In 2020 there was an outbreak of 'flu. It started in China, and by March 2020 the WHO labelled it a pandemic.
The UK government's response was to restrict people's activities in an effort to slow the spread of the virus. These policies meant many people, myself included, were unable to go to work.
I decided I should spend some of my spare time writing this journal. There will be no theme to individual entries; just whatever I feel like writing. The images are (with a few obvious exceptions) taken within a half mile radius of our house.
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Well it was coming. We could all see it if we're honest with ourselves. This is not strictly a lockdown, but we (along with most of the south-east of England) move to Tier 4. The restrictions within Tier 4 are much the same as lockdown; no socialising and no work (for me and other "non-essential" shops).
I didn't hear the news release. I was driving to gym, stuck in bad traffic. The others told me when I arrived.
We all have to close from Boxing Day until further notice. I feel this will be longer than lockdown 2. Once again, we are reduced to Zoom as a means of communication. I really need to find some enthusiasm from somewhere before the new year.
I held my regular adults' session this morning. There were quite a few there, some of whom had not realised we were moving to Tier 4 on Boxing Day. Many people no longer follow to the news, but rely on someone to tell them what needs to be done next.
Our Christmas plans are fluid, but Hil and I will be on our own for the period. There will be yet another Zoom conference with the family to replace the gathering we thought we would have. I have collected some quizzes and jokes to make the meeting more active than empty answers to "what have you been up to today"?
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Even after all these months, things change with such speed. Many people had been saying it was not safe for the schools to go back. On Sunday the government assured us the schools were safe and most schools resumed on Monday. On Monday night we were told that schools must close immediately to slow the spread of the virus.
We have not had time to get used to the idea of tier 4, and we discover there is a tier 5. Tier 5 is effectively a lock-down. The previous entry is titled Lockdown 3. I guess Lockdown is a theme for the next few months.
This time, our hopes are pinned on the vaccine. The vaccination programme has begun, but it will be many months before enough people have received it to make it safe again. I fear this lock-down will last us well into March. It will be well over a year before we are recovered from this.
We had a great (but quiet Christmas). We did loads of walking on The Downs and enjoyed being outdoors. The Zoom conversations are incredibly easy to fill.
The frequency of entries here has decreased over time. We are all beginning to tire of this situation.
I read an interesting statistic (there are many): 90% of the population think they observe lockdown rules more strictly than the average person does.
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Nothing has changed. We are still at home as much as possible. Many businesses are open, much more than March last year. Everyone finds a reason why they are "essential". It's now been 305 days since the first lock-down.
Hil and I do not suffer cabin fever. It seems easy to fill our time. We frequently walk on The Downs. The gorse is in flower and looking quite spectacular. There are DIY tasks around the house; I seem to be able to find things that are broken and really need to be mended on a daily basis. We now have more PIR activated lights in the garden.
The Zoom sessions are all up and running. I think the participants value the little bit of structure we can provide though I wonder if we are not just teasing them all; we provide a reminder of activities we can not do right now.
The vaccine roll-out continues. It's interesting how many people are refusing the vaccine. Up to 10% or care-workers are refusing to be vaccinated, and refusal is around 50% in some areas. I believe over 70% of the population of the population has to be vaccinated for it to be effective.
And yet more percentages; there is s suspicion that 30% of people in London have had Covid. Today, our current death rate s the highest world-wide. The accusation is that our country did not act as decisively as other countries. The number of people I know who have contracted the virus has also increased.