I had a moment on waking up where I believed we were in ‘normal’ times. In the next moment I remembered we weren’t. I had memories skipping through my mind – of journeys taken, of friends seen, of places visited. I imagined how I might spend this Friday, only to realise I couldn’t do those things I would have had the option of doing 6 months ago.
I’m missing the experience of London. I miss all those things that at times I equally love and hate about this city.
This was not a good start. But it did get better with listening to some podcasts, some baroque music, and watching a fascinating webinar on ‘data colonialism’.
Today, the big news is government has downgraded the alert level from ‘4’ to ‘3’. This move suggests that the lockdown measures have thus far had no negative impact on infection rates. The shift moves us from transmission is high and growing exponentially. Now it’s just in ‘general circulation’.
And more work has been done on disparities in health outcomes between populations by the Office for National Statistics. Black men in England and Wales are 3 times more likely to die due to Covid-19 than white men. For those under the age of 64, it’s 4 times. While a lot of work is going on in this space, there’s so much more than needs to be done, not least risk assessments for staff working in health and care settings.
A further 173 deaths bringing the total to 42,461. These figures are beyond grim.
Still no figures on the number of people tested….
I’m too fed up with the whole thing to be angry anymore. I’m sure my fury will emerge again.
Here’s to a glass of wine, a rubbish film or two, and a fun weekend.
So that’s it for Day 88. Stay safe, stay well, and stay home!