We know what lockdown life is like here but how are other countries coping? Here some ex-pats from south Essex describe the situation in other parts of the world.

Louise Otter, 50, lives in Cape Town, South Africa

Louise grew up in Leigh and went to St Bernard’s High School. She moved to Cape Town 20 years ago to work for a sports marketing and events company.

Due to our vulnerable population, we went into total lockdown relatively quickly.

We are not allowed out for anything but essential shopping and medical care - no walks or exercise outside of our homes.

I have pulled all the furniture away from the walls and run around the house and my small courtyard, if I’m honest, I am doing more exercise in lockdown than I did before! Hopefully, I am forming new healthy habits.

The South African government is doing a good job and preparing the country for a lot more infections, building temporary hospitals, setting up quarantine facilities and areas for the homeless to get off the streets are being set up every day.

Door to door testing has started which I think is impressive. We are in week three of the lockdown, but many of us believe it will be a lot longer.

I keep in touch with many friends from school. My parents and brother’s family, my nephews and I have been playing games together online. I try and make a trip to Leigh once a year to see everyone.

When I get back the first place I visit is the cockle sheds, you can’t get cockles over here, and the crab sticks are terrible! Even though I live near some of the most beautiful beaches in the world, I miss going for a walk along Chalkwell Beach”.

David Shroder, 40, grew up on Canvey, Now he lives in a suburb of Orlando in Florida and works in the power generation industry.

David lives with his wife and children.

The initial lockdown was absolutely more based around personal choice rather than a demand.

As the weeks have gone on we finally got issued a ‘stay in place’ order, which pretty much mirrors the orders in the UK when it comes to exercise and grocery shopping, etc. But people here seem a little less willing to be told what to do.

So when we do go on our walk in the evening, we still see football teams practicing.

The children miss their friends and teachers, although the teachers did organise a parade where they drove past the children’s houses and we did banners.

It was also my daughter’s birthday last week and friends from the neighbourhood organised a ‘social distancing’ birthday celebration.

They all came to our house, stood across the street 10ft apart and sang her happy birthday, which was really nice.

On the whole things have been OK. The school have set up virtual classrooms and the kids are taking part in video conferences every day as well as doing a good amount of school work every day.

They have also been keeping up with the Joe Wicks PE sessions.

Harry Sansum, 65, used to live in Southend. Ten years ago he moved to Playa del Ingles, Gran Canaria.

We have been in self-isolation for 30 days now and from the very beginning, when Covid-19 first reared its ugly head, the Canarian/Spanish government has taken the situation deadly seriously. From day one a state of emergency was declared.

Echo:

Grateful for strict measures - Harry Sansum, from Southend

Speedy and firm action was taken by Spain and the Spanish islands. Bars, non essential shops, restaurants etc were closed immediately. Hotels remained open only until tourists were able to return to their respective countries and even then, the guests were confined to their rooms and not allowed to use the pools. Streets and pubic places are regularly sanitized, the public are well informed and updated daily on TV news channels.

We are only allowed to leave our homes (one at a time) to go to the supermarket (that are well stocked, orderly, calm, following social distancing rules and with sanitary hand gel and gloves available for use), to the pharmacy or for other ‘essential trips.

Proof of ‘essential journey’ and ID is required if you leave the house, Also proof of destination for all civilians. There are police and army on the streets and highways to enforce these rules. Failure to comply with the rules have resulted in heavy fines and, in some cases, imprisonment.

The Covid-19 cases have been relatively small due to immediate action from day one. We regularly praise our health workers and those who risk themselves to give our daily lives some semblance of normality.”