Category: About Me

The Numbers

As we enter Week 6, I can’t even be bothered to talk about all the numbers any more, they are so meaningless.

The only ones that are real are the numbers of reported deaths and those are probably a massive underestimation.

For what it’s worth, only 596 people died yesterday bringing the total to 16,060. I say only, not because its a small number, but because its the smallest number we’ve seen for a while now. Then again, it was a Sunday and they have been low all along until we catch up with ourselves on Monday or Tuesday. Let’s see what happens today. We could be over the hump!

The News

The schools are not going back anytime soon!

Germany are lifting some shopping restrictions. Australia are opening some beaches. There have been no new cases in Barbados for a day or two.

Richard Branson has asked the government for a bail-out of £500 million for Virgin Atlantic or they will collapse. Eh? Hang on. This is a guy who is worth £4.7 billion and lives on his own island in the Caribbean where he doesn’t pay tax in the UK. This is what he says in his defence:

The New Way of Life

I can hardly remember what we did yesterday. I made a few calls. Had a doorstep chat with a friend as he passed on his daily walk. Got up late. Read my book. Wrote my blog.

We did a 10 mile bike ride in the afternoon. It was bright and sunny but actually quite cold.

I went to our local Tesco for some tomatoes. Always an adventure in The Time of Covid.

M cooked a pork meatball pasta bake for a late Sunday lunch and we watched a new (for us) science fiction BBC series called DEVS. Quite intriguing so far.

I watched a bit of the big concert Together at Home before bed, while M was looking for pictures of his old rugby days and sharing them with his old (literally) rugby mates. He’s been doing that a lot over the past few days! I have lost count of the number of times he has thrust his phone in my face to show me yet another, usually black and white, picture of them all lined up in their kit in the days when they had hair, muscles and all their own teeth.

Together at Home was an international event with the aim of paying tribute to key workers all over the world. A bit like a Time of Covid Band Aid. It was coordinated in America by Lady Gaga, where they raised millions. But, in the UK we just got to enjoy the highlights without dipping our hands into our pockets.

Basically, lots of musicians performed from their homes across the internet. Performers included The Rolling Stones, Stevie Wonder, Elton John, Cheryl Crow Little Mix and many, many more. In our UK highlights version, the music was interspersed with lots of soppy (in a good way) tributes to key workers across the country.

The most interesting thing about it was seeing inside the houses of the rich and famous. A bit like a musical version of Through the Keyhole, except that you knew whose house it was from the start. Maybe more like Cribs then, except that you only got to see a small part of the room they were recording in. The best one was Charlie Watts from the Rolling Stones, who pretended to drum his way through You cant always get what you want, in a corner of his sitting room, using some battered suitcases and an old armchair. Brilliant!

Thought for The Day

I’ve been thinking about my house in The Time of Covid. Most of our homes are set up for how they look, and not really for how they function. And, if we’re honest, its about how they look to others, and not really about how they look to us.

No-one has set foot in our house for 6 weeks and probably won’t for months, and maybe even years. I haven’t bothered cleaning or tidying the spare bedroom. It’s become a dumping ground for clean laundry and other items that have been displaced to make room for something more functional.

We live mostly in our ground floor, open plan kitchen, dining and sitting area. That is relatively unchanged apart from the fact that we are keeping our trainers and cycling gear at the front door. Normally, I like them put away.

The decking area outside the bifold doors has become a mini-gym area for M. Normally, I’d be nagging at him to put the equipment away because its supposed to be a nice summer sitting area.

We have an upstairs lounge which is usually the tidiest room in the house. All we really do in there is watch TV sometimes after dinner. Now it has become an indoor workout  area with furniture permantly pushed back to make room for M’s yoga mat and the exercise bike has permanently moved in.

It has made me think that, after this, if there ever is an after, we should try to continue to keep our house how we want it, and how it works for us in terms of how we use it and how we live in it. Why shouldn’t we keep an exercise bike in the lounge if that’s where it works best for us. Why should we have to move furniture back and forth every time we excersise? What can’t the outside space be a workout space and a sitting space?

 

 

 

 

 

Global Cases 2,345,331
Global Deaths 161,191
UK Cases 114,217
UK New Deaths 888 Total Deaths 15,464

The Numbers

I’m starting to think that, apart from the reported deaths, which are in-hospital deaths where the patients have been tested and tested positive, most of the numbers are meaningless.

If we just look at the countries at the top of the worldometer table which is ranked by number of confirmed cases:

• USA 738,792
• Spain 194,416
• Italy 175,925
• France 151,793
• Germany 143,724
• UK 114,217

They are at the top because they have the highest numbers of conformed cases. But the number of confirmed cases relies on TESTING.

The rates of testing (per million population) are:

• Italy 21,598
• Germany 20,629
• Spain 19,896
• USA 11,245
• France 7,103
• UK 6,783

Does this mean that, as we are testing less than Italy, who have a population around the same size as ours (UK 66 million, Italy 60 million), we will have way more cases, and therefore way more deaths, than them in the end?

France and Thailand also have populations of around 66/67 million.

France seems to be coming out the other side of their peak. A week ago their daily death rates were around 1000. We may, or may not, be in our peak now so are a couple of weeks behind them. Their total death rate is 19K and we are already at 15K.

Thailand is testing even less than us. 1,440 per million. They only have 2,733 cases and ony 47 total deaths. Really?

None of it makes sense. The point is that we really don’t know what is going on!

An antibody study in California suggests that 4% of the population have been infected already and not the 0.07% that has been reported. What that does mean is that actual numbers everywhere are likely to much higher than reported. The positive side to that is that actual case fatality rates are much lower.

The News

Whatever the number do or don’t tell us, there is a growing sense in the UK that the wheels are falling off for the government.

An article in The Times, of all places, describes “38 days when Britain sleepwalked into disaster”, citing the PM missing 5 COBRA meetings, dismissing calls to order PPE and ignoring the scientists warnings to take action.

Care home deaths are estimated to be more than 4000 and not the 217 that have been “reported”.

The New Way of  Life

Incredibly lazy day yesterday, largely down to being slightly hungover.

After I wrote my blog post in the late afternoon, we cooked pizza for dinner and watched mainstream Saturday night TV before a very sober early night!

As we haven’t dared to risk a takeaway since lockdown began, our gesture to Saturday night “fast-food” has been to buy basic ready made Margarita pizzas and add our own toppings to them. I add extra cheese, pepperoni chilli and olives. M has all of the above plus even more cheese and, rather bizarrely, sliced hard boiled egg!

Out TV consumption was even more unusual. We watched Ninja Warror, Britain’s Got Talent and Through the Keyhole. I can honestly say, hand on heart, we have never ever, ever watched three back to back Saturday night mainstream TV programmes live on ITV. What is happening to us? Oh yes, its called lockdown!

A Rant!

I am hearing disturbing stories of people I know who are ignoring lockdown. People who believe it’s all a conspiracy and are carrying on as normal, inviting people into their homes and visiting other people in theirs, telling their teenage children that they don’t need to follow lockdown, ignoring the fact that said teenage children are encouraging their friends to break their lockdown and meet up in secret from their parents. Men who are telling their partners that they had to pick up “essential business items” at friends houses which took several hours to do and involved drinking beer, or coming home very late from “work” with stories about cars breaking down.

One “man” sent his “mate” round to get some tools from his house. His partner didn’t feel able to refuse to let him in. A couple of days later, the “mates” wife tested positive for the virus. She was routinely tested because she was a care worker and was completely asymptomatic. How many people has he infected without knowing it? That’s why we are doing this YOU MORONS!

These people will never read this, but if they do;

YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE AND SHAME ON YOU!

I know who you are, and I will never forget how you have behaved during this crisis. How you have behaved so selfishly and irresponsibly. How you have shown complete  disregard for the safety of others. How you have shown compete disrespect for the sacrifices other people are making and the heartbreaking tragedies so many are experiencing.

Some people haven’t left their homes for weeks.

Some people have been separated from their loved ones for weeks.

Some people have missed out on holidays and birthdays and anniversaries.

Some people have postponed their weddings.

Some people are losing their jobs, their businesses, their homes, struggling to feed their families.

Some people are frightened, stressed and exhausted.

Some people are losing their lives.

Some people are dying alone and being buried alone.

Some people are grieving on their own.

15,464 families in this country are grieving right now and you are selfishly carrying on with your lives as if nothing is happening.

SHOW SOME F***ING RESPECT!

Imagine how much worse it would be if we were all behaving like you. What makes you so special? What gives you the right to continue to do as you please?

Why can’t you just try to be a decent human being?

I am utterly disgusted by you …

 

 

Global Cases 2,280,062
Global Deaths 156,329
UK Cases 108,692
UK New Deaths 847 Total Deaths 14,576

I’m late writing this today. It’s 4.30 in the afternoon! But then again, it is Saturday! We had a late night last night and been a bit hungover today. More about that later, but first;

The Numbers

Death rate still steadily rising. No sign of the start of the decline yet,

The News

The police have published new guidance on what you can and can’t do during the next 3 weeks of lockdown.

You can drive a short distance in your car to exercise but you must be cycling or walking for longer than your are driving.

You can’t drive somewhere, get out of your car for 10 minutes and drive home again.

You can go on a very long walk and stop for a short break to eat a picnic lunch.

You can’t walk down to your local park and sit on a bench all afternoon.

You can buy non-essential and luxury items as part of your big shop.

You can‘t make a special trip to the shops to buy them.

You can buy tools and supplies to repair a broken fence.

You can’t buy paint and brushes to redecorate your kitchen.

And so on, and so on …

The good news is that you can excersise outside the home more than once a day! Yey!

There is more and more talk about the fact that this is going to take years rather than weeks or months, and the economic impact will be devastating.

We are becoming resigned to the fact that it could be a very, very long time indeed before we go out for a drink or a meal, go to the theatre or the cinema, or have a holiday. But, we have our home, we are ok for money and we have each other, so we are more fortunate than many.

The New Way of Life

I didn’t do any exercise yesterday because of my vertigo. I read in bed until the early afternoon and I felt a bit better.

In the afternoon I cooked a lamb curry and a cauliflower and lentil dahl. They were delicious, even if I say so myself.

We had virtual writers group, via the House Party app, from about 5.30 pm until 7.30 and then our partners joined us for a very boozy quiz-night.  We won!

At writers group I decided that, when this is all over, I’m going to copy and paste this Covid blog into a book and self-publish it on Kindle Direct Publishing. It’s not really because I think people will want to buy it and read it, but because it means it will be a more permanent record of these strange times we are living through. If it just exists on this website/blog, it will be gone if and when I give up the site. If it is in book form it will still be there for my grand children and great grandchildren to read 50 years from now.

Fell in to bed well after midnight. It felt like the closest thing to a night out we’ve had since we went into isolation.

Today we had a very long lie in, then lazed about, rehydrated and comfort ate to feed our hangovers until 3pm when we took part in another quiz! This time it was organised by my daughter’s partners side of the family and was very much a family affair. It was fun!

Totally exhausted now after so much social activity in 24 hours!

Writing this then going to watch the finals of MasterChef with another can of Diet Coke and some nibbles.

 

 

 

 

Global Cases 2,192,597
Global Deaths 147,376
UK Cases 103,093
UK New Deaths 861 Total Deaths 13,729

The Numbers

As expected, the death rate rose again today after the numbers from the Bank Holiday weekend filtered through. However, it’s not as bad as I expected, assuming we are being told the truth of course.

I’m hearing about more and more people in the village who have been affected. There is a pub a few doors down from us and, often in the mornings, I see the cleaner in there working, or sitting outside having a cup of tea with the owner. Yesterday, as I returned from a little walk the owner was in there sweeping the floor with the door open. We spoke for a bit. He told me the cleaner, an elderly lady, had been admitted the night before and is now on a ventilator at Heartlands Hospital. I hope she’ll be ok.

A young family have revealed on the village Face Book group, that their father has been fighting for his life on a ventilator for the past two weeks. He has three young daughters.

Apart from the USA our numbers are the highest at the moment. The new deaths in Italy and Spain are slowly falling to around 500 a day. France is similar to us. We have the fifth highest total number of deaths and we are still not through the worst.

Truly strange and terrible times.

The News

I didn’t even bother listening to the daily briefing yesterday.

Unsurprisingly, they announced that lockdown will continue for at least another 3 weeks and social distancing will probably continue until a vaccine is available.

China have announced a much larger (over 50%) than first reported death rate prompting claims of a big cover up – again no surprise there.

Pick a number, any number.

Still big concerns around the lack of PPE. PPE! There’s an acronym very few people will have ever used in conversation pre-Covid. Now its all anyone is talking about.

Captain Tom’s 100th birthday came and went and he has raised £18 million so far. He’s decided to keep going as long as people are donating, and his legs hold out!

The New Way of Life

I’m a bit late writing this today as I’m not feeling 100%. Since my 20’s I have suffered on and off with a condition called benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV). It’s basically dizziness and nausea that is provoked by head position or sudden movements. I  noticed it yesterday and had a bad turn when I turned over in bed last night.

I don’t get it very often now. It can be years in between attacks. A bit annoying that it has come along now. Usually it comes when I am tired and stressed. Despite the current situation I am neither at the moment. I haven’t slept so much or been so relaxed in years.

M and I were discussing yesterday why it is that I am so relaxed at the moment. I think it’s a combination of letting go of stuff I have no control over, and having no trips, events or other activities to plan for. I’ve even got more chilled about keeping the house clean and tidy. What’s the point? Don’t get me wrong, it’s not dirty or a mess, in case you imagined us both living in squalor. It’s just not as immaculate and pristine as I usually like it to be. I even left some washing in the machine overnight a couple of days ago!!!!! What’s going on?

Anyway, I’m going to get M to do the Epley manoeuvre for me in a bit. That usually helps.

I did my accounts yesterday and dropped them off with my accountant (in a socially distant way) on my way to and from the shop to get a little bit of shopping.

Came back and made a carrot cake with all my languishing, left-over carrots. I couldn’t get icing sugar and had to make some with caster sugar in my spice grinder. Still not quite enough, so the frosting was a bit soft but otherwise yummy! So much for not making any more cakes!

The weather is still beautiful. Our bike ride was lovely apart from the fact that a teenage boy came so close to me that his arm brushed against mine! We were taking a breather on the side of the road, half way up a big hill, when he came down the pavement and did a big skid turn right beside me. It was weird. All the way home, I could almost feel the spot on my arm where he had touched me. I couldn’t wait to get in and wash him off.

It must be so difficult for teenagers and their parents at the moment. There are lots of posts on social media that are shaming teenagers who are not following the social distancing rules, and judging their parents. They are a difficult group to parent in the best of times. They must be nearly impossible to deal with now.

In the evening, we had another Clap for Carers at 8pm. It seems to be getting shorter and less enthusiastic as time goes by. It has evolved into more of a catch up with the neighbours.

We binge watched an interesting series on Netflix called Unorthodox. After a slow start it got really good. Based on a true story of a young woman who ran away from New York to Berlin to escape her life as an oppressed wife in the ultraorthodox community in Williamsburg, New York. We’d definitely recommend.

M exchanged emails with his consultant who was pleased to here that everything is going so well with him. He needs to arrange some blood tests and an ECG with the GP as the azithromycin can have some serious side effects. He still seems really well though!

Anyway, its 12.30 and I’m going to try and get up in a bit. I’m supposed to be cooking a curry this afternoon. Were having a virtual Writers Group tonight followed by a curry and quiz night with all of our partners. Might even put on some proper clothes, other than tracksuit trousers and sports tee-shirts, and maybe some jewellery and makeup!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Global Cases 2,084,744
Global Deaths 134,685
UK Cases 98,476
UK New Deaths 761 Total Deaths 12,868

The Numbers

The numbers continue to grow and there is a growing body of evidence that confirms that those that are reported are far less that the actual numbers.

Included in today’s deaths, is a 28-year-old nurse, Mary Agyapong who died 5 days after her baby daughter, also called Mary,  was delivered by Caesarean Section to save her life. To say this is a tragedy does not even begin to be enough.

The News

There has been a huge reaction to Trumps withdrawal of WHO funding but nothing has chnaged in regard to that yet, as far as I am aware.

The big fuss is about the lack of PPE for Care Homes. Covid is tearing through care homes across the country and the staff there (and therefore the residents) have little, or no protection against the virus.

Most of the talk though, is about the impact on the global economy and the likelihood that we are about to enter a depression worse than the Great Depression of the 1930’s.

There is no doubt in my mind that our world will never be the same again on many, many levels.

It is expected, but no surprise, that the government will announce a 3 week extension to thr lockdown today, amid concerns that people are beginning to relax and not adhere to the rules as strictly.

It’s actually getting on my nerves now that we are told what is going to be in the daily briefing before it happens. At the beginning, it was a bit of a daily “event”. We would sit down and turn on the TV after our daily exercise to hear from the government about how the “fight” is going and what is going to happen next etc. Now, we get told the big news before it happens and the rest of the briefing is a stream of extremely dull and uninformative pre-prepared questions with pre-prepared answers. Most of it isn’t even the whole truth and smacks of desperate propaganda.

On a brighter note, one of the big stories today is that of Captain Tom Moore. The 99-year-old war veteran has been walking 100 laps of his garden with his Zimmer frame to celebarte his 100th birthday and raise money for the NHS. He has captured the attention of country and, so far, has raised over £12 million! His original target was £1000.

The New Way of Life

I had a more productive day yesterday. I did some work on Wait for Me. It’s a slow and frustrating process. I finished the first draft it in 2015 and some of the writing is not great, putting it politely. I think I have fallen out of love with it, but really want to finish it. I have to resist the urge to rip it up and start again, or give up on it completely. I know that’s an overreaction. All I need to do is to get it into a better shape, get it proof-read and self-publish it! I’m only on Chapter 4 and have another 11 to do. I’m also planning to add an additional chapter towards the end.

I did that, on and off, for most of the day in between phone calls with various people and conversations with M but have still only completed half of the chapter.

Oh, and I ordered a lovely new duvet set for our bed! I decorated the room in an Indian inspired theme, after our trip there a year or two ago, and am always on the lookout  for suitable bedding. This one has been popping up on my social media feeds over the last week or so and yesterday I finally gave in and bought it.

One of the phone calls yesterday was from my accountant. She is ready to receive my accounts for 2018/19. There was some talk about not being able to give them to her until this is all over, but she’s happy to take them as it does not pose a real risk to either party. So, that’s my work for today sorted. I have to finish my books for March and tidy it all up to give to her – in a socially distanced way of course!

The remote control for the TV in the bedroom broke yesterday. We’ve had to order a new one on Amazon. Normally, we could just pop out and get one. Don’t know when it will arrive. I don’t actually mind. It means we are getting up earlier and not watching the morning news in bed until 9am, or watching rubbish late night movies after we have gone to bed!

My friend, who had a bad case of the virus that started 4 weeks ago, has been taken ill again after seeming to recover. She’s back in bed with a headache and vomiting. Very worrying.

The weather has been glorious. I read in the garden for a bit after we came back from our walk. We had a lovely walk around the village, crossing paths with a few people we know, and having “socially distanced” chats with them.

I was a bit troubled though, by the number of people that are using the canal tow paths to walk or cycle on. We walked near the canal for about 10-15 minutes and saw at least 12 people squeezing past each other on the narrow path in that short period of time. There is absolutely no way they can keep a safe distance apart on such a narrow path. I don’t think I am alone in my concern, as this morning the Parish Council have shared a post from British Waterways about avoiding using canal paths unless absolutely essential.

So, its only 9.50 and I’m done here for today. Off to do my accounts before enjoying the last day of sunshine for a while apparently.

 

Global Cases 2,004,989
Global Deaths 126,830
UK Cases 93,873
UK New Deaths 778 Total Deaths 12,107

The Numbers

So, there are now officially over 2 million cases in the world. I say officially because this is only the number of people that have been tested and have had a positive result. If the UK is anything to go by, and we are an affluent, developed world country, there are likely to be millions more who have never been tested. The virus has hit India and Africa now. You don’t need much imagination to speculate about the numbers of dead and infected in these countries that are unreported.

There is more talk about he the actual death rates here in the UK. Some Public Health experts are saying that they may be as much as twice those that are reported.

The reported figures have stabilised over the past few days around the 700 mark. However, we have just had alone Bank Holiday Weekend (whatever that means these days?) and often the figures take a couple of days to catch up after a normal weekend. In addition, the fact that the peak was always predicted to hit around the 17th or 18th of April, makes me fear that the next few days might see some very disturbing numbers indeed. I really hope not.

The News

The big news is that our economy is predicted to shrink by 35% and may not “bounce back” from this as quickly as first thought. They are looking at a recession or even a depression along the lines of those seen after the two world wars!

It’s not really surprising is it? We are in a world war against a tiny invisible enemy.

Trump has, in my opinion, finally taken one step too far! He has blamed the WHO for mismanaging the whole thing and stopped US funding to the organisation. Very bad news and a very bad move on his part. I don’t think he’ll be allowed to get away with this one. The world needs the WHO more than ever now, especially developing countries who have yet to feel the full force of Covid-19 and, due to population size, the USA contribution is massive! It will be interesting to see where this one goes for him.

The New Way of Life

I’m a wee bit late getting started today (Shit, and its only day 2!). I didn’t start writing this until 9.30. Didn’t wake up until 8.30. M woke at 9 when his phone rang. His turn to make the coffee and I can’t write without my first cup of coffee.

I’m not sure what’s going on with our sleep patterns. I’m normally a very early riser. When I wake, I’m awake, and I’m up and at ’em. Usually, between 6 and 7, and sometimes earlier. Now I’m sleeping later and later and, if I get woken early by noises from outside, I’m going back to sleep. It’s odd.

Yesterday was more productive. I wrote two articles for our Key Ways Consulting website. One on Covid-19 and another on a Stress Management programme we offer called IMPACT. The first one was a bit of a news update on what Key Ways are doing (and could do) during the pandemic. It’s already been uploaded by our amazing website man. I’ll get the next one uploaded next week. I’m going to share the link to the Covid-19 one today on various social media places to try and generate a bit of work for us.

I also made some chicken broth with the stock I made form Sunday’s chicken carcass, which was so “substantial” we had it for lunch and dinner!

I did some editing work on Chapter 4 of Wait for Me and, when I’d had enough of that I read in the sunshine before our bike ride.

We did the 8 mile one again. I find it hard doing it two days in a row. My legs felt tired and when I went to bed later I couldn’t sleep because my legs and shoulders were aching. Might do a walk instead today and have a day off from the bike.

Our daughter dropped off some Easter Eggs for us in the evening and we had a little doorstep chat. Lovely surprise! Unfortunately though, her visit coincided with me completing my long-awaited and highly sought after Ocado delivery slot, and I wasn’t able to give either event the full attention it deserved.

Imagine that! The two highlights of my day occurring at the same time! As a result, I forgot to order any vegetables other than carrots, celery and potatoes and the Covid home shopping rules mean that you cant go back in and add to your order! I’ll have to go to our local Tesco to get some. I’m getting that one worked out now though and I’m confident that I’m getting it as safe as it can be.

Enough drivel, its 10 past 10 and I’m going do some more work on Wait for Me Chapter 4 today.

 

 

Global Cases 1,929,225
Global Deaths 119,758
UK Cases 88,621
UK New Deaths 717 Total Deaths 11,329

It’s the first day of the new routine. Didn’t quite manage to get showered and dressed before 9, but it’s 8.58 and I’m writing this so that’s something! Ok, I didn’t wake up until 8 and “looked at my phone” until 8.30 until M woke up. My turn to make the coffee this morning so I’m drinking it in bed with my lap-top. My phone is on silent!

Yesterday, we got up so late that by the time I had done a bit of writing – essentially this blog and the second draft of my homework for Friday, it was time for our bike ride. We did the 8 mile one but it was tough because it was really windy!

Watched a bit of the Great British Menu, cooked Crab and Chilli Pasta for dinner then we watched Britain’s Got Talent (BGT) from Saturday and the first episode of the new season of Killing Eve.

A strange thing happened when we watched BGT. M says he doesn’t like it because it’s rubbish TV (which of course it is) but I like it because it always makes us smile. Ok, it is set-up to do that and probably totally contrived and manipulative – I’m not stupid! But, I like it! It’s feel-good TV. Who cares if it’s fake or whatever?

As soon as it started I felt very emotional. Just watching the opening credits I felt tearful. Watching groups of dancers and singers on their way to their auditions, arm in arm, happy and smiling. It just made me feel really sad. Obviously, it was all filmed before the lockdown. The first act was a girls school gospel choir. As soon as they starting singing I felt myself welling up. When I heard M sniffling beside me I turned to him and we both cried for a little bit.

I’ve been trying to understand what was going on and I think it could have been a number of things. A simple emotional reaction to their singing? (It felt like more than that) Sorrowful joy, seeing all their happy shining faces pre-coronavirus, not knowing what was to come? Grief (I hope that’s not too strong a word), for what we have lost (hopefully not forever)? I honestly don’t really know, but it was a strange, and very honest, moment between us.

France have announced that they will be extending their lockdown until the 11th of May, but, interestingly, have started to outline their exit strategy for after that. They will open schools and some businesses but not bars, restaurants and cinemas, essentially not anywhere where people can’t maintain safe distances from each other. It will involve continued isolation for vulnerable people.

The UK have said we are unlikely to be ending our own lockdown any time soon.

I also read an article in The Guardian about some scenarios that an NHS IT modelling company have been asked to run for the government. One of the scenarios they were asked to run was a targeted herd immunity strategy. This involved protecting high risk individuals and allowing the virus to run its course in the rest of the population until herd immunity (60% infection) is achieved. Clearly this has been leaked, but it was submitted to them on the 23rd of March, after the 14th of March when the government denied that they were pursuing a herd immunity strategy. What it that tells me, is that it’s still not off the table, but they are balancing this approach with the capacity of the NHS.

There is a lot of talk now about what I was saying the other day about the underreporting of deaths due to the exclusion of figures from care homes and the community. The ONS have released some figures today which suggest actual Covid deaths are much higher than those reported by the government.

Right! It’s almost 10am and today I’m going to do some work on Key Ways Consulting between now and 12.

 

 

Global Cases 1,862,584
Global Deaths 114,982
UK Cases 84,279
UK New Deaths 737 Total Deaths 10,612

The beady-eyed amongst you, and anyone who reads this every day (AS IF!), will notice that I’ve missed a day and jumped from Saturday to Monday. Don’t worry, it was deliberate. As I’ve said before, I’ve been writing this retrospectively, talking on Monday about what happened on Sunday and so on, and it’s beginning to irritate me. So, as we enter our second month of isolation at the tail-end of the Easter Bank Holiday weekend, it seems like as good a time as any to start writing in real time.

I don’t really know why I started doing it that way. I think it was my mild OCD kicking in. At the beginning, everything was happening so quickly that I wanted it to be an accurate record of developments as and when they happened, and a record of what the impact of it all on the day to day lives of an ordinary middle aged couple would be. I planned to take notes  on everything that happened on one day, and then write about it, at my leisure, the day after.

But, as time drags on it’s beginning to feel like wading through treacle. The daily announcements of numbers of dead and diseased are made. The same questions are asked and the same speculative non-answers are given. We do less and less everyday as we sleep-walk through the limbo of waiting. There is nothing of real interest anymore to note down one day and write up the next. Nothing except waking, waiting, reading, waiting, thinking, waiting, watching, waiting, talking, listening, waiting, sleeping, waiting eating, waiting, drinking waiting, waiting, waiting. The reality is, that all we are really doing is waiting.

It is slowly beginning to sink that we might be waiting for much longer that most people. We could be waiting for a very long time, months maybe even years.

This thing isn’t going to go away overnight. At the end of the 12 weeks that M has been advised to shield himself for, we aren’t just going to walk out of our front door and pick up where we left off. We won’t be able to travel, go to pubs, restaurants, the cinema or the theatre, or resume our face-to-face business activities and spend time with family and friends, until we know it is safe for him to do so. Otherwise, what would have been the point of doing what we are doing now?

I made the mistake of reading an article last night, about the Spanish Flu in 1918. Mainly to see how long it lasted and how it ended. Admittedly, there were multiple factors at play that do not apply now, not least of which was the fact that much of the world was in the end stages of a devastating world war! Science was not as well developed and most people were not as  “healthy” to start with, as they are today. Nevertheless, I was appalled to read that the virus took two years to run its course, in three waves with a second wave was more deadly than the first. By the time it was over, estimates suggest that it killed between 50 and 100 million people.

It’s highly unlikely that this virus will be anything like that, so much is different and so much has been learned since then. However, there are war and famine ravaged places in the world, where experts are afraid about what might happen should the virus take hold there.

The most likely exit scenario for M and I is, that when they develop a reliable antibody test, we may be able to interact with people who have proven immunity, in our home or possibly even in theirs.

The only way we will be able to properly break our own isolation, is when an effective vaccine is available and M can have access to it. That may not be until the Autumn this year at the earliest.

We are pretty good on our own. We’re pretty good at waiting. We don’t really get bored or fed-up. We enjoy each others company. We can always find things to do. But, I am aware that we are being very unproductive as we wait. Let’s be honest, we are being quite lazy and self-indulgent.

We’ve decided this morning, that this month we are going to try and be better at waiting, to find a way to be more productive. We both agree that we need to be more disciplined and structured in terms of how we spend our time. I have a couple of writing projects on the go that I could easily finish if I just put my mind to it. M thinks we should spend more time on the business, developing our off-the-shelf workshops, writing articles for the news/blog and exploring what we can do virtually.

So, from tomorrow, my new routine should look something like this:

Spend a day a week focussing on one of the following:

• Wait for Me – the second edit of my first novel
• Rachel’s Story – the biography project
• Keyways Consulting – (our business) workshops and news/blog articles
• General Writing – short story competitions, Writers Group homework and critiques, my blog etc.
• Ad Hoc activities such as Accounts and Admin etc.

My new daily schedule should look something like this:

• Up, showered and dressed by 9!
• Write this blog between 9 and 10 while M does his workout.
•  WORK between 10 and 12
•  Lunch 12 till 1
• WORK between 1 and 4
• Bike Ride or Walk 4 till 5
• Cool-down, rehydrate and watch the news between 5 and 6
• Cook between 6 and 7
• Eat between 7 and 8
• TV
• Bed

I’m not going to be ridiculously rigid about it, but it should mean that I get a good amount of work done in two chunks before and after lunch each day.

On Saturdays we are going to do some cleaning and jobs around the house and garden, rewarding ourselves with a “lazy” day on Sundays.

 

 

Global Cases 1,794,641
Global Deaths 109,920
UK Cases 78,991
UK New Deaths 917 Total Deaths 9,875

So I’m writing this on Easter Sunday. To try and make feel like a different day from all the rest I’m going to have a day off! I’m not doing any writing other than this. I’m not going on a bike ride and I’m not doing any cleaning. I’m going to read in the garden and cook us a nice Easter Sunday lunch, minus the pudding or any chocolate (we’re still trying to be good).

Yesterday the grim numbers of dead continued to rise. By the end of today, we will probably go over 10,000. I remember being so shocked a couple of weeks ago when Italy hit this figure. And now, here we are too …

I’m getting the distinct feeling that we are not being told the whole truth. They have started qualifying the daily announcement of the dead by saying that they are the figures for in-hospital deaths. We know that many people are dying at home and in care homes that are not being counted in the figures. I know personally of several people who have been persuaded by paramedics to stay at home or have been discharged early, when they have been desperately ill. Apparently, their oxygen saturation levels haven’t been low enough. And yet, we know that once people’s oxygen saturations  start to fall, it’s a sure sign that they are in the grip of the severe phase of the illness and can deteriorate and die alarmingly quickly. I read about the 19 healthcare workers who have died so far (I say so far because it is a tragic inevitably that they are only the first). At least three of them died at home.

In case we, or anyone we know get sick, and on the advice of a trusted medical friend, I have ordered a pulse oximeter on Amazon.

So, what did we do yesterday? Basically, we frittered away the morning and went on a bike ride in the afternoon. We did the 8 mile circuit and I felt it!

I follow Bon Appetite on social media. They posted an article on frothy coffee that looked divine so I decided to have a go. I put 1 tablespoon of good quality instant coffee, 1 tablespoon of dark brown sugar and 1 tablespoon of hot water in my milk frother then poured it over cold milk and ice. Oh my god! Dirty, dirty dessert in a glass!

I made a chilli for dinner and we watched some more Messiah – we’re really getting in to that now!

 

 

Global Cases 1,710,817
Global Deaths 103,513
UK Cases 73,758
UK New Deaths 980 Total Deaths 8,958

It’s Good Friday. How ironic. It is far, far away from good for anyone, let alone the grieving families of the 8,958 people who have died of Covid-19 in the last few weeks.

I’ve added the Total Deaths to my daily statistics. New deaths tells us where we are in the wave of the outbreak, but total deaths gives us a sense of the absolutely mind-boggling impact this thing is having on the country.

But, we soldier on in our little isolation bubble. Eating, sleeping, cycling, reading and watching TV. So weirdly detached from what is going on in our hospitals and in other peoples homes. We hear the occasional story and see the occasional ambulance but mostly it’s as if we are watching a drama unfold that we are not really part of. It’s so hard to explain.

Another glorious day weather wise. Spent the morning writing my homework for the next writers group meeting next Friday. The brief this month is that the story must start with the line; Rachel’s first trip to England didn’t go as planned.

Another 6 mile bike ride. We’re going to step it up to 8 miles tomorrow. I’m using the Bikemap App to record our rides. Rather insultingly it automatically labelled the route we did today as a “Restful Route”. The cheek of it!

On our “restful” ride today, I stopped to take a photo of a gravestone we pass every day. It sits on the grass verge at the side of the road and just contains the words:

JJ June 13, 1895

It seems so unusual and intriguing, that I decided to do a bit of Google research! Well, who’d have thought it? It turns out it’s number 7 in Birmingham Ghost Hunters Top Ten most haunted locations in Birmingham. 

The story goes that Jack Johnson (JJ), the owner of Fulford Hall, was beheaded by the branch of a tree, on that very spot, when he stood up in the saddle of his horse to get a better aim at a couple of poachers he was chasing. It is said that on the 13th of June every year strange things happen near the gravestone, usually involving unexplained car accidents and strange noises and bumps in the night.

We’re going to have our Writers Group meeting next Friday using  the House Party app, so we had a trial run today at 4pm to sort out the technicalities and enjoy a virtual glass or two of wine together. A delicious chilled bottle of Oyster Bay Sauvignon Blanc slipped down far too easily and by 6pm it was gone! Oops!

I was just about able to throw together a Vietnamese Turkey and Noodle Salad before collapsing on the sofa to watch an episode of Messiah and the recent Terminator movie – Dark Fate.