7 Bizzare Incidents That Took Place This Week During The Pandemic

The Onion is a famous satire website that makes up fake news stories, all based on current events, and all completely bizarre, and more than a bit surreal. You can read their articles at their website here. However strange they may be-and they are- it turns out that real life has equally strange things on offer. So I have found 7 news items, all from the last week, which feel like they couldn't possibly have occurred. Each of these incidents are taken from reputable news sources, which I will link.

Taiwanese Baseball League resumes with cardboard cutouts as fans

The tiny island nation of Taiwan has been lightly lit by the coronavirus outbreak, with about 420 people infected in a population of 23 million, with all large gatherings being banned. Yet the Chinese Professional Baseball League continues their matches without any spectators, or rather without any living spectators. Cardboard cutouts, mannequins and robots with drums fill the seats of the Taipei ballpark in the capital. To make it seem even more like a real match, the players cheer for each other, and speakers placed in the bleachers blast rock'n'roll music. The players themselves find it easier to concentrate without the roar of fans in the background. Of course, to set an example, all the cutouts follow social distancing and wear masks. Read further here.

American woman treated for rabies after wrestling a fox

Eliza Watson, from the state of Maine, was gardening at her home when she noticed a fox on her property. She lived in a rural area, where foxes often came to steal chickens. Generally, they are shy creatures who flee at a human's approach. To this end, she approached the fox, making loud noises. However, the fox did not run, but instead charged at her. After a long struggle, involving some kicking on her part, and lots of biting and scratching of the fox, Eliza managed to get a chokehold on the animal, and stuff it in a large pot. She then called 911, and was treated for rabies. The entire story sounds like a folktale gone wrong.

Canada man files lawsuit over 'defective parrot'

Michael Davy of British Columbia paid a dealer, Akhtar Kidwai $1200 for the parrot, named Tiberius. The bird was said to have a life expectancy of 40 years. However, after a few months, Davy noticed the parrot shedding feathers rapidly. On examination by a vet, he was told that the bird had a lethal disease called 'psitaccine beak and feather virus', and would likely not survive another year. Davy took Kidwai to court, and charged him of fraudulent misrepresentation, or false advertising, but

there was no proof Kidwai was aware of the disease. Davy's lawyer found out, however, that a sale of goods act was violated. The law carries an "implied warranty" that a "good will be durable for a reasonable period having regard to the use to which it would normally be put and to all the surrounding circumstances", the lawyer said. The full story here.

Zimbabwe minister blames 'lack of beef' for Chinese wet markets

Energy Mutodi, the African country's Deputy Minister of Information said that the consumption of wildlife in East Asia causes diseases like the coronavirus, and offered to export beef to them to stop this. In his own words, "The consumption of dogs, cats , snakes, bats, monkeys , baboons & other wildlife in Asia & some parts of Africa has left us all at risk of contracting the COVID-19 & Ebola viruses. We hope to up our game on beef exports to China, Indonesia & others soon."
This naturally led to great backlash, with Zimbabweans telling him not to insult China, their 'all weather friend', but he did not retract his statements or apologize for them. Read the whole thing here.

Youths ride from Hyderabad to Chhattisgarh for ganja

Now, a story from a bit closer to home. Hyderabad resident Yashwanth Kumar and his friend Ganesh cycled the nearly 600 kilometers to the neighbouring state solely to buy ganja. The youths were drug addicts, who couldn't source them due to the lockdown. However, they got the idea that it would be easily procured in Chhattisgarh. So the duo did, in fact reach the border, bypassing 100 police checkpoints and crossing a river. There, they procured two kilograms of the drug, and made it all the way back to Hyderabad, where they were caught, because pillion riding was not allowed. Yashwant told the police that he avoided them by travelling through villages. Read it here.

Belgians told to double potato consumption

Governments all around the world are telling their citizens to practise social distancing and wear masks. However, Belgium's national association of potato producers, Belgapom, requested the people of the country to double their consumption of potatoes in order to help deplete to 750,000 tonne stockpile of potatoes. The association's director encouraged people to eat more, saying that eating an extra helping could help a farmer. More on this here.

Spaniards seen taking pet fish, hens and stuffed animals for walks

Spain has been overrun with COVID-19 infections in the past weeks, and so, not surprisingly,  the government's lockdown measures are among the world's strictest. However, they allowed people to take pets for short walks so that they (the pets, not the people) could relieve themselves. This inspired restless Spaniards to stretch the definition of 'pet'. Many people had been seen walking stuffed animals across the streets. In the city of Lanzarote, a man walking a hen was accused of violating movement restrictions. In another incident, a man in the city of Logroño was penalized for taking his pet fish out for a walk in its bowl. However, the best incident by far has to be a man in Murcia, who dressed up in an inflatable Tyrannosaurus costume, and stalked the streets. Read more about such incidents here.