Tag: coronavirus

The New Way of Life

It’s cold and cloudy today. Apart from a couple of short walks, we haven’t been out much today. It’s much harder to do this when the weather is bad. I can feel a more gloomy mood descending already.

I’ve moved from my shorts back into my jeans which are alarmingly tight! I’m not making great progress in my quest to shed the extra weight I have put on during isolation. It’s going to be harder in bad weather and without my bike for a few days.

I’ve done more work on my biography project most of the day apart from a break in the afternoon when I watched a bit of TV and did some cross-stitch.

I was supposed to be meeting up with a couple of friends in one of their back gardens this afternoon but had had to cancel as it’s too cold to sit outside. I’m supposed to be going for my first walk in the park with my daughter and granddaughter on Saturday but it looks like we’ll have to call that off too as the weather forecast is awful. It’s hard to believe that we were practically living outdoors and basking in glorious sunshine just a couple of days ago.

The News

The main news today is about little Madeleine McCann who went missing 13 years ago. It is thought that a German man who is already in prison for sex offences may be responsible for her murder. He is believed to have been living in the area at the time and was known criminal involved in drug dealing, burglary and child sex offences. No hard evidence yet but investigations continue.

I really hope her poor parents finally have some closure. We have always believed that they were innocent of any involvement in her disappearance. M actually knew her father through work, at the time of the incident.  Yes, they made a terrible mistake and they have paid for this in the worst possible way. But that is all it was, a mistake. I can’t imagine how wretched they must feel to this day. I am often upset when people I know imply that it was her parents who killed her and disposed of her body, accidentally or otherwise.

The UK is hosting a global (now virtual) health summit today on a coordinated world vaccine programme with the aim of ensuring that preventable diseases are eradicated in all countries in the world.

Yesterday in parliament, the Business Secretary, Alok Sharma, was seen to be visibly unwell. He was frequently mopping his brown and seemed to be in some distress. He has since gone into self-isolation and is awaiting the result of a Covid test. This has prompted a big debate about whether social distancing is being adhered to in parliament. They only started meeting again in person this week and there have been images and stories posted all over the media about them queuing to vote for long periods of time in close proximity to each other.

Facemasks are to be compulsory on public transport. Really? We’re only just doing this now?

The Numbers

1,805 new cases.

176 new deaths.

39,904 total deaths.

 

 

The New Way of Life

It’s raining! It’s a bit of a shock after such a long spell of great weather. I wen out for two walks, as I couldn’t go on a bike ride until my bike comes back from it’s service. To be honest, I’m a fair weather cyclist. I don’t enjoy it when its wet. It’s not so much about getting wet, but more about the spray from cars and the road being slippery.

I got up early for a Zoom meeting with our local business network. A big shop arrived about 11 and it took me an hour to clean it and put it all away. After that I cracked on with some work on my biography for a few hours. In the afternoon I watched an Irish “zombie” movie, called The Cured, and did some of my cross-stitch. M hates horror movies so I have to watch them on my own – I was getting a bit of withdrawal from my need to be scared and my fascination with all things apocalyptic.

We’re having a Chinese today. I’m going to brave the real world and go and collect it. It’s our second takeaway in isolation.

Not a lot else to talk about today!

The News

Schools in Wales are going to open on the 29th of June for 4 weeks prior to the summer break.

There is a lot of criticisim of the governments failure to provide Covid test results within 24 hours, which is critical for the success of Test, Track and Trace.

A medical contact revealed to us that the NHS is preparing for a second wave as early as July. I really hope this doesn’t happen.

In the daily briefing the medics were stressing that we are still in the tail end of the outbreak and numbers are not going as slowly as they would like.

Crowds of people were demonstrating in London about #blacklivesmatter.

The quarantine conditions for people returning to the UK from abroad were officially announced and it was confirmed that non-compliance would be met with a £1000 fine.

More job losses are being announced in big companies including Rolls Royce. Frankie and Benny’s are to close 120 restaurants.

The man behind the Swedish approach has admitted that too many people have died. Their death rates have been higher than neighbouring countries and Swedish nationals are being banned from travelling to other countries.

On the other hand, The Shetland Isles, who locked down early when they were badly affected, have halted the virus. They have had no new cases for six weeks.

It feels as though the government is well and truly floundering now. Kier Starmer has changed his tone and become far more confrontational now when challenging Boris in PM Questions.

The Numbers

359 new deaths. Total 39,728.

1871 new cases – an increase from yesterday. Apparently, the R number remains very close to 1.

 

 

The New Way of Life

Another wonderful sunny day. Apparently the last one for a while.

I had a couple of walks and a bike ride to make the most of it.

I spent most of the day working on my biography project. It’s really coming together now ad I’m enjoying writing it.

I saw a story on a news page about Italian medics saying that they think the virus is losing strength. Only anecdotal evidence at the moment, but, if it turned out to be true it could mean this thing would run its course and we’d have no second wave this winter.

We have a “mobile” bike man coming tonight to take the bike’s away for servicing. My gears are sticking and M has an old racer he wants to resurrect.

M had a telephone appointment with his Respiratory Consultant this afternoon. She’s really pleased with his progress and was fairly encouraging about our plans to got o Barbados as soon as we can. She’s going to give him another month or two of azithromycin, before he needs to take a break for a couple of months.

The News

Violent protests continue to rage across America. Trump has threatened to send in the army.

The government review into why more people from Black and Ethnic Minority groups are dying from Covid has concluded that more people from Black and Ethnic Minority groups are dying from Covid. Huh?

Today on social media people expressed their solidarity with the black lives matter movement and marked “Blackout Tuesday” by posting black screens on their status.

The Numbers

324 new deaths taking the total to 39,369.

1613 new cases – an increase from yesterday

It doesn’t feel as if things are declining as quickly as it seemed. If anything, it’s more of a flattening out.

An intersting “anomoly” with the numbers yesterday. I reported 111 new deaths as the official government number, but failed to notice the difference between yesterday and the day before was actually 556 deaths. When I checked the Worldometer website later they had corrected it to 556, but today it’s gone back to 111, despite the totals not adding up correctly. Weird. Are they possibly trying to cover something up? A few people in the media picked up on this. They are beginning to seem desperate to get the economy back up and running irrespective of whether it’s safe to do so or not. I do understand that to an extent, but the economy doesn’t matter if you’re dead!

 

The New Way of Life

As we enter our 12th week of isolation, and the month of June, I’m going to change the format of these posts. As there is less and less new news to report, and the numbers are beginning to significantly decline, I want to focus on the future and how we are all beginning to get back to normal. I’m going to talk about the News and the Numbers at the end, instead of at the beginning.

I’ve also changed the cover photo, to a picture of our favourite beach in Barbados, as that is our primary goal. We are agreed that, as soon as it is safe to do so, we will try and get out there. Realistically, that will be September at the earliest. Lots of things have to fall into place first.

The main one is the end of quarantine in Barbados. We definitely don’t want to be confined in the quarantine centre out there. I’ve done a bit of research and it doesn’t sound very safe. If reports from people who have been there are true, it is dirty and cramped. They may introduce other options, such as being quarantined in a hotel with a balcony, or at a private residence. These would be tolerable.

However, even if the island opens up to tourists again, they may not accept visitors from the UK. We are seen as one of the countries with the biggest Covid problems, and many other countries who are opening their doors again are banning tourists from the UK.

When they do decide open, we need to get a flight. At the moment flights are not running from the UK to Barbados, as far as we can see. Once they do re-start and the island accepts visitors, other people may start to book again and we may lose the opportunity with the house. At the moment all their bookings for 2020 have been cancelled and this is why they are willing to let us have the house in high season at our low season special deal. They only need a few bookings at high season prices to make the arrangement not worth it for them.

So, first we need Barbados to open to visitors from the UK, and second we need to book some flights and let the owners know. They have said that, as soon as we do that, they will confirm our booking. In the meantime, we need to pray that a second wave doesn’t hit and take us all back to the start again!

The schools have re-opened today. By all accounts it is very patchy with some schools remaining closed and some parents deciding they don’t want to send their kids back yet.

M and I have so far avoided any trips out to “beauty spots” for walks or bike rides. Everywhere has been so busy it just doesn’t seem safe. Even the roads around our little local lakes and woods are rammed with cars parked on either side. I can’t imagine what other more popular places are like. Maybe now that some children are back at school and some people are back at work it might quieten down.

We fancy a drive up to the Long Mynd, while the weather is so good, but we’ll wait for a bit. Trouble is, the weather is set to change on Wednesday and we have a few things on tomorrow, so we might miss our chance.

The News

The news is all about some children going back to school.

The violent unrest in America rages on.

The first horse race since the 17th of March has taken place.

Car showrooms and outdoor markets have re-opened.

This May has been the sunniest on record. Climate change scientists and meteorologists are staggered by how much sunshine we have had and not because it’s a good thing! On a postive note, it has made lockdown easier to deal with.

The Numbers

1,570 new cases.

111 deaths, total 39,045.

The Numbers

113 deaths, total 38,489.

1,936 new cases.

We still have way more new cases than other countries that are easing lockdown.

The Association of Directors of Public Health have written to the government asking them to postpone the easing of lockdown, saying it’s to soon.

People are going crazy. Parties, gatherings, BBQs. I really hope numbers don’t start to rise again. When you think back to the beginning, when we just had a few cases and how quickly things escalated out of control, it’s very worrying. I suppose this time the idea is that we can control it with Test, Track and Trace. I sincerely hope so!

The News

Violence continues in America. There have been protests and demonstrations in cities in the UK now too. Apart from people wearing masks, not much evidence of social distancing here or in America. I wonder if we will see a spike in new cases associated with this crisis.

The government announced the tentative first steps of easing lockdown for the “shielded.”

Th UK has seen a wave of littering and fires as people picnic all over the countries beauty spots. In Dorset a load of people jumped off the Durdle Door into the sea and seriously injured themselves. All the people on the beach had to ignore social distancing and crowd together as the beach was cleared to make way for the Air Ambulance.

We are more resolved than ever to watch and wait before taking any chances ourselves.

The New Way of Life

We had a lovely day in the glorious Sunday sunshine. Walked, went on a bike ride, sunbathed Facetimed friends and family and read and relaxed.

I cooked some salmon and made a couple of nice salads to go with it; grilled onion with rocket and shaved parmesan, tomato and mozzarella with balsamic dressing and a homemade garlic tartar sauce.

In the evening we watched Alien Covenant. A few decent films are appearing for rental on the streaming services.  I suppose its all they can do as no one is going to the cinema any time soon.