Today has been a day of pain. I tweaked my lower back this morning. I have a weak spot where I’ve slipped a disc twice and have occasional facet joint issues. Thankfully this is a facet joint issue, a lot less painful than a slipped disc but painful all the same. I managed to get a physio appointment so I sit here tired, and with my lower back all taped up!
What it has meant is a day of getting little done apart from managing to reduce my inbox. Reducing my inbox is about as exciting as my day got. That and being irritated by the noise of some renovations next door. But they’re great neighbours, and the folks doing the work are considerate so in the scheme of things, I’m lucky.
And the news rumbles on…
Another 245 deaths bringing the total to 41,128. This only accounts for deaths in health and care settings, and where Covid-19 has been confirmed.
Boris Johnson, the Prime Minister, has just announced that from 13 June, single adult households in England can form one ‘support bubble’ with one other household of any size. This means someone like me can go into another house, stay the night, with no need to maintain social distancing. To be honest, I’m not really in the habit of spending the night at friends’ places. However people who are shielding shouldn’t do this. And an interesting turnaround as precisely this was made illegal about a week ago.
Zoos and outdoor attractions can open from Monday with appropriate social distancing put in place, as well as places for private prayer.
And we’re being told that the R-value, rate of infection is between 0.7 and 0.9 across England. But we don’t know how this plays out in different regions. Yep, I continue to be confused. Daily infection rates continue to be between about 5,000 and 6,000 per day.
I didn’t watch the briefing today, I just looked at news reports. I get too annoyed every time government says that we’re ‘proud’ of the response, or what a great job they’ve done. This is at a time when the former scientific advisor, Professor Neil Ferguson, says that had we gone into lockdown a week earlier, deaths from Covid-19 are likely to be half of what they are now. I stopped going to the gym 3 weeks before lockdown. My last haircut was 9 days before lockdown and even then I was twitchy about going. When we went into lockdown 79 days ago, it was a relief. And at least in my own social ‘bubble’, I’m certainly not the only one who feels this way.
Here’s to a fun evening of trying to find ways to be vaguely comfortable. Also, I can’t tolerate the types of painkillers that would help so I need to suck it up. Hopefully my back will settle down in a day or so.
So that’s it for Day 79. Stay safe, stay well, and stay home!
Sorry to hear about your back!
Re policy: it seems clear that your Government’s policy is basically to grab this opportunity to reduce the population of non-politicians.
Best to have your own policy and stick to it.
Thanks Peter, hopefully the physio trip will have done the trick. And yes, the UK government’s policy on handling all of this has been an absolute disaster…no words. Very pleased though with how things are in Aus, though won’t comment on every other gov policy 🙂 I hope things are getting back to relatively normal for you.