Lockdown

Today is Monday 6th April 2020. Approximately a month ago the UK reported it's first case of the horrendous virus known as COVID-19 or Coronavirus. It was first documented in China on 31st December 2019 and it is now a global pandemic. Two weeks ago, on Monday 23rd March 2020, Boris Johnson delivered a broadcast in the evening announcing the country was to go in to lockdown. From that night we were only allowed to leave our homes for food and other necessities, medicines, to help vulnerable people or to exercise locally once a day. All cafes, restaurants, pubs, clubs, cinemas and theatres had closed the previous Friday and all shops and businesses that did not sell essential items closed. Schools were closed to all children except those whose parents are keyworkers. All flights apart from planes carrying vital supplies and repatriated people were grounded and all non essential travel on public transport was advised against. Over 70's, people with existing health conditions and pregnant women were told not to leave their homes at all for 12 weeks in order to shield themselves. Those who do need to leave their homes were told to keep 2 metres apart from each other and all the supermarkets brought in measures to ensure this could be adhered to whilst inside the shops. Queues now form outside with everyone standing two metres apart and only a handful of people are allowed through the doors at any given time. Antibacterial materials are provided to clean baskets and trolleys, perspex screens have been erected at the checkouts and markers have been placed on the floors to make sure people observe the appropriate distances. The demand for online shopping has increased massively and delivery or 'Click and Collect' slots are like hens teeth. Panic buying is still in evidence although limits on the amount of items you can buy and the new queuing system has eased this slightly. Pasta, bread, tinned goods, eggs, soap and cleaning materials are harder to locate than Lord Lucan!

One of the many positives, as well as the many obvious negatives that accompany a devastating unprecedented worldwide crisis, is that the very important people in our society are being shown lots of examples of kindnesses to thank them for risking their lives to keep the world turning against all the odds. These essential workers are identified as NHS employees, police, fireman, supermarket and all those associated with providing food and necessities, delivery drivers, teachers, social workers, prison workers, government staff, transport personnel, gas and electricity providers and finance workers. Every Thursday at 8pm the public are urged to either open their windows and doors or stand on their doorstep and clap to thank the keyworkers. This has happened twice so far and my Mam and I have gladly participated and will continue to do so for as long as this new tradition lasts. I just hope that after the virus abates and life returns to normal the government will see fit to reward these amazing people by giving the NHS the much needed financial boost it has needed and has been deprived of for a long, long time. I hope the government will finally see that the organisation at the forefront of this current fight needs to given the respect it deserves and that the only way to do that is to ease the well documented burden on the people who are saving lives and nursing the ones whose lives have been and will continue to be lost due to the Coronavirus and many other illnesses. This burden can only be eased by much needed funds being given to the NHS to reverse the effects of years and years of austerity. As Boris Johnson is currently in an NHS hospital suffering from Coronavirus I hope he will use his own personal experience to influence any future cabinet room decision making.

Everyday I look out of the window and see the sun shining, the birds flying, the buses driving past and everything looks like business as usual .But life as we know it has ground to a halt. It's like living in a movie - Oubreak meets Groundhog Day- and as much as I love watching films I'd quite like to press eject on this particular DVD now please. All I can say is thank goodness for Wifi and smartphones! My Dad cannot visit us as the mixing of households is banned so we can only speak to him through the window or on the phone and we are also video calling him via WhatsApp. I have even video called my friend Barbara in Texas which is not something she and I had ever done before. I Facetimed my friend Kelly in London which was so lovely as I hadn't even spoken to her on the phone for well over a year. My friends (who I usually go out with for meals and coffees) Claire, Janis and Leah have already done one joint WhatsApp video chat and we have plans to do more. I have plans to Facetime my friend Louise and video call my Uncle Ken and Aunty Joyce as well as my Aunty Gill in Lincolnshire this week. All things we have never even considered doing before.  My friend Val has called me a couple of times for a chat and I spoke to my friend Brenda at length on the phone last Sunday and I have received texts, Facebook Messenger messages and WhatsApp messages from various other friends to see how me and my Mam are doing. It is lovely when people reach out - especially when they know I am prone to suffer from anxiety.

Now while I'm thankful for the wonderful technology we have access to, and for the fact that it is certainly making life a lot more bearable at the moment, I am craving actual, physical contact with the people I love so much. And I am missing my 'norms' terribly. I last attended Slimming World on Thursday 12th March 2020. The last Clubbercise class was held on Friday 13th March 2020. The last Parkrun was held on Saturday 14th March 2020. I last ran myself on Thursday 26th March 2020. Although the government have said we can exercise once a day I am so worried about contracting germs from outdoors and bringing them home to my Mam that I have decided not to run until it is safe again. I am instead doing Joe Wicks P.E. lessons which he streams live on YouTube every morning. The workouts are meant for school children but by God they are brutal! I did three days in a row last week then had to give myself the day off on Thursday as I could barely move! It's fantastic he is doing this to help people all over the world but I still can't help but miss my weekly Clubbercise sessions with the fabulous Mel and my running, either alone or with my wonderful friends Helen and Jill. The running not only helps me keep physically fit but helps me massively mentally and with stress busting. I fear my running stamina will have reverted back to square one by the time this is over but if that happens I'll just have to build myself back up again. I hate not running and I am fearful my fitness levels will suffer but right now keeping myself and my Mam safe and well is my top priority. As far as Slimming World is concerned I was not at all happy when they decided to start running their groups virtually using Zoom and asking people to pay for the privilege of weighing themselves on their own scales and talking to people from their own front rooms. I have therefore decided to freeze my membership until groups can resume. But I am not going to fall off the healthy eating wagon. I have been doing lots of cooking and providing I can continue to get my shopping I fully intend to stick to plan and not let this stupid virus give me an excuse to regain all of the weight I have worked so hard to lose. I may not be able to control anything else at the moment but at least I can control what I put in my face.

To keep myself busy (and saneish) I am doing a daily drawing challenge, sharing daft things and completing silly questionnaires on Facebook, watching Joanne George and her gorgeous dogs Pippi, Sunny and Buck on Instagram, doing crosswords, playing games on my iPad, reading, cooking and watching lots of TV. I am going to do the Disney jigsaw I bought my Mam a few years ago. We made a previous attempt at it when I first got it for her but we aborted it so this time I am determined to finish it. And I suppose I'll have to do some housework too seeing as our friend Sue, who usually does dusting and hoovering and washes floors for us, can't visit at the moment. Meh! I am so sick of washing dishes! And my hands are red raw from washing them more frequently to stave off the bugs. Between the highly scented Imperial Leather soap and Palmolive handwash my poor sensitive skin is so dry and permanently red and itchy! Moisturisers are not helping at all. But...... my skin will heal, I will run again, I will see friends and family again, I will go to shops, garden centres, theatres, cinemas, restaurants, Slimming World, Clubbercise and Parkrun again. The Queen delivered an address to the nation, only the fifth of her entire reign, last night and she ended by saying "we will meet again". We will. We have to believe that.