of a skyscraper when two floors are missing in between? If younger students don’t spend enough time learning the alphabet and basic texts, can they start reading books just because they are promoted?

Other than the academic knowledge, children are at risk of finishing school without the skills, behaviours and mindsets to succeed in college or in the workforce.

*****

In the survey of 16,370 parents from across all the US states, 35% of parents said they were extremely anxious about their child’s mental health, and social and emotional well-being. Parents reported increases in clinical mental health conditions. There is a 5 percentage point increase in anxiety among children, and 6 percentage point increase in behaviors such as social withdrawal, self-isolation, lethargy and irrational fears.

Chronic absenteeism from grade 8 to 12 has gone up by 12 percentage points. 42% of students are not attending schools at all (when they should), according to their parents. In the US, before the pandemic, 3.1 million children were chronically absent from school. That number has now more than doubled.

Chronic absenteeism is the first step to dropping out of school. As per the McKenzie report, up to 1.2 million children could drop out altogether because of the pandemic. The report calculates the loss to them, and to American society. White students are likely to see their lifetime earnings reduced by 1.4%, the reduction for Black students could be 2.4% and for the Hispanic students 2.1%.

Lower earnings, lower level of education and the consequent reduction in innovation lead to decreased economic productivity. By 2040, all the school students of today, (kindergarten to grade 12) will be part of the workforce. The report expects the potential GDP loss of around $160 billion from pandemic related unfinished learning.

*****

At the bottom end, more than 1 million American children simply were not enrolled in local schools. They didn’t show up in person or online. Educators realized there is no substitute for quality, in-person kindergarten. Children begin to identify numbers and letters, the first building blocks. Kindergarten is a place where teachers can generally diagnose dyslexia, autism or the need for a child to wear glasses.

Both in the USA and UK, registrations for home education went up. In the UK, they rose by 75% in the eight months of the academic year. Covid anxiety has made parents remove children from the school register and switch to home-education officially. Not just kindergarten children, but older ones as well. Between September 2020 and April 2021, over 40,000 pupils were taken out of UK schools. Many parents admit they are “reluctant home educators”.

*****

Though this article gives a glimpse of the state of education in the USA and UK, the problems are universal. Predictably, they are more acute in Asia and Africa.

School re-opening for in-person learning is a critical potential action. When schools re-open, the teachers should focus on building the missing blocks, finish the unfinished learning.

Ravi 

Corona Daily 008: Want a Job in Ibiza?

Candidate and job description: A foreigner (from outside Spain), age 30-40. Should look like and dress like an obvious foreign tourist. Fond of disco music and dancing. Hang out in the island’s bars till 1 am when the curfew begins. (Drinks and food will be paid for).  

*****

For those who don’t know, Ibiza Island is Spain’s summer playground, famous for its night-clubbing. Like going to Las Vegas to visit casinos, foreign tourists arrive at Ibiza to spend nights in its clubs. In normal times, mega clubs such as Pacha or Hi Ibiza are visited nightly by thousands. Clubbers in Ibiza wake up at noon or later, again take an early evening nap; spend the night clubbing, followed by “disco sunrises”. For years, the local authorities have been trying unsuccessfully to introduce a law that will shut the clubs at 6 am, yes, six in the morning.

*****

Why are the Ibiza authorities desperately looking to recruit foreigners? The Delta variant has upset summer plans. Cases are rising, and Ibiza has imposed a strict curfew at 1.00 in the night. Most nightclubs are ordered shut. Some outdoor events are possible, but patrons are not allowed to leave their chairs, absolutely no dancing. Gatherings in restaurants and bars are limited to small numbers.

As a result of the covid restrictions, parties now happen illegally. Most parties happen in private homes, promoted through messages on social media. The fines for those organizing illegal parties are high - $700,000, but the parties haven’t stopped.

The 30-40 year old foreigners’ squad will be expected to keep their eyes and ears open. When they are in bars, innocently they will try to solicit invitations to those private parties. Bars and taxi stands are the two places where people gossip about the gatherings. It has become big business; some charge $60 as entrance fee.

Why can’t Ibiza’s own detectives or health inspectors do this job? Because their faces are known. The locals will view a known policeman dancing at an illegal party with suspicion. Ibiza officials have decided that the recruited foreign undercover agents will solicit invitations. Inform the police the details of the party, and then wait until the police arrive.

*****

Spain is a democratic country. The police don’t have the authority to enter a private home (even if the music is blasting) without a warrant. However, they are now trying to do it under the pandemic health regulations. Without private detectives, it is not easy to find those venues. Many of them are in secluded residences, away from main roads. If the police were to enter a house wrongly, it would result in bad media publicity as well as possible court cases.

Once the detectives alert the authorities, police will place themselves outside the planned house (this is lawful), and prevent people from joining the party.

The “party tracking project” includes getting the right information. The undercover agents will go to the parties to collect evidence (sale of tickets, alcohol, take photos of unmasked people, see if social distancing is observed). Ibiza police suspect some parties are organised by foreign business groups with great capacity for logistics.

*****

Ibiza law allows cutting power supply of a place. But it requires a notice of 48 hours. (By which time the illegal party is over). It is also considered a safety hazard. There may a stampede of people not very sober. Moreover, the Ibiza law enforcement has learnt there is nobody to talk to at 4 am to have the electricity supply cut off. Done without proper security or valid reason, cutting off power is considered a crime of coercion.

Local officials have concluded their best bet is the foreign detectives. The objective is to learn where the illegal parties are happening, place police outside, and prevent people from going in.

*****

If your age and spirit permit it, why not apply for the job? Ibiza is one of the paradises on earth.

Ravi          

Corona Daily 009: Romeo Budhoo’s Story: Part Final

In February 2021, Budhoo had attended a landlord rally in front of the official residence of Governor Cuomo. The rally leader said the moratorium was not fair for landlords, because they were not super-rich landlords like Donald Trump. For landlords to get any funds from the state, the tenant must do much paperwork. There is no incentive for the tenants to do it.

“They are telling themselves - Why should we go and do all these things and hustle to apply when nobody can put us out of the apartment?” Budhoo said. Alfonzo Hill, his tenant had not participated in the summer 2020 relief program. Even when the renters signed up for relief, many landlords were scared, because for a year since signing they lost the right to evict a tenant. Budhoo didn’t belong to that camp. He was willing to try and co-operate with Hill to push forward the paperwork.

*****

He kept returning to his house at 1042 Cutler. One morning he parked his car and watched the front door for any sign of Alfonzo Hill. In his imagination, he often pictured Hill coming out with a monthly check or even the entire $12,000 he owed. He counted the empty cans on the porch. He sent a text message to his wife, “nothing yet.” Budhoo listened to music and played a video game on his phone, before realizing he had wasted too much time.

He was not authorized to enter the house, or demand payment, or evict the tenant.

Budhoo saw some movement further down the road. A woman was throwing clothes from inside the house on the lawn. It looked like an eviction. Curious, Budhoo drove close to the house.

“Are you the landlord?” He asked the woman. She said yes.

“Wow. Congratulations.” He said, pointing to all the trash thrown out on the lawn. “I have been trying to get back my house for over a year. How did you do it?”

“It’s not what you think.” The lady said. “I didn’t evict. They just left.”

“Hey, come on.” Said Budhoo.

The landlady laughed and explained how she had systematically applied pressure the whole year.  She had bombarded the tenant with eviction paperwork and notices, though she knew eviction was not possible. She stopped repairing anything, filed a case in small claims court. She served notice on her debtors to legally seize their wages or savings. Eventually, they got sick and decided to vacate on their own.

“I like to be reasonable, but it’s either my house or theirs.” She said. Her victory was visually spread in front of Budhoo. An empty house, and in front of it 28 garbage bags piled high on the sidewalk, an overturned chest of drawers, a child’s mattress soaked through by rain and thousands of grains of rice scattered all across the street.

“I have been lucky.” She said. “I only rent good people, and most have paid. It seems like other landlords are going under, but I am actually trying to invest. I am looking to buy.”

Budhoo helped her pick up the garbage bags and threw them in the industrial dumpster.

“I might have an opportunity for you.” He said. “You know that house 1042 Cutler? It’s a good house. I can give you a good price.”

*****

The true story written by Eli Saslow ends at this point. He doesn’t tell us whether Romeo Budhoo succeeded in selling the house to the lady. He probably didn’t. But that’s not the point.

The story is about the human crisis for tenants as well as small landlords. On the 31 July midnight, America’s ban on evictions expired, putting millions of American renters at the risk of being evicted from their homes. More than 15 million people in 6.5 million homes have defaulted on rents over $20 billion to landlords.

On 3 August, the Biden administration imposed a new 60-day moratorium in parts of the USA, citing the spread of the delta variant. The can has been kicked one more time down the road. Romeo Budhoo’s wait to get his house back continues.

*****

Ravi 

Corona Daily 010: Romeo Budhoo’s Story: Part Two

The unemployed Alfonzo Hill, Budhoo’s tenant, browsed the internet for days to learn about tenant rights, New York’s rent strikes, and the eviction moratorium. In the pandemic economy, the US government had banned all evictions until the end of July 2021 to avoid, or rather postpone, a historic housing crisis. Officially, more than 8 million American rental properties were behind on payments on average by six months. Most were owned not by big companies or banks, but by small landlords like Budhoo.

On TV, Alfonzo Hill watched Governor Cuomo say that inability to pay rent was the state’s number one issue, and the moratorium had taken it off the table. In the presidential campaign, Joe Biden said rents should be forgiven. Not delayed but forgiven. Hill made it a point to vote for Biden. After listening to the leaders, Hill’s conscience was clear. He spent the unemployment allowance and the four-figure stimulus checks to fix the broken engine in his minivan, buy some furniture, pay off the credit card debt, and gave his daughter a laptop for her virtual lessons. Why pay to Budhoo what may be forgiven by the new president?

*****

Budhoo dialed a number saved as “Julie eviction” on his cell phone. Her real name was Julie Horn. She owned a few properties herself, and specialized in the eviction business. This entailed helping landlords file court cases, notarize documents, serve eviction paperwork to tenants. Schenectady, with more than half its population renting, and about 1,000 tenants getting evicted each year, provided Julie with a decent amount of business. Julie’s card said “the Hit Lady”. She had met all kinds; tenants crying, begging, threatening or running away. In the pandemic, though, what she experienced was indifference.

Budhoo had sought her help in the past. Julie’s fees and eviction expenses were labeled as “routine turnover” in his books.

This year, Julie’s work had become difficult. The courts still heard eviction cases. But they asked for far more documents. A tenant who was a veteran couldn’t be evicted under any circumstances. Even if the court were to pass an eviction order, it couldn’t be served until the federal moratorium was lifted at the end of July 2021.

*****

Julie talked about the general perception. Budhoo was the landlord, the acknowledged villain. He was the greedy man trying to throw people on the streets.

Budhoo was trapped between non-paying tenants and the government demanding insurance, mortgage payments and property tax. One third of the American small landlords were about to go bankrupt.

“Have you thought of trading cash for keys?” Julie asked him. This was a new strategy in Schenectady. The landlord should pay $500 to the tenant; and forgive all overdue rent if the tenant moved out.  

“That’s crazy” said Budhoo. He didn’t have money to give to his tenants. He would rather commit suicide. Seriously, he told Julie.

“Have you thought about selling it?” Julie asked.

Budhoo doubted he would find a buyer willing to take the house along with its non-paying occupant. If he was lucky in finding a buyer, it would be to minimize his losses. He had put his entire life in the tenancy business. The work of twenty years was being erased in a single year.

*****

In the following month, Budhoo attended a meeting of the distressed landlords. Each of them was a rent creditor for more than $10,000. Most were immigrants who had saved the city twenty years ago. Now the city was trying to survive the pandemic by raising the trash fees and property taxes.

They shared their stories. Some were trading cash for keys as Julie had suggested. Others were cutting off heat in the houses, trying to force the tenants out. For fear of not getting rent, vacant properties were not rented out any more. One person told the story of an Albany landlord who had broken into his own apartment on a Sunday morning. At gunpoint, he had tied the tenants, and then dropped them at a cemetery 30 miles from the property.

Budhoo didn’t think that was a real solution.

*****

(The third and final part tomorrow.)

Ravi