There were less Covid-19 deaths than there were the day before.
More people than live in Coventry have volunteered to help.
Most people are social distancing.
Covid-19 is no longer considered to be a high consequence infectious disease (HCID) because mortality rates (overall) are low.
We live in a good country where most people are compliant, even if we do need to be scared witless to get the message.
I like good news. Bob273 on Twitter hates it. He thinks they aren’t telling us about all the people that have died. He thinks this is a Chinese plot in cahoots with the Russians to wipe the West out. He thinks that if your children get this virus they will be carted off in a van, die and you will never see them again. Bob273 on Twitter is hoping for a military lock down, where no one is allowed to leave the house and he can report his neighbours for breathing.
However much I like good news and hate Bob we still need him. We still need to be a bit scared because this is a marathon. If we flatten the curve and cause less people to die then it will go on for longer and if we relax measures too quickly then we will go right back to the spike we had before.
Whatever we do the death toll will continue and soon someone you know will die. It might be great Aunt Maud, who is 93, living in a care home, wearing nappies and carrying round a baby doll that she thinks is your cousin, Pete. It could be your grandad, who seems fine but has had a heart problem since birth and has been taking the stairs more slowly recently. It could also be your friend, who seemed to be perfectly healthy. It could be you. None of us know when we are going to die or what will cause it. What we hope is that if we follow the rules then no one will die because they couldn’t get the treatment that would have helped them.
This, for most people, is day 5 of working from home and day 4 of trying to educate your own children. Are you shocked by that? Day Four! It feels like longer, surely? Brace yourselves: it could last another 12 weeks!
The nation has thrown themselves into it and are treating the whole thing like an interesting experiment. Most people are loving it at the moment.
My friends are sending messages about the cupboards they’ve cleaned and the gin they’ve drunk. Pupil’s parents are telling me about the recorder pieces they’ve learnt and the virtual bands they’ve joined. Colleagues who like exercise have run marathon distances and joined Joe Wicks every day. Teacher parents have taught their five year olds every maths concept invented, planned, evaluated and peer reviewed their work.
This has made me feel more than a little inadequate because I’ve just been overwhelmed. There just seems to be so much and I don’t know where to start. Yesterday, I managed to turn my laptop on. Obviously, anxiety, being a very physical sensation, has left me exhausted and confused but I suspect I’m not the only one who is feeling a failure when comparing themselves to everyone else’s life right now.
Here are some things I’m trying to remind myself.
1. This is a crisis. You just have to get through it. (Recite the Bear Hunt: it helps)
2. You don’t have to do anything.
3. People die. Nobody lives forever.
4. Viruses are sneaky. People do their best but viruses are sneaky.
5. Whatever happens it’s not your fault
6. Joe Wicks and Gareth Malone are optional.
7. You don’t have to be anything you weren’t before.
8. It’s a marathon not a sprint. Sometimes people who start slowly do better because they don’t fall away, exhausted.
If you are feeling overwhelmed too then it is fine to just laugh at memes, be excited that Gardener’s World is to continue (We love you Monty 💓) and watch the videos of penguins at the zoo.
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