{"id":5319,"date":"2020-06-08T15:27:04","date_gmt":"2020-06-08T15:27:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/randomthoughtsltd.com\/?p=5319"},"modified":"2024-04-06T17:04:17","modified_gmt":"2024-04-06T17:04:17","slug":"a-lockdown-diary","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/randomthoughtsltd.com\/?p=5319","title":{"rendered":"A Lockdown Diary"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

First published in the NASGP Newsletter in April 2020<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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In the future, when we look back on this strange period, the experience of all of us needs to be acknowledged, and I\u2019m going back to time BC (Before Covid-19) to track how swiftly we moved from complacent normality to a fearful wartime footing. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

1st<\/sup> April\n2020<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wild goats wandering in\nthe streets of Llandudno this morning. An April Fool? No, it isn\u2019t. In 2020\nApril Fools would be tasteless, when something we can\u2019t see has made an April\nFool of the whole world. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m a retired GP not\neligible for return to the front line. Privileged and protected, my husband and\nI enjoy beauty, exercise and peace in our garden. Outside of our little oasis\nour rubbish is still being collected, post is still delivered and London bus\ndrivers are dying. I\u2019m glad that the news gives full coverage of the sacrifice\nof my colleagues, nightmare of working crazy hours without adequate PPE or\ntests. But some time \u2013 some distant time \u2013 in the future when we look back on\nthis strange period, the experience of all of us needs to be acknowledged, I\u2019m\ngoing back to time BC (Before Covid-19) to track how swiftly we moved from\ncomplacent normality to a fearful wartime footing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

14th<\/sup> February<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lunch in Soho. We decide\nto try a well-reviewed small new restaurant. Tasty snacks, but the cutlery is crammed\ninto tin tidies. Impossible to take out your utensils without touching several\nothers. I draw the manager\u2019s attention to the risks. He doesn\u2019t quite\nunderstand the problem, so I point out that food safety inspectors and Public\nHealth could close the restaurant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

21st<\/sup>\nFebruary<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

We finalise all of our\nbookings \u2013 trains, ferry and accommodation – for a walking holiday in Portugal\nin mid-April.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

28th<\/sup> February<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

First Brit dies on the\ncruise ship Diamond Princess in Japan<\/p>\n\n\n\n

29th<\/sup>\nFebruary <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Retired doctors may be\nrecalled to form a \u2018Dad\u2019s Army\u2019. Patronising both to the Home Guard and to us\ndoctors no longer doing clinical work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

4th<\/sup> March<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rembrandt exhibition at\nthe Ashmolean in Oxford. People maintain some distance. Lunch at a gastropub. Same\ncutlery problem. No doubt it saves staff time to stick it all in a jar rather\nthan wrapping each set in a napkin. OK, they put all the cutlery in the\ndishwasher at the end of the day, but by 2pm how many people have touched that\nfork? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Supper with friends.\nBanter about elbow bumps, loo paper and Lady Macbeth. I wrote a pertinent\narticle about hand-washing for NASGP in June last year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

7th<\/sup> March<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

England\/Wales rugby match\ngoes ahead, with BoJo in attendance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

8th<\/sup> March<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

UK supermarkets supermarkets\nstart rationing loo paper and tinned tomatoes. It\u2019s difficult to get on their\nwebsites.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Vulnerable friends are\nself-isolating at the insistence of their children who are supplying their groceries.\nBut who\u2019s going to do the childminding now?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tomorrow we are due to travel\nto Ghent to see the Van Eyck exhibition. Should we go? We decide the risk is\nlow if we are careful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

9th<\/sup>\/10th<\/sup>\nMarch<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

No-one on Eurostar is\nwearing a mask. We avoid sitting at a table where we\u2019d be in the direct line of\ndroplets from a cough or sneeze from a passenger sitting opposite. In the loos:\nno water, no towels and not enough hot air to dry your hands. Memo: carry soap,\ntowel and gel. Use paper to open doors. You don\u2019t get much notice of a sneeze\nso keep tissues easily accessible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In St Bavo\u2019s Cathedral the\nrestored altarpiece, Van Eyck\u2019s 1420 masterpiece The Adoration of the Lamb<\/em>\nglows. But at the exhibition we rub shoulders, literally, with tourists from\nall over the world. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ghent\u2019s traditional bars\nare busy but not jam-packed. And they don\u2019t ask the customers to help\nthemselves to cutlery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

10th March<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nadine Dorries becomes\nthe first UK minister to test positive for coronavirus<\/p>\n\n\n\n

11th<\/sup> March<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Local friends invite us\nround for a meal next week. He\u2019s a very creative cook. We tell them we\u2019ve been exposed\nto crowds in Ghent. No worries, they say. Dinner will go ahead unless anyone\ndevelops symptoms. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

12th<\/sup> March<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Removing the element of touch calls attention to\nits ubiquity within common gestures. The Brits have become touchy-feely, but\nnow it\u2019s a no-no. Especially touching your face. But you need a straitjacket or\nboxing gloves to stop doing it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

13th<\/sup> March<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Coronavirus offers a\nguilt-free excuse for turning down duty invitations. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We got to Ghent just in\ntime. The exhibition, St Bavo\u2019s , the bars and restaurants have all shut down.\nBut we\u2019re still hoping to get to Portugal. It\u2019s taken a lot of organising and\nwe\u2019ve laid out the money. We get round to looking for travel insurance. Very\nvaried quotes so we decide to decide tomorrow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

14th March<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Travel insurance now\nimpossible to get. At least EHIC provides basic cover.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Emails tell us that\nevents on our calendar are being cancelled: tomorrow\u2019s Urban Sketchers meeting\nand going to the pub to watch the Six Nations rugby,so saving us  decisions about going out. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our host calls us to say\nthat he\u2019s going out to the pub the night before our planned dinner. Does that\naffect our arrangement? It doesn\u2019t take us long to decide, yes, it does, and we\ncry off.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Beatles\u2019 Zebra\ncrossing on Abbey Road is deserted. One can cross in safety, free of capering\ntourists, for the first time in decades.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

16th March<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

BoJo reverses the mitigation\nherd immunity strategy. Instructions to avoid unnecessary social contact\nincluding visits to care homes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We deliver the flowers we\nhad bought for our dinner hosts, whilst maintaining social distance. No hard\nfeelings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

17th<\/sup> March<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s a funny old world\nwhen the sick are asked to stay away from doctors. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Is anyone surprised that not\neveryone is unselfish? Some people behaved badly in the Blitz. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

18th<\/sup> March<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Schools are closed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Should we ask our cleaner\nnot to come? We need the cleaning and she needs the money. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

19th<\/sup> March<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Asymptomatic people may\nbe shedding C-19 and so a source of infection.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We contact the cleaner\nand we both agree she should stay at home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Galleries and theatres\nare making the decision to close, so no Titian at the National Gallery, no\nMacbeth at the Globe. The director, my niece, says the last time theatres were\nclosed for pestilence was during the Great Plague.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

20th<\/sup> March<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Only a month since we\nfinalised arrangements for Portugal, but borders have now closed. We\u2019re on the\ninternet trying to obtain refunds from three train companies, one ferry and\nfive guest houses. A bright note: our potential loss is less than the travel\ninsurance we never took out would have cost.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

21st<\/sup> March<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I get out the vacuum\ncleaner. How does it work?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lockdown is coming and\nsome people are bolting for places in which they feel secure. Just as in Day\nof the Triffids.<\/em> And people are piling into the pubs before they close.\nJust as in On The Beach.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

22nd<\/sup> March<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

We decide to go as usual\nto the farmers market where we buy our fresh food. It\u2019s opening early for\noldies. The bus is empty but for us and the driver. At 09.30 the market is\nquiet. The Big Issue is closing for three months so I buy a copy. The salesman\nsays \u201cI\u2019ll stay alive if I die in the attempt\u201d. I wish him luck. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

23rd<\/sup> March<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Full lockdown begins. Ban\non gatherings of more than 2 people. No events so no FOMO.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

26th<\/sup> March<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

First clapping for NHS\nworkers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From rubbish collectors to\nroyalty, C-19 is an equal-opportunities infector. And delivery drivers are the\nnew essential workers. Get that, Priti Patel. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lockdown finally imposed.\nIt\u2019s lovely in our garden. The snails aren\u2019t self-isolating.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m making a list of\nfriends\u2019 plans for enforced idleness. My sister has just cleared her garage. That\nwon\u2019t need doing again unless lockdown lasts for years. Friends are planning to\nrepot all their plants, picking up a long-abandoned musical instrument, build\nmodel boats, read novels, write novels and dig out those watercolour paints. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

29th<\/sup> March<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Farmers\u2019 market again.\nToo busy for comfort. The stallholders look tired and the market staff are busy\norganising one-way traffic and drawing squares and arrows to manage social\ndistancing. It\u2019s hopscotch for giants. Try to pay with contactless, not\naccepted by five stallholders\u2019 machines.  Inserting the card and putting in a pin\ndoesn\u2019t seem very safe. We use cash.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Baker Street and the\nMarylebone Road, usually traffic-laden and with some of the highest pollution\nlevels in the country, are empty. I vaguely recall an old film about a bomb threat\nwhich cleared London. Five Minutes to Midnight<\/em>? No, Seven Days to\nNoon<\/em>. Time was slower in 1950. A relief to close the front door behind us\nand feel secure at home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

30th<\/sup> March<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

First child in UK dies of Covid-19.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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A GP friend is determined\nnot to give up the \u2018lady GP\u2019 look, and is consulting wearing pearls over her scrubs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

31st March<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

We are 168,384th<\/sup>\nin the Ocado virtual queue. We spend the rest of the day organising separate\ndeliveries of potatoes, coffee, parmesan cheese, wine, fresh veg . . .<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A virtual meeting with\nfriends over coffee via Zoom. Some weeks ago, BC, I borrowed a book on how to\nmake sourdough bread (technique improving). Zooming into someone else\u2019s home is\nso near to the real thing that for a while I was kicking myself that I didn\u2019t\nuse the opportunity to return their book. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another friend who\nnormally doesn\u2019t move from the sofa is doing 10,000 steps round his kitchen\ntable, and since his daughter does their shopping he has no choice but to eat\nvegetables.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s nearly five weeks\nsince we had a haircut. As amateurs attempt to cut their own hair, will shaggy\nand uneven tonsures become Mode-C-19?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How are those Covid-19 projects going, friends?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1st<\/sup> April<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

BC seems nearly as long\nago as BCE.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Doctors and nurses are\ndying. I sign petitions for proper PPE and then we go outside to clap. In the\nnew reality we are daily amending our attitudes and changing our behaviour.\nGeneral practices are throwing out the bureaucracy and concentrating on the\nreal work. GPs at local practices are consulting from Shropshire, Nice,\nprobably Australia. Nothing, not general practice, nor shopping, office work,  transport or day-to-day life, will ever be\nthe same again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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First published in the NASGP Newsletter in April 2020 In the future, when we look back on this strange period, the experience of all of us needs to be acknowledged, and I\u2019m going back to time BC (Before Covid-19) to track how swiftly we moved from complacent normality to a fearful wartime footing. 1st April … <\/p>\n

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