coronavirus and us…

So, this is the scenario:

Saturday 14 March: We hear, via Robert Peston’s ITV blog (for example), that the “People over 70 will be instructed by the government to stay in strict isolation at home or in care homes for four months, under a ‘wartime-style’ mobilisation effort by the government likely to be enforced within the next 20 days”. Peston’s post goes on to say: “According to a senior government source, the perception that ministers are reluctant to make difficult and costly decisions to battle the virus is wrong. It is simply that the chief medical officer Chris Whitty and the chief scientific adviser Sir Patrick Vallance are waiting for the optimal time to force restrictions on our way of life that will be very painful. They are deeply worried that some older people will simply die at home from neglect, after they are quarantined, so want to start the quarantine as late as possible - sometime within the next five to 20 days”.

Sunday 15 March: Health Minister Matt Hancock confirms (on SkyNews) that action to isolate the UK's over-70s for an extended period to shield them from coronavirus is planned in the coming weeks and that the government would “be setting it out with more detail when it is the right time to do so”.

I wonder when that’s likely to be?

Well, Moira and I are certainly NOT going to be ones who will “simply die at home from neglect”… but, over the course of the next few days, we’ll be reflecting on the various implications that strict quarantine rules would have on our lives… and those of our families, our friends, etc.

Yes, we can simplify our own lives fairly easily (in relative terms, compared with those who have already been directly, and even more seriously, affected by the pandemic)… but with somewhat depressing outcomes and implications (no classes, no groups, no sport, no cafés/restaurants, no cinema, no theatre, no concerts, no church, no meetings with family/friends etc etc). At this stage, we haven’t any holiday arrangements scheduled over the coming months… and I suspect there won’t now be any.

I assume we’ll be ‘allowed’ to get out into the ‘fresh air’ to walk and maintain our levels of ‘fitness and well-being’ (assuming we don’t get within 3-4 metres of another human!)? I also assume I’ll be allowed to sit in some isolated outdoor location and sketch (on my own!)?

We live quite simple lives. We’ll cope...   

Coronavirus will obviously have a huge impact on a whole range of other day-to-day issues for so many people. I suspect that (perhaps by the Easter holidays?) schools, colleges and universities will shut… (with all sorts of implications for young school children – where grandparents frequently pick up the childcare ‘slack’). Without support, some firms will collapse and others will be forced to make redundancies? What about the lack of statutory sick pay for the self-employed? Mortgage/rent payment implications? Paying monthly bills? Holiday bookings?

The list goes on (and on)…

So, at this stage, it seems to be all about what the government is ABOUT to decide (or not!)… and everyone thinking of their own contingency plans… and, of course, some people selfishly ‘going overboard’ and stockpiling. The government will no doubt receive lots of criticism (and maybe even some plaudits?) regarding its handling of the pandemic… but it’s difficult to be certain about anything in such circumstances. My heart goes out to all those working in the NHS – at the ‘sharp’ end of things and having to cope with ‘unknown issues’ set against a backdrop of several years of under-funding.

On a personal level, I have very mixed emotions about the government wanting us oldies to self-isolate (I really feel for my lovely family). As far as possible, I want to see the help and support concentrated on younger people… and yet I absolutely appreciate that it’s better to try and prevent the ‘old’ becoming infected (ie. due to their much greater vulnerability) in the first place – and thereby, hopefully, reducing funds spent on them once they’ve been admitted to hospital. Ridiculously perhaps, if I did contract the disease, I’d much prefer to be ‘killed off quickly’ (I know!) than to have large amounts of money spent on me, at my stage in life.

In the meantime, as someone who avoids using the telephone as much as possible, I think I’m going to have to learn to Skype PROPERLY (my past attempts have been pretty awful – with me watching an image on my laptop screen and listening to what’s being said on my mobile!!)(really), so I can keep in touch with family and friends effectively from my ‘isolation den’. Perhaps, for example, I can continue (ie. a couple of times/week) to prepare meals* for Iris+Rosa - pass them on to Ruth/Stu for cooking at their home – and then Skyping the girls so we can continue our hilarious chats over the 'dining table' (while I sip my glass of red)!?

As they used to say on ‘Hill Street Blues’: “Let’s Be Careful Out There”!

(now wash your hands…).

PS: * but, of course, I probably wouldn't be allowed to cook for others!