It’s Good Friday. It’s the end of the fourth week working from home, observing social distancing rules.
People celebrate NHS and key workers every Thursday at 8pm, here’s my street last night.
We used to say that the UK was two week behind Italy, but with the Prime Minister still in hospital (but out of intensive care), the number of daily deaths getting at the same levels as Italy at its worse, and still less testing than Italy one month ago, it doesn’t look like the UK used these two weeks to prepare better. The feeling is not particularly optimistic.
I have always found amusing how governments in the UK use slogans to address their citizens. From the iconic Keep calm and carry on poster, to pretty much everything Churchill said, all the way to “See it, say it, sort it” that we hear on the tube and finally today’s “Stay home, Protect the NHS, Save lives”, there seem to be a unique tradition and approach.
So while in Italy people leaving their home during lock down get fined by the police and in India they get beaten by the police, here we are receiving a passive-aggressive messaging from all the government: it’s not that you can’t go out. But you really, really, really shouldn’t.
We’ll count the dead at the end.
I’ve been out for food runs a couple of times this week: there’s a bit less people around, but still plenty. Apparently it’s especially young people who don’t follow the rules. It’s those who mostly voted against Brexit propagating a disease that kills those who mostly voted leave.
Meanwhile I’m ready for another month of this. In the sense that I have reserves of my favourite coffee and tobacco for another month. I’m trying to decide at which point impose rationing and go down to one cup of coffee and one pipe a day. But we are not there yet.
The weather is nice. The tree in my neighbour’s back yard is full of flowers, so my bedroom smells of flowers. Can’t say it’s a particularly good smell, but it’s still nice.
Stay safe, be nice, keep in touch.