Coronavirus Diaries – Part 3

March 23rd to 13th April 2020

Welcome to our Coronavirus Diaries – Part 3.

I think the week from the 23rd March, for me, will be the week I really ‘remember’ from lockdown. On the evening of March 23rd our Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, in a live televised address at 8pm (we sort of knew what was coming as this is very rare – in fact I’m not sure I remember it ever happening in my life time?) told the UK that they:

“Should only go outside to buy food, to exercise once a day, or to go to work if they absolutely cannot work from home. Citizens will face police fines for failure to comply with these new measures.”

Click here to see the address to the Nation in full.

It felt HUGE. And scary. And shocking.

From then on it felt like there was further announcements almost daily. The FCO instructed all UK Residents living abroad to return home whilst they still can.

In our house, Dave and the girls were still in isolation until Tuesday despite showing no symptoms (fortunately) but, as staying in doors was still new to us all it didn’t feel that hard. Both girls were blissfully unaware of the severity of the situation and a fantastic distraction for us, as parents. I felt very low (I definitely found this week the hardest emotionally), but children don’t give you time to fret too much and I found by diving into crafts, home schooling and baking that they could lift my mood.

There was a feeling of countrywide shock during this week….whilst expected nothing prepares you for these sorts of restrictions. People were panic buying (toilet roll of all things!). TV and Radio shows had to quickly try to adjust to social distancing measures or going off air completely.

Production on films halted, Soaps in the UK stopped filming and flights in and out of the UK pretty much ground to a halt within days. Every day, sometimes multiple times a day, there was confirmation of something else being cancelled. The London Marathon, the Boat Race, the Premiership Football Season, the Grand National and many many more besides.

You become aware how many fantastic events we have in this Country when they all get cancelled in one great flood.

On Thursday of that week, the 26th March, residents of the UK started pouring onto their driveways, roads and balconies at 8pm and ‘Clapping for Carers’. The publics way of thanking the NHS and care sector for everything they are doing for us. They are, quite literally, keeping the country going. And we can’t thank them enough for their efforts and sacrifices. Click here to see some clips from around the Country.

April 1st to 7th

On the 3rd April the Excel in London opened under its new name, The Nightingale Hospital, which would house up to 4,000 patients if needed. It was built in just 9 days. To see more on this incredible feat click this link.

More hospitals were being built at a similar speed all over the country. Most urgently in Birmingham where they were also having a serious outbreak, much like London.

Only a few weeks before we’d looked at China building hospitals like this and thought ‘wow that’s amazing’. Now it was us and, fortunately, we showed we could do things just as fast and efficiently.

On Sunday 5th April, Queen Elizabeth II, the Queen of the UK and Commonwealth made a very very rare (only the 5th time in her 68 year reign) speech. Click here for the full version. She spoke of our resilience and our ability to come through this and made a brief, subtle reference to the War, stating, “We will meet again”. The speech was watched by 24 million people in the UK.

It was also on this evening that we got news that Boris Johnson, our Prime Minister, had been admitted to hospital for treatment after testing positive for Covid-19. That came as a shock, as whilst serious, the vast majority of people seem to recover after a week or so.

The following day this escalated even further when he was admitted to intensive care. All of a sudden we didn’t know whether the leader of our country would survive and the gravitas of the situation hit home.

The deaths in the UK passed 5,000 and were increasingly rapidly every day. It is quite unimaginable to imagine what is going on in the hospitals. The NHS Workers really are heroes.

April 8th to 13th

On the 9th April we got the news that Boris Johnson was out of Intensive Care. By the 13th he was discharged and allowed to go and recuperate at his country estate, Chequers. I still question why this was allowed when no one else is allowed to their second home currently. However, I expect special care is given in these circumstances.

The death toll, within the week, had doubled to over 10,000.

Highs

• It’s not often we get to thank the British weather. But sometimes it comes through for us. This is one of those times. To date I think we’ve only had a day or two of rain and the rest has been wall to wall sunshine. Thank you!
• It was Easter during this time and whilst strange not to see friends and family, it was a lovely relaxed long weekend. We had a Easter egg hunt in our garden. The girls made Cornflake Cakes. And we just generally had a lovely time as a 4.

Lows

• The death toll was going up at a really terrifying rate. It seemed unimaginable that every day hundreds and hundreds of people were dying. Each with loved ones mourning their loss and heartache spreading far and wide.
• Every so often the scientists would say something in the press conference that made you realise we were in this for the long haul. Which was hard to fathom. And really hard to imagine how long this could potentially go on for.

Thank you for reading our Coronavirus Diaries – Part 3. To read what happened during the Coronavirus Pandemic in the UK before this check out our Coronavirus Diaries – Part 1 and our Coronavirus Diaries – Part 2.