It’s been a productive day. I’ve been working since 7.30 this morning, taking breaks by way of short walks for anywhere between 10 and 20 mins. I’ve managed numerous trips out today. My local area is quiet and it’s easy enough to jump into the road to get appropriate social distancing when needed. I came across fewer people combined than I would walking in Dulwich Park, fewer people to stress about potentially coming into some vague semblance of close contact with.
On my first trip out, I found a couple of cats to pat. The weather is glorious and the sun is warm. In 20 years of living in the UK, I can’t remember such a glorious spring. I’m feeling buzzed, though perhaps I drank a little too much coffee.
Yes, a good day in lockdown. A good day in lockdown makes the bad days disappear a little into oblivion. Tomorrow might an entirely different story. But in lockdown land, the only way to cope, at least for me, is to take it one day at a time. It seems the most sensible way, or perhaps the only way, to stay sane.
And a lot going on in the UK in response to Covid-19 and lockdown. It’s important to note that England is taking a different approach to Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. I’ve written on this separately here in terms of data and tech issues.
UK wide, the loss of the sense of smell or taste has now been added to one of the symptoms of the virus. This is good news seeing it does seem to be a really common symptom.
Testing is finally expanding to the wider community – for anyone over 5 who has symptoms. We’ll need to see how this plays out in terms of testing capacity.
It looks like there will be further delays to the NHSX Covid-19 Tracker App currently being trialled on the Isle of Wight.
And a further fall in the number of deaths. From 5pm yesterday, an additional 160 deaths which brings the total to 34,796. To note that the numbers tend to be lower earlier in the week due to delays in reporting over the weekend. Also, the figures from the Office of National Statistics which record all excess deaths, suggest that the total number is far higher.
And yes, over the last couple of weeks, I think my mood has improved overall. I’ve not read through these posts…I think I need a little distance before doing so.
Perhaps it’s the weather. Perhaps it’s catching up with friends and chatting to new folks. Perhaps, weirdly it’s because so much of the work I’m doing, mainly proposals and the like and trying to build my profile etc as self-employed, are mainly about Covid-19, either directly or indirectly. It makes it easier to trawl through news updates throughout the day, and my Twitter feed. And obviously I have an outlet for all those things annoying me here. And yes, future posts will include some ranting I’m sure!
So that’s it for Day 56. Stay safe, stay well, and stay home!