Coronavirus Diaries – Part 2

March 16th to March 22nd 2020

This is our Coronavirus Diaries – Part 2. Monday 16th March signified a step change in the Governments approach to the Coronavirus Pandemic.

Daily Press Briefings

It was the first of the ongoing daily Government Briefings from Downing Street (the official residence of the UK’s Prime Minister), set up to update the public on latest infection figure, deaths and any changes in policy.

They also allow for Journalists to ask questions, many of which are on the publics mind.

I expect a huge number of people watched this first briefing and probably, like me, were really saddened and shocked by the news in brought. Our Prime Minister, Boris Johnson advised that everyone who can must work from home did. And it was also recommended that we avoid pubs and restaurants in order to give the NHS space to cope with the pandemic.

The UK’s death toll rose to 55, with 1,543 confirmed cases. It was believed 10,000 people had already been infected.

There was a somber tone to the briefing and it was the first time we saw Professor Chris Whitty, the Chief Medical Officer and Sir Patrick Vallance, the Chief Scientific Adviser. Two men who would become well known to the British public in coming weeks.

It was a week of fast paced change. From the Government indicating that they wanted to encourage herd immunity. In otherwords, have the virus spread through the population whilst shielding the vulnerable in order to reduce future infections. To this being rapidly discredited and advice to social distance coming into force.

For us, it was our first week of homeschooling and I felt completely out at sea as Schools throughout the UK weren’t yet closed. I felt really alone, but determined to do the best by our daughter and we dug deep to do as much as we could.

Tuesday March 17th 2020

On Tuesday the Prime Minister instructed that anyone in a household with someone isolating should also isolate, for 14 days. This meant that Dave and the girls had to isolate alongside me. This didn’t change much as Dave works from home anyway. But it did mean that our eldest would have been out of school from this point anyway. It reassured me that we’d actually only taken her out for school for 2 days before being forced to.

Wednesday March 18th 2020

On Wednesday it was announced that schools would be closing on Friday. By this point, it wasn’t a shock and I actually felt some relief that I hadn’t jumped the gun. It did make it seem very serious though, closing schools is obviously not something that is taken lightly.

Friday March 20th 2020

Friday was a strange day as social media was flooded with stories of children finishing school and emotional parents at the school gate. We felt quite removed from it at home, and in some ways I’m pleased that we avoided the emotion of it all.

That evening, Friday 20th March, in the now daily press briefings, Boris Johnson instructed all pubs, clubs, restaurants and other social venues to close with immediate effect. The gravity of the situation was taking hold.

The furlough scheme was also announced which meant that the government would pay 80% of staff wages in the situation where they were not needed to work during the pandemic. This took a huge weight off businesses and I’m sure a few people slept better that night having heard this.

At this point, in the UK more than 230 people had died after contracting the virus, with infection cases passing 4,000. Worldwide the number stood at more than 270,000 cases and 11,000 deaths. Whilst horrific, it was going to get a lot worse.

Highs

• My isolation ended after 7 days so I could go out of the house for a walk. It felt REALLY weird.
• It’s not a high as such more of a relief, I was pleased the schools closed so we could be safe at home for the time being.

Lows

• The situation across Europe was really very scary – Spain and Italy in particular was going through some very distressing things.
• Our holiday to South Korea was effectively cancelled when the Foreign Office advised against all but essential travel. We’d booked it over a year ago and were so looking forward to it.

To read more on the Coronavirus from January 2020 to March 15th, click here.