Feest Isolation Days – 12 May
The Evening Standard’s headline on Monday was “Muddle Monday”. Some tubes were packed as workers returned to jobs once more, heeding the governments call on Sunday night that if people can’t work from home that they should head back to the office. Except, according to Dominic Raab on morning telly when he said workers weren’t meant to return until Wednesday. That’s clear then! The lack of Social Distancing in the workplace and on transport has to be a worry for everyone. The peak of the coronavirus may have passed, but unless there are better systems in place, especially on public transport, all the lockdown measures everyone has taken could put the country back to square one. Strong leadership needs clarity and consensus and it would appear that these twin requirements are currently somewhat lacking.
Last night, Boris took the daily press briefing and stood between the Chief Scientific Officer, Patrick Vallance and the Chief Medical Officer, Chris Whitty. Suddenly, there was more clarity. Questions that everyone had about the changes to lockdown were answered and the government’s message became clearer. There will be tiny steps forward, work places will need to be capable of social distancing and employers will need to be sensible. Why Boris gave his muddled message on his own on Sunday evening is beyond me. The speech was pre-recorded; perhaps his learning curve in the hours since he filmed it was great enough to necessitate changes and more clarity. We shall see what happens over the next few weeks. Everything is conditional on the R – the level or rate of infection staying below one. Let’s hope it keeps falling.
Whatever the politicians tell us is in store, we still need to find that inner place of calm as we remain locked down. Examining the new rules, we understand that there are a few baby steps we can begin to take as we move out of total isolation. There will be more walks in the country, Terry will be able to fish sooner than he anticipated, and all will be done carefully and legally. Socially distancing is a given for the foreseeable future.
Just as well that we have several Zoom sessions with friends booked this week – we will both delight in the lift that socialising will give us. Our Zoom dinner parties have worked so well we plan another one on Friday, something to look forward to! My makeup will be refreshed, I’ll find a dinner party outfit, light the dining room candles, turn off the music and fling open the dining room door to friends – electronically of course. It’s the best we can do for now and beats not having the contact.
We sang Happy Birthday twice this weekend and intend to fully celebrate all those
missed birthdays in person when the world is truly out of lockdown whenever that will be.
The little girl who lives next door raised money for the NHS by circling her garden two hundred times at the weekend. It took her three and a half hours to emulate Colonel Tom. Bravo! We are told that some teenage kids are beginning to get itchy and long to see their friends and return to their way of life. This pandemic is not easy for them. In many ways, we healthy older people with partners we love and financial security are the luckiest of the bunch. We are aware that we mustn’t be complacent though, as the virus seems to like older bodies the best. We won’t be visiting anyone anytime soon. No hugs!
We are back to bundling up with our hats and coats on in order to share a cuppa on the swing. Our hearts go out to all of those who battled the wind and the cold to get onto a packed tube to get to work this morning. Let’s hope that with the experts at his side, Boris really can sort this next phase out. If not, we are all back to square one. Lockdown!
And finally, for those of you not in the UK, to clarify where we are now…
With love
Kathy x