A glorious day though as a hayfever sufferer, it’s not quite so much fun in the great outdoors. But no complaints. My tan lines are coming on a treat. It’s lovely to have sunshine and warmth in these strange times.
And this may be my last post for a little while as things seem to be moving on. I haven’t decided yet! Perhaps I’ll ramble on about trying to get back to some semblance of normality without completely freaking out. I haven’t been on public transport for close to 100 days.
Today is the last of the daily Ministerial briefings, today with the Prime Minister. There will still be briefings but only when there’s something to announce.
Another 171 deaths, bringing the total to 42,927. We still don’t know how many people are being tested. The infection rate still stands at between 0.7 and 0.9. Another 874 people have tested positive.
From 4 July, pubs, hairdressers, hotels and so on can open. Indoor gyms and swimming pools will have to wait a little longer. Everything will be done in a ‘Covid secure’ way. While I won’t be visiting pubs anytime soon, I have already tried calling my hairdresser… I suspect I’ll have another month or so without a haircut. Perhaps they should triage… I have normally very short hair. A hundred days or so without a haircut sucks.
On social distancing, we’re shifting from 2 metres as the recommended distance to 1 metre plus.
All this relies on having a track and trace system that works. We still need to ‘Stay Alert’.
And in the briefings there’s been an interesting shift in rhetoric. We’ve gone from relying on the science and evidence, to being told that the ‘final decision’ on any changes ‘are for elected Ministers’. Though as flagged, we’ll be living with this for a long time.
I sit here with a nervousness that I’m sure many of us are feeling.
Will we get a second peak? Lots of other countries are having them so perhaps the question is when. What might localised lockdowns look like? How would they be enforced? When will we have a sense of how successful the track and trace system is?
What happens next in this weird limbo land we find ourselves in?
When will I feel confident to get public transport again? When might I head out of London for a few days?
Yep, I continue to have so many questions.
So that’s it for Day 92. Stay safe, stay well, and stay home (or at least stay safe when you’re out and about)!