I woke up in an odd mood and the mood continued. Some days it catches me out. Day 58 in lockdown, it caught me out.
I’ve spent some of today tearful about someone else’s circumstances. I won’t go into this here as it’s not my place. It’s enough to say that the social impact of being in the midst of a global pandemic is devastating, the fact of not being able to get through the good and the bad with friends close by. Yes, they can stop at your door, and chat at an appropriate social distance. But sometimes what’s needed are hugs and shared tears, of sadness and of joy.
But these circumstances are beyond my control. The most I can do is socially distance, stay home, stay safe, and stay well. I can also have the occasional rant here. And there will be many more rants going forward, at issues specific to my experience of lockdown and living through a pandemic, and wider issues, particularly the public and policy response to Covid-19.
I watched Prime Minister’s Questions (PMQs) today. Boris Johnson, the Prime Minister, is not getting an easy time of it. Nor should he. Mistakes have been made and there’s constant obfuscation which is not what is needed under any circumstances, let alone during a crisis. Sir Keir Starmer, the Leader of the Opposition, is by background a human rights lawyer, a QC, and has been Director of Public Prosecutions. He asks direct and evidence based questions. There should be an expectation of coherent responses. He’s not getting them.
Much of today’s PMQs was dominated by discussion on the return of Parliament at the beginning of June. At present, there are strict limits on the number of Parliamentarians who can sit in Chambers. Most of the questions being asked are being done so by Members of Parliament remotely.
And the issues on returning to Parliament are messy, not just for MPs, but for others who work there. Many are from Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales. The devolved administrations are taking different approaches to England, retaining the Stay at Home message, rather than the new Stay Alert approach. Many will have underlying health conditions, and/or be shielding, or have others in their families they may put at risk if they go back into work. Many will have no choice but to get public transport – flights, trains, the underground.
It seems odd that at this stage of the crisis that further measures can be put in place for their essential work to continue, and in many respects move into a ‘new normal’ as so many have adapted to doing, at least for the timebeing.
Still lots of chat about whether or not some school will go back from 1 June. Many won’t be. Also more discussions about the appalling early response to care homes.
And the numbers? Another 363 deaths, bringing the total to 35,704 across all settings. Note that this doesn’t include those deaths where there hasn’t been a test. Globally it looks like we’ll hit another grim milestone in the next day or so – 5,000,000 confirmed cases.
Now off for a cup of tea and a chat with my neighbour!
So that’s it for Day 58. Stay safe, stay well, and stay home!
*The image is from a walk today. If you know this piece, the 2m arrows and tears have been stuck on so can be removed at some time in future.
Very cool re the street art. And I’m sorry about your friend. I’m feeling the loss of those everyday things very much at the moment. However, instead of doing a video call with my best friend who lives in London when we were both a bit frazzled yesterday, we both sat down in our respective homes and read the same book. We shared a photo of ourselves and read a chapter or two, discussed it on Messenger, and we’re going to sort out another chapter soon. That was lovely, maybe because it was entirely different to what we’d do in non-lockdown times. I enjoyed reading a few books along with some blog connections last month after people picked books out of my TBR to read, and this was an even nicer version of that.
I’m really up and down too though.
Love the idea of reading the same book – brilliant! Yep, really not enjoying the fact that I have no idea if I’ll have a good day or a not so good day…it’s the random stuff, the unexpected moments where I cry which is very unlike me. It’s not depression, I know what that is, it’s this underlying existential angst which I think we’re all living with at the moment, and it is the occasional ‘surprise’ at not being able to do those normal things, give someone a hug, sit closer than 2 metres away etc. But tomorrow is likely to be completely different… very strange times….