I’m tired today. I don’t know if it’s because of low level back pain (though certainly better than it was), or the weather, or this low level existential angst that many of us seem to have in lockdown land. It could well be a combination of all of these.
Given this, not a particularly productive day. It’s not been a great week but hey ho, time rumbles on. As least I should manage to sleep better tonight given the reduction in my pain levels. And it’s been a pretty lazy day. I managed to get some groceries in and go for a slow wander through Dulwich Park.
And news out today, the Chief Nursing Officer, Ruth May, was dropped from a press briefing a few weeks back when she refused to publicly back Dominic Cumming’s trip. I’ve only ever heard good things about CNO. My estimation of her has only improved with this news.
And I don’t think we’ve heard again from the Deputy Chief Medical Officer Jonathan Van-Tam. To him we owe one of the best moments of all the press briefings. Deputy CMO was asked if people should obey the lockdown rules. His response, ‘In my opinion, the rules are clear and they have always been clear. In my opinion, they are for the benefit of all. And in my opinion, they apply to all.’
The UK has confirmed it will see no extension to Brexit. Well, it’s not like we’ve got anything else to be working on….
GDP has been hit by about 20%. On top of the pandemic, a lot of people will be losing their jobs over the coming months.
The death toll continues to climb. A further 202 deaths bringing the total to 41,481. So again many more deaths in one day due to Covid-19 than they’ve had in Australia. But hey, let’s all rely on our common sense, or now is it all about our ‘civic duty’? I remain confused. The messaging changes daily.
And unsurprisingly, new figures out today from the Office of National Statistics suggest that those living in the poorest areas have much higher death rates, indeed, rates at about twice the level of those in the wealthiest areas. Sadly this comes as little surprise given fundamental issues with health inequalities and how they map across to levels of deprivation.
I’d love to have the energy to be angry about all of this. But it just seems constant waves of bad news. And I can’t look at news coming out of the US at the moment – my headspace can’t deal.
I wonder if I could go a day without looking at the news or Twitter. Hmmm, how would that be? Maybe that could be my weekend challenge? And tomorrow, looking forward to catching up with my friend for a coffee, and to say hello to the alpacas.
So that’s it for Day 81. Stay safe, stay well, and stay home!