Well… It is safe to say we live in an unprecedented time. With the news of Covid-19/Coronavirus exploding from China in December 2019, to be honest, I thought such a strain like many others would be relatively easily contained. Well how wrong and naive I was. Ebola, Foot and Mouth Disease and even the Swine Flu are some of the diseases/viruses that have taken hold specifically in my lifetime but never to the scale and ferocity of Covid-19. With the human version’s origin coming from a consumed bat, apparently, this isn’t actually unusual. There have been many a virus transmitted via this process of animal to human, but none with a mutation so fierce and resolute.
Fast forward two and a bit months and with the modern world we live in that has so much migration, travel and movement, it was inevitable that if Covid-19 was to survive in humans, it would also unfortunately thrive. And that is exactly what it has done. Throughout the continents, this has obviously taken many lives. Those at most risk with underlying health conditions seem to have been hardest hit with the rates generally being much higher amongst that demographic and the elderly. The hardest hit countries seem to have been Italy, Spain, Iran and China thus far.
After reaching the UK, it was interesting to see how different people reacted to the news and what their behaviours changed to once certain things were announced by the government. What followed after the news of virus touching down in the UK was nothing short of shocking to me. In the few days after the first announcement, people were already panic buying various supplies with no regard for the elderly and the vulnerable. This unusually seemed to be toilet roll (although sneezing is not a symptom and diarrhoea wasn't either) and dried foods such as rice and pasta. With supermarkets evidently not ready to take on such huge demand in such a short amount of time, people took what they could get from supermarkets with most isles bare and even reports of fighting in queues outside. This was really hurtful to see as someone with elderly and vulnerable people within their family. This meant people who couldn't necessarily rush out had no chance of getting essential supplies.
A few weeks in and many more serious press conferences later, it was announced that non-essential shops would shut down including bars, pubs and clubs. What ensued on that Friday was frankly nothing short of disgraceful, with hoards of people desperate to go out for one last 'sesh'. As such, with cases rising and people at earlier signs of symptoms, meant there was a massive spike in cases which ultimately leads to more deaths. The difficult pill to swallow was the fact that people knew how serious this condition was and how many people it had already killed around the world, yet showed very little care for those that they would indirectly effect. If anything, they had a massive effect on the death toll due to all wanting to be in a confined space for a period of hours. Our current Prime Minister Boris Johnson looked absolutely knackered with such a burden of reluctance to follow the advice and guidance of staying inside.
Then last week came one of the calls of which I had been expecting at some point, the schools would start to shut. With a heartbreaking realisation that year 11's would possibly not be returning and completing their GCSEs, it was a very tough few days within a school. Some of the most inspiring, incredible educationers, practitioners and teachers are thankfully my colleagues and this would prove to be crucial when the school were to close. Being very lucky in the modern world with technology, students could now complete classwork at home being set remotely from the various subject teachers. With a very odd situation ahead, as a Key Worker looking after Key Worker's children, I felt it as a duty to carry on as best I could with everything I could do. Without the education system, childcare in a certain respect would not sustain the amount of supervision needed for this epidemic. With reduced numbers, staff such as myself work from home finding resources and checking work for those already set. This is a pleasure to do as I truly love my job and really want to see all the students I work with flourish in what is bluntly quite a dark time.
The internet is a really fantastic place for resources for all ages of children too, with Facebook plentiful of ideas to solve boredom and also educate those who may not have received work. From worksheets to many big companies making their programmes available for free, this really has been a wonderfully positive note for those who really do need to continue to educate in order for their young people to succeed. It has made me really happy to see so many people sharing this as the more exposure of them, the more people can reach these offers and resources.
Then came lockdown. Only a couple of days ago by this point, the government now have the authority to disperse or even arrest those that don't follow the guidance and now rules that have been given to them. To be honest, rightly so. To protect our NHS, rather than just washing hands and getting on with everything else in daily life, we now have to follow a carefully planned and stringent regime to minimise the impact. Without a shadow of a doubt we are remarkably lucky to have a National Health Service that caters to us everyday, but now, it is our responsibility that they have the resources to tackle this for US. Another positive notion came last night in fact when a organised applause for the NHS spread like wildfire throughout social media and was fantastically done by the the nation. Many people made as much noise as they could (with social distancing of course) to show their immense appreciation of the risk that our heroes are taking day in and day out to care for those closest to us.
In conjunction with this, a volunteer service was launched with ideally 250,000 people needed for various minor roles to help move our NHS along including transport and calls. The government expected these numbers possibly after a few days and within only 24 hours of first releasing the details of how to sign up, the total was over 500,000. This is an absolutely phenomenal response and arguably when we look back on this whole situation, it'll be something our country can look back on and be so, so proud. More positivity was spread recently with further give backs to the NHS. A huge amount of retailers have offered free and heavily reduced products and services. Tesco for instance have been noted to give away flowers and Easter eggs with no charge to those who have come in store at priority NHS worker hours. Only a small not for those working so hard but I would assume appreciated nevertheless.
Speaking of Tesco, as someone that lives in house with '2 vulnerable' and someone that doesn't drive, I have had to take on the responsibility to do the week shop for instance. With Lock-down in full force, I was expecting an odd encounter with the supermarket we frequent at because of the rule that you should only pop out for essentials and work only if necessary. Setting off, I immediately noticed the quiet. Living in a city, there is a usual bustle of constant traffic and people moving around, but no, nothing. With nigh on a clear route on my 10 minute journey of which i was only stopped by lights, it was a pleasant but odd drive. It was, in my opinion, looking like a ghost town. Arriving to the Tesco, I found that the car park was maybe about half full with a designated waiting line curving around the front row. This had tape every two metres so those who wished to enter would queue in this way (see below). After reaching the front, I was greeted by a security guard who was evidently letting only a few in to stem the number of patrons. Once inside, it was a relatively easy shop with isles relatively well stocked and people being very polite and respecting the distance that we have been asked to keep. Tesco impressed me with their organisation yesterday as the tills had tape across the floor to indicate where to be whilst standing, placing things on the belt, and packing. This was done with precision and good spirits by those that worked on the till. It really was a pleasant journey, odd, but pleasant.
Which finally brings me to today. With being a key worker and having to do responsibilities I haven't really had to manage before, it is sort of a new 'normal' that I am having to get used to. This virus and the following isolation has really bought new perspectives already to me on human behaviour, good and bad, and generally on what we appreciate most in life, that within some circumstances can be easily taken away. We truly are all in this together, working, helping and fighting to beat Covid-19.
At the end of the first of many weeks of lock-down and isolation... wash your hands, stay home, protect the NHS.
Comments