Many of us, readers and writers alike, feel as if we are in a novel. All this can’t really be happening.
Caught up in minor and major medical dramas, our whole family’s normal life had already been put on hold last month, now it seems the whole world, or at least the human race, has been put on hold by The Virus. It is mainly good news for the planet and other species, except mountain gorillas, who have been told to self isolate as they could be vulnerable.
In my new role ( less than a fortnight ) as full time carer, the first week was spent with family still around and friends dropping in for coffee – though some were beginning to stay at home. Week Two of my confinement and everybody has to stay at home. We shouldn’t complain, there are people in war torn and flattened cities who have been confined for years, with no home, little food and bombs dropping on them.
But it is still the biggest national drama that has happened to most of us. The rules keep changing and depend on which country you live in. Those of you living in the USA will be fine as Donald Trump says it will blow over by Easter.
Less than a month ago, on our various hospital visits, everyone was using hand gel and I’m sure the rates of norovirus have gone down, but hardly anyone wore masks. The main entrance of the largest hospital was more like an airport, buzzing with life; 24 hour Costa, shops, Marks and Spencer café and shop. On the floor below was a large restaurant packed with staff and visitors on weekdays. I was mixing with far more people than I usually do. That week we were dealing with torrential downpours and high winds; one afternoon I insisted there was no need for anyone to come out to pick me up, what could be simpler than getting on one of the frequent buses from the hospital to the railway station? On arrival at the station it turned out there were no trains to Bournemouth due to a tree down on the line at Basingstoke. Fortunately a replacement bus was soon announced and I joined the surge of commuters boarding a comfortable double decker. Every seat was taken and in the dark and rain with the windows steamed up we had no idea where we were going. We did arrive at Bournemouth railway station in less than an hour, but had been in perfect virus catching conditions.
Now this week in Britain we are all being told to avoid public transport and keep two metres apart. Schools, restaurants and pubs are closed. We should only leave the house for certain reasons, though we don’t have to carry a permission slip yet. The rules are getting clearer, or are they? The children of key workers would still be allowed to go to school, but the list of key workers is long and which schools had enough teachers who weren’t self isolating?
But I think we understand the underlying reasoning now, it is not that the government particularly cares about your granny or the people of any age with the glibly recited underlying health conditions, it’s because the National Health Service could not cope with vast numbers of patients needing ventilators and beds in Intensive Care Units.
Statistics can never tell the whole story, most people staying home with symptoms are not being tested for the virus, so will we ever know how many? The good news is most people don’t suffer serious symptoms, the bad news is some do and when it’s bad it’s very very bad. The idea of letting nature take its course and humanity build up herd immunity to this brand new virus is certainly not being considered by the World Health Organisation, but a vaccine can’t be magically produced.
Avoidance and drastic measures are all we have, but will our societies survive the shut down of civilisation and the resultant loss of jobs? What will happen in the last chapter of the novel we all find ourselves in?
If you want some comfort reading during your confinement at home find out what may happen to humanity in the future in Three Ages of Man.
The rules and instructions keep changing; it’s no wonder so many people are confused. I sure don’t feel very creative lately, although I’m plowing through a lot of books.
In New York they left schools open with cases before they closed. I think it started rapidly accelerating at that point. They went into a gradual shutting down over several days. People did not take things seriously. We are where we are now because of it.
Foresight is what they need. We saw what was going on in Italy. Common sense to me would have been to shut down schools as soon as there were cases within them. Not telling the staff and parents until afterwards and let them stay open when you knew is a big fail. Teachers and parents begged them to shut as soon as their were nearby cases. Some parents refused to send their kids to school when there were cases nearby. They shut down universities with no cases in areas with no cases long before the shut down any schools in the hot spots. We all heard how this spread quickly and easily. Here in NY they did not plan very well, did not make good decisions from the start and slowed into a shut down. My message Don’t be NY.
Times they are a-changing I think everyone’s life has been like that it has taken a while to get just how virulent this invader is and how careful we do really need to be…I am trying hard to keep upbeat but it is a scary world out there…All our borders are closed and travel is not allowed between provinces unless you have a phone app so your movements can be tracked and a reason to get through the checkpoints…Scary times all around …Stay safe and well …
In many ways, yes but we also have stupid people…However we have also been told that total lockdown will be enforced if everyone doesn’t comply… time will tell …Stay safe Janet 🙂
Yesterday, when my mobile phone at my elbow blared a piercingly loud tone, I thought I was going to have a heart attack. The tone was a “Severe Emergency Alert” from the governor of the U.S. state of New Mexico, where I live, informing us that we are not to leave our homes unless it is for an “emergency essential outing.”
That is scary – we just got a text message I nearly missed – though I had already watched the Prime Minister’s address to the nation on Monday evening.
I heard Trump say, he HOPES to have the country open by then. It’s up to us to follow the guidelines so that can happen. Only in the worst of times do we find our best.
It seems that the government’s criteria for testing must be that you are over 70 and one of your parents is the Queen. There’s one good thing about Trump, though: he makes Johnson look like a leader who knows what he’s doing. Sad. Bigly.
Yes, this weird sense of dislocation – I am sure that any minute now a postmodernist writer will introduce themselves and explain that I am indeed in a novel. As a minor character – Oh no!
Times and Tides of a Beachwriter 
The rules and instructions keep changing; it’s no wonder so many people are confused. I sure don’t feel very creative lately, although I’m plowing through a lot of books.
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We’re all confused now. Writing and gardening are a solace and the only thing I have control over!
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In New York they left schools open with cases before they closed. I think it started rapidly accelerating at that point. They went into a gradual shutting down over several days. People did not take things seriously. We are where we are now because of it.
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Yes hindsight is a wonderful thing and something not many world leaders have.
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Foresight is what they need. We saw what was going on in Italy. Common sense to me would have been to shut down schools as soon as there were cases within them. Not telling the staff and parents until afterwards and let them stay open when you knew is a big fail. Teachers and parents begged them to shut as soon as their were nearby cases. Some parents refused to send their kids to school when there were cases nearby. They shut down universities with no cases in areas with no cases long before the shut down any schools in the hot spots. We all heard how this spread quickly and easily. Here in NY they did not plan very well, did not make good decisions from the start and slowed into a shut down. My message Don’t be NY.
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these are troubling times; let’s hope it gets under control soon…
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We just have to try and stay positive.
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quite true…
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Times they are a-changing I think everyone’s life has been like that it has taken a while to get just how virulent this invader is and how careful we do really need to be…I am trying hard to keep upbeat but it is a scary world out there…All our borders are closed and travel is not allowed between provinces unless you have a phone app so your movements can be tracked and a reason to get through the checkpoints…Scary times all around …Stay safe and well …
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It sounds like they are getting to grips with it over your way Carol.
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In many ways, yes but we also have stupid people…However we have also been told that total lockdown will be enforced if everyone doesn’t comply… time will tell …Stay safe Janet 🙂
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Yesterday, when my mobile phone at my elbow blared a piercingly loud tone, I thought I was going to have a heart attack. The tone was a “Severe Emergency Alert” from the governor of the U.S. state of New Mexico, where I live, informing us that we are not to leave our homes unless it is for an “emergency essential outing.”
Stop the world, I want to get off. 😦
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That is scary – we just got a text message I nearly missed – though I had already watched the Prime Minister’s address to the nation on Monday evening.
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I heard Trump say, he HOPES to have the country open by then. It’s up to us to follow the guidelines so that can happen. Only in the worst of times do we find our best.
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It seems that the government’s criteria for testing must be that you are over 70 and one of your parents is the Queen. There’s one good thing about Trump, though: he makes Johnson look like a leader who knows what he’s doing. Sad. Bigly.
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yes Clive, my son-in-law and seven of his fellow London teachers have been self isolating with symptoms, but they haven’t ben tested.
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Yes, this weird sense of dislocation – I am sure that any minute now a postmodernist writer will introduce themselves and explain that I am indeed in a novel. As a minor character – Oh no!
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Oh, oh – minor characters are dispensable.
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