Today was alpaca day! A wander to the Horniman Museum gardens for a good catch up and a gossip with my friend and a hello to the alpacas. The lucky things have had haircuts again. I miss having my hair cut.
It’s been an easy day. Another late Saturday night chatting away led to a slightly later start to the day.
And a reduction in the number of deaths, down to 77 which is the lowest figure since lockdown began. No further deaths in Scotland or Northern Ireland. The total reported across healthcare settings is now 40,542. This is a conservative number.
And I can’t help comparing this figure to that of Australia where I’m from. There, with a population of 25.5m, the last count was 102 deaths. Australia went into lockdown early. They introduced a mandatory quarantine period for those coming in from outside the country quickly. They introduced track and trace systems early. I’ve heard that there are lower rates of infection because people are more spread out. In some ways yes, but most folks there live in cities along the coastline. Their policy approach was to go in hard and fast on managing the pandemic. Thus far, they’ve managed at least the public health elements of it well.
But in the UK, and in England specifically, significant concerns remain.
In the North of England, many schools haven’t reopened as there are concerns that the R-value is hovering around 1.0 or slightly above. There’s a lack of clarity as to how lockdowns for ‘hotspots’ will take place. Regional leaders are concerned about regionally specific data, or lack thereof.
There are concerns that we might see a rise of infections following nationwide protests following the murder of George Floyd in the US. The protests are global. There’s been flack by some on twitter not understanding why people are protesting. I’ve unfollowed a few.
More scientific advisors are making clear that we’ve gone into easing lockdown too soon. Senior leaders are concerned about the lack of plans, or at least the lack of anything shared, if we get a second peak of cases.
Increasing concerns about the government’s response to care homes. The issue is both those dying of Covid-19 as well as vulnerable people potentially not being sent to hospital when they need to be for other reasons.
Increasing concerns in the UK and elsewhere of the impact of Covid-19 on mental health – for health and care workers, frontline workers, patients, families; the impact of isolation sometimes coupled with significant financial pressures. Everyone has handled this differently. Everyone has their own story to tell about how it’s impacted on them. For me, I had some really rough days particularly in the first few weeks. My moods were often unpredictable. And I was sometimes caught unawares, crying at random moments. I’m over the worst of that.
Tonight calls for a chill evening. Perhaps an episode of Buffy or two. Perhaps a film.
So that’s it for Day 76. Stay safe, stay well, and stay home (unless you’re protesting in which case I’ll leave it at Stay Safe, Stay Well!)