From Bad to Worse

 From Bad to Worse.

Within a week the UK has experienced a tsunami of the Omicron variant of Covid. Official numbers are around 5,000 although experts say it is probably much higher. Due to become the dominant variant within a matter of days.

Does this matter? The Gov thinks it does. Despite growing evidence from S Africa where this first was identified that it does not cause serious symptoms, in fact the opposite, the UK is now in Plan B.

Plan B involves an order to work from home "when possible" and increased compulsory mask wearing. Um. Boris tells the nation it is perfectly fine to continue with the office party and appears unaware of the discrepancy between an order to stay at home and permission to crowd into bars, nightclubs and restaurants en masse.

The ubiquitous covid symbol

 Hard to resist the sense that Boris is determined to deflect the nation's attention from more leaks about his 2020 antics in defiance of his own lockdown rules. 

However, we are stuck with headlines plunging us into despair. I cannot understand why we have a national emergency when there is little evidence this new variant poses any greater threat.

Boris's strategy is to boost everyone. Booster campaign on steriods, he proclaims. Pity no one told the vaccination clinics. Queues of 4 hours plus today. GPs told to abandon all other work to get this done. 

There is merit in expanding the booster campaign. Evidence has shown it needs a third shot for this particular variant. Esp those who had AZ for their first 2 shots, as that has shown zero efficacy. Whoops. I will be glad when my family is boosted, especially those who had our much lauded British version earlier in the year. 

Much of my December social calendar is now blank again. Meals have been cancelled, book clubs postponed, fun lunches out moved to January. Everyone is counting the days til Christmas and holding their breath that nothing goes wrong. 

Because if Christmas gets cancelled again I cannot bear it. No one can bear it. We do not deserve this. Everyone has been so careful. Everyone has followed the rules even when our civil liberties were restricted. This should not be happening. 

Here we go again

 Here we go again...

It was all going so well. Too well. Life felt almost normal. Old normal. Pre Covid normal.  Cinema visits again.  Cafes, shops, anything indoors felt, simply, indoors once again. Trains, buses, dinner parties, meetings, you name it, I have been doing it. At first cautiously, then almost without a care in the world.

Until this weekend. News of a new variant with scary numbers of mutations showing vaccine escape hit the headlines and global panic ensued. 

I should have been fine. I am now booster vaccinated. I had my third shot of Pfizer weeks ago. Up to 95 percent immunity, say the headlines. To Covid as we knew it. Possibly not to this new version. Deep joy.

Christmas plans are well underway. Family gatherings, Xmas meals.  To be worried or not to be worried is the question.

Boris assures us we will be fine. Cue hollow laughter.  Trust in the Government is even lower than thought possible. 

This variant was found in South Africa but even a nigh on immediate flight ban has not stopped cases popping up everywhere. Here, in Europe, in Canada, in the USA.  Hotel quarantines and red lists are back on the agenda but obviously this will only buy time now our world has returned to  pre pandemic global village status. We are all in this together now.

I have now had two sleepless nights listening to medical experts arguing over the merits of what to do, how much to worry, is this "overkill" or is this the start of worse to come. 

Today the UK Government announced an immediate increase in booster availability, now eligible to everyone over 18 and with the gap reduced to 3 months after the second dose rather than 6. 

Critics say this is an abundance of caution, no one with this new variant is as yet very ill. Medics say it is too early to say and vaccines, even with the possibility of vaccine escape, are our best defence. 

My instincts tell me this Government does nothing that has dire consequences for our recovering economy unless it fears a worse outcome if it does not.  Airline share prices plummeted when news broke of flight bans, tourism firms have taken an immediate hit, and consumer confidence is shaken at the very time struggling businesses need an Xmas boost. Restrictions imposed over the last 3 days were not done lightly.

Mask wearing is mandatory. PCR tests for returning travellers mandatory. Isolation for new variant contacts regardless of vaccine status mandatory.

Its beginning to look a lot like Xmas. Last Xmas. Not again. Please God not again! 

Not Good

Not Good. 

Halloween. Day of the Dead. Zombies, ghosts and witches roam the streets grasping candy from friendly neighbours. I have done my bit keeping the tradition alive with all 4 grandchildren and am Halloween-ed out. I never want to see another pumpkin again.

Scratch the surface of this happy picture and all is not good.

1. Welcome back the "super cold", lying myself and millions more low.   Community immunity is wiped out by a year of self isolation, social distancing and mask wearing. Tests show definitely not Covid. Just a plain old horrible bug. 

2. Covid cases hover at 40,000 daily but worse the hospital and death rates continue to rise. Hospitals are showing signs of overheating. Intensive care beds are filling up.

3. Booster program is running slowly. Too slowly. Walk in clinics are often standing empty as social media/online adverts fail to reach those elderly and vulnerable most at need. People waiting patiently for a call from their GP will wait for months, sadly. 

I am due my booster anytime now. Plan is to wait til cold subsides and find a walk in, which will involve travelling to Brighton. Deep joy. GP surgeries are so behind any residual acclaim those services had for delivering the first two jabs has long worn off and those GPs protesting that it is Covid that prevents them seeing patients face to face have no credibility.

4. The complete breakdown of our GP service is symbolic of the breakdown of pre Covid society. Blaming Covid is only part of the picture. The rest is about money. Brexit and a global supply chain crisis from food to energy has collided with a Tory Government prepared to put up NI rates, thus affecting the lower paid, rather than changing the higher tax rates. Protect the wealthy at all costs.

The latest grim scandal is the sight of sewage ruining our beaches. Water companies use legal loopholes to wash untreated sewage out to stop the nations Victorian sewers backing up. The Government has a policy of mass house building. No new sewers. MPs are not prepared to stop the overflow policy. The sea does not bring in money. 

5. The UK hosts COP 26 in Glasgow, cue cynical laughter across the whole world treated to images of raw sewage washing up on the sands. Delegates fly in from the climate change conference in Rome, causing mass disruption to the city and creating their own  minor climate hiatus.  You couldn't make it up.

6. France and the UK engage in yet another squabble over fishing rights. Someone tell the fish to stop swimming, that'll sort it. Seriously, you couldn't make it up.

The clocks have gone back. Winter is officially here. There is a deep seated somber mood of foreboding under those jolly Halloween antics. Covid is still with us. No one is convinced the vaccine will be enough. It is gong to be a long cold winter. 

  

Crisis, what Crisis?

Crisis, what Crisis?

Autumn mists, balmy weather and as yet ( see **) no major resurgence of Covid, life seems on the surface to be back to normal. I have stayed away from home, not just in the relative safety of the cottage, but in London and in Kent. I have travelled by train and tube. Family life is thriving, birthday parties, multi family gatherings, chatter and natter with no talk of Covid. 

And yet underneath this apparent normality,  with shops open, offices open, rush hour commuters surging onto tubes and buses,  there is a surreal sense that this is all an illusion and that any week now we will be plunged back into a winter of dispair.

We are already teetering on a winter of discontent. England is suffering food, fuel, and gas shortages. The Government blames Covid. Brexit is a forbidden word. Whilst it is true that this is a global problem driven by a global pandemic causing lack of production across the board and major issues in shipping and transport it is also true that Britain's shortages are worse thanks to our Brexit policy of non immigration. Nothing has showed Brexiteers more how much we rely on the EU and how bereft we are without it. 

Boris Johnson throws out exemptions by the day, come over til Xmas EU lorry drivers, oh, not enough, come til March. Bring in more care workers. Sadly the EU workers once happy to work here went home post Brexit and during Covid and show little inclination to come back. I can't say I blame them. 

**Covid rampages among us, positive cases rise by the day. Hospital cases also rise, and although severe illnesses overwhelming the NHS is so far being held in check only by vaccinations, as winter looms over an exhausted population I feel the pervading unease that bad times lie ahead. 

 Boris Johnson, however, jets off for a five star holiday, riding the crest of a bizarrely successful Tory party conference.  Inside the hall is all cheers and applause, outside is misery and protests.Inflation has risen sharper than predicted. The Tory party has withdrawn the extra £20 top up on universal benefit introduced during covid. Words fail me. Wages are rising but this triumphant Tory catch phrase missing the end of the sentence, i.e not in line with inflation.  Food banks, once rare, are now normal even in an affluent town like Lewes.

 A cartoon in The Independent summed up the stark contrast between them and everyone else  Boris Johnson is depicted lying on a sunbed, champagne glass afloat, sealed in a bubble soaring high above the burning dystopia of post Covid, post Brexit Britain. 

The NHS , whilst not at breaking point just yet, is very close, and  creaking at the seams. A drs appt is the golden grail. Like most people I ve given up waiting for my flu jab from my GP and had it done by the chemist. As for when I get my promised booster, my best guess is about 3 months after it is due , which is 1 st November.

This promised booster is our only defence but this too the Government has failed to deliver. Supplies are short, clinics everywhere are cancelled often on the day. I simply don't think about the worst than can happen any more because otherwise living a normal life in a society and culture returned to normal is impossible.

No coincidence Boris was on holiday when the long awaiting public report on the Governments handling of the Covid crisis was published, and was as damning as expected. 

Cue Tory Ministers focusing on how a successful vaccination programme is all that matters and simply refusing to engage about how many of those 140,000 deaths so far could have been avoided had the Government not made such a b** awful shambles of handling the pandemic. And if a successful vaccination program is the end game, where the hell are the vaccines!

This surreal sense of "What on earth is going on" as everything falls apart at the heart of our culture and society is reflected in the media headlines awash with bad news. The only person oblivious is Boris, pictured telling his party faithful to worship the ground he walks on, before heading to Malaga and avoiding any questions as well as providing any answers. 

I am one of the lucky ones. I am not dependant on my car, so no need to queue for petrol,  I can absorb food price hikes, food shortages. I have no economic concerns. 

With winter looming, the future is unclear.  London has cancelled its New Years Eve fireworks again due to Covid concerns. Lewes is planning to go ahead with the stupendous bonfire night celebrations. This is life in England, we all know Covid is still with us but no one knows what to do about it. I can only live in hope and enjoy life as it is now, savouring the everyday normality that only last year seemed impossible.

We made it!

 We made it!

Six weeks of sun, fun, family and sheer happiness.  A normal summer. Invaluable. Priceless. 

Organisational skills forgotten during the Covid months were back in play. Having inadvertently double booked my own Norfolk cottage by offering it to No 1 son and family when also agreeing to visit No 2 son and family, I simply found Paul and I a most agreeable bed and (excellent) breakfast in Norwich. Excuse for a mini break.

An enmasse gathering of geographically spread out family for Rosie's 2nd birthday that week worked beautifully, unspoilt by unseasonable drizzle.

This summer too I got to spend precious regular days out with my two more local granddaughters , time truly special. Last summer felt more circumspect, contact time more limited as families wrestling with the dilemmas of post Covid lockdown fears were trying to catch up with everyone and everything. Not enough time to go round. And all too soon lockdown struck again leaving me bereft with a scant paucity of memories. Not so this year. My heart is full of hugs, cuddles, kisses. 

My own birthday family gathering was the only time Covid touched the family, missed by my daughter in law who fortunately was not too unwell and passed it on to no one at all. A minor blip in am otherwise glorious, happy and healthy holiday season. 

My birthday also coincided with the Gov declaring that the double vaccinated no longer had to isolate on contact with anyone testing positive. Surreally bizarre. Issue was simply that with high numbers of Covid circulating, contact tracing and isolation was creating such a staff shortage throughout every industry that this was the only answer.  In fairness, since introduced in mid August, the policy has not made much difference to the infection rate , still high, and it has released an imprisoned workforce. Fair enough. 

It seems that those of us double jabbed, the vast majority of the country now, when unlucky enough to get Covid are no more or less likely to pass it directly than a person picking it up from the supermarket. It is everywhere. You either get it, or you don't. 

Odds of being seriously ill when vaccinated are low so, like most people, I simply got on with enjoying my summer. Mask wearing, yes, most of the time, but in a soft play area with kids, its impossible. I took the risk, I am not missing out on anything else because of Covid.

Wonderful times too when my now too big house filled once again with children , rooms heaving with children, mess, paint, glue, music, dancing, every inch once again in use. Meals cooked with love for a family gathered round a table. Dawn starts with little ones  sleepy bodies curling into mine. Bath times, story times, bug hunts, playground fun, the summer I wanted it was the summer I had and I am so grateful.

Now the children are at school. The house is silent. My weekdays are bare of grandchildren , only the youngest far away in Norfolk not at school now. There is a chill in the air. The Government announces the winter Covid plan as rates continue to soar, hospital admissions rise and deaths are creeping up. 

Winter plan includes booster vaccines for the over 50s, single vaccinations for 12 to 15 year olds, controversial and not compulsory, and basically keeping your fingers crossed. Watch this space..........

But for now I am content. The bonds of last years stilted emotionally restrained reunions have loosened and broken free. I have had my normal summer, the time I longed for to fully restore family connections after so many lost months. Beyond words precious. 

Dilemas

Dilemmas 

The country is in chaos. The lifting of all restrictions in the face of a rising case load has caused shortages due to mass isolation , the dreaded "pingdemic" and created as much conflict and confusion as it has freedom.

Thankfully as I write the steep rise in infections has stopped, for how long who knows. We are all on our own now finding our way through the mess our Government has dumped us in.

Everyone is making different decisions according to circumstance. Me, I m staying outside with friends , avoiding anything inside, but doing whatever I want with my family. I want to cherish this summer with my beloved granddaughters. 

My family members have all made alternative choices as their lifestyles dictate. Those with children have embraced the out of school time, those at work are now back at work, with all the interactions that involved. And all deserve a social life!

My social life is walking with friends on the cliffs and countryside. I have meet friends in pubs for lunch, outside, and coffee, outside. I have been to houses for lunch, outside.

Only with family do i stop looking over my shoulder because this is why I m being so careful with everyone else. Yes, logically, they could well give me covid but it is not covid which worries me, it is the thought of isolating and seeing our precious summer time vanishing. So much lost time already and I cannot bear to miss any more. 

My diary is criss crossed with a messy but full schedule devised to allow me to optimise time with family across the country.

Please Gods give me these summer weeks to enjoy before the empty weeks of winter when the schools return and my diary is blank. Please Gods keep us infection free and healthy for our time together. 

" Freedom Day"

 Freedom Day? Huh? 

Monday July 19th. Boris Johnson decides , against every scientists advice,  to go ahead with the lifting of all restrictions in England, the stage 4 of his roadmap out of lockdown, postponed from June. Our much lauded Freedom Day. 

The UK has the highest number of Covid cases per population in the world. The world. There is a sharp rise in the number of hospital admissions andour death rate,  whilst low thanks to the mass vaccination programme, is slowly but surely creeping upwards.

The world thinks we are mad. So does most of the population. It is madness. Boris Johnsons popularity has sunk to an all time low. 

I am now part of a bizarre social experiment. The Governments rationale is that with a highly vaccinated population we can live with the virus. The summer holidays are nearly here so okay there is some merit in the "if not now than when?" argument.

But the obvious answer is simply just " not now". 

Mass spectator events including hosted the final of the Euros at Wembley where 60,000 spectators watched England snatch defeat yet again from the jaws of victory, losing on penalties, have become super spreader events.

The football ended in defeat in more ways than goals. We reached the final. England was more or less united for once is a breathless state of bemusement. There was a positive vibe of unity even I, a non football fan, felt. Even i watched the match.

Then the riots, the disgusting behaviour of drunken fans, the violent crowds breaking into the stadium. I felt ashamed to be British. Again.  

Thankfully racist abuse directed towards players who missed penalties was matched by an outpouring of love to balance an overwhelming sensation  everything had gone so horribly wrong. 

I now know many people now who have Covid, caught during pub nights to watch the football or simply a passing contact with someone else who has it, This Delta variant is incredibly contagious. 

The ludicrous situation is summed up by the pingdemic sweeping the nation. Come to close to someone infected and your app will ping. 10 days of isolation follows. Cue much deleting of the track and trace app, one many of us, including me, never added in the first place as its not a legal requirement and notoriously unreliable.

Farcical. On Freedom Day the PM and Chancellor and the Leader of the Opposition were in isolation as the Health Secretary developed Covid. Shortages in shops and services as half the workface across the land is in isolation.

You couldn't make it up.