Coronavirus Diaries – Part 1

January 2020 to March 15th 2020

So this will be our first instalment of our Coronavirus Diaries – Part 1, January 2020 to March 15th 2020. It’ll detail our experiences during this very strange, scary, unsettling time. The highs, the lows and our take on it all. I hope one day our children will read it and learn a thing or two about what it was like living through it.

I wasn’t sure whether to write this blog post. After all, we’re travel blogger, and that is most certainly something we can’t do right now.

But then I though, this is history, so we should document it….

January 2020

Back in January we first started to hear about the Coronavirus spreading in the City of Wuhan in China. Initially we weren’t too concerned in this Country and everything carried on as normal. At that point it was hard to imagine the havoc it would wreak on the World just a few weeks later. School continued as normal, we socialised as before and a sniffle was just, well, a sniffle.

February 2020

During February things were getting pretty awful in China and South Korea. We were starting to doubt if our trip to South Korea would go ahead in April. Dave, ever the optimist, was convinced it would be ok but I am a bit more of a realist and started to have big doubts.

I decided to order some hand sanitiser online just in case it spread to the UK and there was very little to be found.

In fact, at time of writing, at the beginning of May, I’ve only just received one order of hand sanitiser and am still waiting for the other! I was surprised that others had been doing the same as me.

March 2020

By the beginning of March things had developed quite drastically and the virus was edging ever closer to community spread in the UK.

In Italy, lockdown measures were increasing with schools and university closures and deaths were starting to rise. The news coming out of Italy was very distressing.

I was becoming more anxious about socialising, and going to the supermarket was becoming a bit of a strange experience. Toilet Roll and Pasta was disappearing off the shelf faster than it could be restocked. I can say from personal experience, it’s hard not to grab a packet when you see it ‘running out’. I was already wiping down handles, hands and bags – life was definitely changing.

By the 11th March the World Health Organisation had declared a Global Pandemic and my personal concerns about the risk of family and friends catching the virus increased.

It felt like the UK weren’t taking any serious measures to stop the spread of the virus, only being told to wash our hands – twice, to the tune of Happy Birthday. When compared to the measures in place elsewhere in Europe, this felt almost laughable. Except it wasn’t funny.

On Thursday 12th March our eldest daughter had her School class Assembly. Her first one ever as she’s only in Reception (that’s the first year of school in the UK). It was heartbreakingly gorgeous, she sang so loud and did us so proud. And at the time I didn’t know it would be her last day in School for the foreseeable future.

That was the last time we have been out with others, outside of our household, in public.

That evening the UK Government confirmed cases of coronavirus cases had risen by more than 200 in a single day. A host of sporting events announced their postponement including the London Marathon in April. All Premier League football fixtures were also suspended. Which for anyone from the UK knows, is not a decision to be taken lightly.

Everyone with symptoms of Coronavirus, ‘a new persistent cough’ or a fever were told to stay at home and isolate for 7 days. This included me as I’d had a cough since Tuesday.

Taking our daughter out of School

Various people had started to mention that they’d taken their children out of school to minimise their risk. I very quickly started to consider it as an option for us.

It was the first time as a parent where I felt such a huge responsibility for my childrens safety and I genuinely did not know what to do for the best. I’m most definitely the worrier in our marriage, and I can always rely on Dave to steady the ship if I’m going over the top. He, however, didn’t hesitate to agree that we should take her out of school.

The next day, Friday 14th March, we phoned our daughters school to say she wouldn’t be coming in. I followed up with an email explaining my concerns. In this email I stressed that the decision for us had been made as I am already at home with my youngest. Therefore having our eldest at home too didn’t make much difference. We felt, given the circumstances it was the best for us all.

I did all this really not knowing if it was for the best. I felt like it was a huge decision. But ultimately I had to trust my instinct and I felt like the UK wasn’t responding as it should. Especially given the responses of others within Europe).

When I spoke to our daughters school later on I was greeted with my first bit of reassurance. The Deputy Head was incredibly understanding and actually told me that a number of other children were being kept off school too.

It was this weekend, 14th and 15th of March, where I think the true scale of this crisis hit home with a lot of people. I think that as I am home, listening to the radio, catching up with the news, on social media and so on I was fairly up to speed (bordering on obsessed) with the situation.

But for others, who have more distractions, such as a busy job, it didn’t really hit their radar until now.

The Home Secretary announced that vulnerable people may be asked to stay home for 14 weeks. I think a number of people suddenly realised the impact this Pandemic could have on life as we know it.

Summary

Highs:

• Before any of this really took hold in March, just by chance I took our youngest to Peppa Pig World in Paultons Park. We had a great day (even though it poured down). It just so happened to be the last time we went out anywhere just the two of us before restrictions were put in place.

• Just as the restrictions started to come into place the weather completely changed. We’d had a dreadfully wet February but the sun shone pretty much permanently through March.
• Our girls just LOVE being together. My main concern when my eldest started school was that they’d be apart so much of the day. ‘Funny’ how things turn out.

Lows:

• The dreadful death toll of this Virus was already clear to see. The numbers coming from other countries, and increasingly, the UK was frightening.
• The realisation that this was going to affect everyone, in some way or another was a scary moment for us all.
• Making the decision to take our daughter out of school isn’t one I’d ever wish to have to take. In hindsight I’m very glad we did but at the time it made me feel uncomfortable.

So that just about sums up our Coronavirus Diaries – January 2020 to March 15th 2020. For more on what happened next, read ‘Coronavirus Dairies – March 16th to April 3rd 2020’.

To find out some of the Travel based activities we have been doing during homeschooling, have a read here.