I've not posted since summer 2020. Summer was quite nice. Six people could meet indoors, you could go to restaurants etc. The Nightingale hospitals remained unused and some were mothballed. There were warnings of an autumn wave but it didn't seem like any preparation happened. When students started at university, there was a wave of infections amongst students, and many were virtually imprisoned in their halls of residences. It was dreadful.
Matt Hancock coined the phrase to "kill your granny" to terrorise young people and school kids with the fear that they might have the virus and give it to their parents. A 4 tier system was introduced. To be honest, I've rather lost track of what was introduced when. Here we started off in tier 2, then suddenly there was an announcement of the UK Variant which was more contagious and arose in Kent. Borders were closed to the UK - France one of the first. But to no avail. The variant I suspect was already well travelled.
We approached Christmas. Boris had been promising us freedom on Christmas day, but as things deteriorated, and with only a few days notice, all the places (my own included) that were adjacent to the London and Kent areas where the new variant was rife were told they could not meet anybody for Xmas.
A bit of a blow as we'd been planning to have family over. A lot of driving to car parks and present swapping went on and we had a nice Xmas day on our own, but shared with my sister, her husband and my daughter and her boyfriend via zoom. Some people readily admitted that they were going to break the rules and carry on with their Christmas plans as arranged. I doubt it made much difference. It is really come to something in a supposedly democratic country where we are so grateful for such meagre crumbs of civil liberties as to whether or not we can associate with our families.
January arrives bringing with it a full lockdown! Together with laws saying you can only leave your home for specific reasons, buying food, exercising alone or with one other person, going to work, attending medical appointments or escaping danger. Exercise is supposed to take place locally - define local! Early on two women who had driven 5 miles to some open space in Derbyshire with a cup of tea each for a socially distanced walk were fined by the police because they said the tea counted as a picnic and that wasn't allowed. This caused a sensation and was subsequently reversed.
Meanwhile, the UK is leading the world, after Israel, in its vaccine rollout. First vaccine delivered on 8th December 2020. Cases plummeting in the over 80s (first vaccine group). But the roadmap out of lockdown announced by Boris Johnson seems not to take any account of this.
Step 1 is for schools go back on 8th March. Then nothing until 29th March when outdoor gatherings (including in private gardens) of either 6 people (the Rule of 6) or 2 households will also be allowed, making it easier for friends and families to meet outside.
Outdoor sports facilities such as tennis and basketball courts, and open-air swimming pools, will also be allowed to reopen, and people will be able to take part in formally organised outdoor sports.
The ‘stay at home’ rule will end on 29 March but many restrictions will remain in place. People should continue to work from home where they can and minimise the number of journeys they make where possible, avoiding travel at the busiest times and routes. Travel abroad will continue to be prohibited, other than for a small number of permitted reasons. Holidays abroad will not be allowed, given it will remain important to manage the risk of imported variants and protect the vaccination programme. The government has launched a new taskforce to review global travel which will report on 12 April.
Step 2, which will be no earlier than 12 April, will see the opening of non-essential retail; personal care premises such as hairdressers and nail salons; and public buildings, including libraries and community centres. Indoor leisure facilities such as gyms will also reopen (but only for use by people on their own or in household groups); as will most outdoor attractions and settings including outdoor hospitality venues, zoos, theme parks, and drive-in cinemas. Self-contained accommodation such as campsites and holiday lets, where indoor facilities are not shared with other households, can also reopen.
Hospitality venues will be allowed to serve people outdoors at Step 2 and there will be no need for customers to order a substantial meal with alcoholic drinks and no curfew, although customers must order, eat and drink while seated (‘table service’). Wider social contact rules will apply in all these settings to prevent indoor mixing between different households.
While funerals can continue with up to 30 mourners, the number of people able to attend weddings, receptions and commemorative events such as wakes will rise to 15.
Great - such government interference in the most intimate and important aspects of people lives! I never thought I'd see this. I really hope that the emergency legislation authorised last 23rd March gets repealed this march and that parliament can again have some sort of a say in the legislation. It currently feels like the country is being jerked this way and that on a whim, all the time building up massive debts and horrendous backlogs of undiagnosed cancer, strokes, heart attacks, postponed operations etc etc. Apparently, very high numbers of school children haven't seen a dentist in a year!
Step 3 - not before 17 May
As part of Step 3, no earlier than 17 May, the government will look to continue easing limits on seeing friends and family wherever possible, allowing people to decide on the appropriate level of risk for their circumstances.This means that most legal restrictions on meeting others outdoors will be lifted - although gatherings of over 30 people will remain illegal. Indoors, the Rule of 6 or 2 households will apply - we will keep under review whether it is safe to increase this.
As soon as possible and by no later than Step 3, we will also update the advice on social distancing between friends and family, including hugging. But until this point, people should continue to keep their distance from anyone not in their household or support bubble.
Most businesses in all but the highest risk sectors will be able to reopen. In all sectors, COVID-Secure guidance will remain in place and businesses may not cater for groups bigger than the legal limits. Indoor hospitality will reopen - and as in Step 2, venues will not have to serve a substantial meal with alcoholic drinks; nor will there be a curfew. Customers will, however, have to order, eat and drink while seated.
Other indoor locations to open up in Step 3 include indoor entertainment venues such as cinemas and children’s play areas; the rest of the accommodation sector, including hotels, hostels and B&Bs; and indoor adult group sports and exercise classes. The government will also allow some larger performances and sporting events in indoor venues with a capacity of 1,000 people or half-full (whichever is a lower number), and in outdoor venues with a capacity of 4,000 people or half-full (whichever is a lower number). In the largest outdoor seated venues, where crowds can be spread out, up to 10,000 people will be able to attend (or a quarter-full, whichever is lower).
Up to 30 people will be able to attend weddings, receptions and wakes, as well as funerals. This limit will also apply to other types of significant life events including bar mitzvahs and christenings.
By the time we get to May, hospital admissions will be negligible due to the vaccine rollout. Early indications are that it is effective at preventing people catching covid, ensuring that if they do get it it isn't very bad, and because they aren't ill, it is thought that it inhibits transmission. We were told back on March 23rd that we would have a lockdown of 3 weeks in order to avoid overwhelming the hospitals. These goalposts have been moved multiple times, with Rishi Sunak battling the mathematical modellers, and it now seems that the goal is no longer even on the playing field.
Step 4 - not before 21 June
Social contact By Step 4 which will take place no earlier than 21 June, the government hopes to be in a position to remove all legal limits on social contact.
Business, activities and events
The government 'hopes' to reopen remaining premises, including nightclubs, and ease the restrictions on large events and performances that apply in Step 3. This will be subject to the results of a scientific Events Research Programme to test the outcome of certain pilot events through the spring and summer, where we will trial the use of testing and other techniques to cut the risk of infection. The same Events Research Programme will guide decisions on whether all limits can be removed on weddings and other life events.
Jeez!
Four more months. Four more months of increasing mental health issues, suicides, imprisonment of the elderly (which in the first case did not protect them, it merely ensured that they could be infected by their carers and staff rather than their family).
It feels like everything, all compassion, all humanity, all the achievements we have made over the past few civilised centuries are being sacrificed at the alter of covid. Even when all are vaccinated (by July) we are told that we will still have to wear masks and socially distance. Why? Few of us will be susceptible and the few that do catch it will not be too ill. There will be a few who still need hospital but that will be far fewer than the admissions (and deaths) from things we take for granted like flu and pneumonia.
We need to learn to live with this virus, and vaccinating points the way. But only if we allow it. The government has deliberately and knowingly terrorised the population to ensure compliance with a regime of totalitarian measures- supplemented by encouraging friends, family and neighbours to snitch on each other, causing distrust and breaking up communities. Who on earth thought this was a good idea...
