So how are you coping during the lockdown? The UK has supposedly been adhering to the Government’s advice to stay at home for 3 weeks now and it seems more than likely that this will be extended later on this week. But is it working? Are we winning the battle against this Coronavirus? The jury is out on whether an end may be in sight, but every day we hear the amount of deaths is rising and it is thought that when this comes to an end, we may have more casualties here in the UK than any other country in Europe. I wonder if rather than continually reporting the total number of deaths (we all know it is far too high), maybe if we were given a figure of the number of people who have recovered from the virus instead, it would send a more positive message? But are the lockdown measures being taken strict enough? Currently we are told we can leave our homes to shop for necessities, going preferably just once a week. There is nothing more enjoyable than standing in a queue outside of a supermarket, 2 metres away from the person in front and behind you. I imagine the Eastern European community, living in this country, are feeling quite nostalgic about returning to their way of life back in the day! We can leave the house for medical reasons and to go to work, if we are unable to work from home that is (it does depend on whether we still have a job to go of course, but I digress). We are allowed one form of external exercise a day, either alone or with a member of your household. You can bet your bottom dollar that this direction is being totally abused, but in a country where you very rarely see any police on the streets (our policing is pretty much undertaken by cameras), who is going to enforce it? In France, you have to have paperwork to leave your house explaining the reason. In theory, probably a good idea, but could you really see that working in the UK? In fact, it would be interesting to know if it actually works over the Channel? I an in the “lucky” position to still have a job to go to - I work part-time hours (usually nights) in a petrol station and as this helps keeping goods in the country on the move, this is classed as an essential occupation. Since the lockdown started my hours have been cut as the garage has been closed down at night. I now work during the day, which I intensely dislike, and in fact, I would be better off financially was I to be furloughed and not have to work at all. Believe me, there is nothing more invigorating than serving customers who really should be at home stopping the spread of the virus. The company have installed a screen that covers about a quarter of the serving area. This is supposedly sufficient to stop the raging masses coughing, spluttering and spitting all over you. It’s totally inadequate in my opinion, but the person whose brilliant idea it was doesn’t go near a customer from one year to the next so he/she doesn’t really give a damn about the safety of the plebs left on the front line! So we hear that on Thursday the Government will announce whether the lockdown will continue. We are not exactly holding our breath as we know full well that it will. How the country is going to recover from the colossal outlay that will be paid to staff unable to work and to business that is temporarily closed down is something of a mystery. The IMF says that this pandemic has plunged the world into a “crisis like no other”. Stand by for one hell of a recession! I have heard so many people say that once this is all over, our amazing NHS staff should be given a massive pay rise to say thank you for the wonderful job they have been doing. Even though they saved his life, if you pin back your lugholes you can already hear Boris Johnson telling us that there is no money for any increases and then continuing in the next breath to bring in the most severe austerity measures any of us have ever witnessed. You wait and see….
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