Covid 19 The Reality Of Life Now

This is the moment that the life we have been living will change forever. It will never quite feel the same again. How can it?

Lock down in the UK is now here and it will be for a minimum of three weeks in order to curtail our movements. Things such as popping to the shops will be something that we will have to think long and hard about, specifically if it’s absolutely necessary. The way we live our lives means we will have to think about everything single part of our lives.

This is an unprecedented time and the biggest part of our population will never have experienced anything like it before. Our freedom and liberty to move around living our daily lives are, for a time, being restricted which undoubtedly some parts of the population are struggling to understand. Just last weekend flocks of people headed towards tourist areas packing them out. I’m not sure what there was not to understand when we were told to practice social distancing which is proven to stop the spread of Covid 19.

For my own family and myself it has been an easy decision to practice social distancing. Here are my reasons why:

My mum is in her 90’s and housebound with a number of underlying health conditions, so for her to be self-isolating was a no brainer. Putting it in stark terms should she catch coronavirus it will without question kill her and I’m not ready to lose her like that. We are practising a careful approach to her by delivering food weekly and daily phone calls to make sure she is ok.

My other major reason is that one of my eight year old twin girls was born with a congenital heart defect which also leaves her at high risk, so when the decision to close schools came it couldn’t have come quick enough. We actually took the twins out of school two days early for safety in regards to her.

My 22 year old daughter lives and works 200 miles away. This wouldn’t be so bad if she was staying at home and staying safe, but she is a key worker as she’s a nurse in children’s A&E and assessment. This leaves her in a very high risk group although it makes me incredibly proud that she is part of the amazing NHS. My fear and worry is that she will get Covid 19 and as her dad there will be nothing I can do to help her or comfort her and she is so many miles away from me.

Finally there is myself. Around two and half years ago I had a stroke. The stroke was caused by high blood pressure which puts me in a high risk group. Consequently I am now self isolating with no contact to anybody other than my wife and twin daughters.

That is my situation, but what makes Covid 19 so scary is as a family we are not very unusual. Every family up and down the country will be in exactly the same situation with members of their family in high risk groups. This is why when the government says stay at home and practice social distancing it’s quite simply to stop the spread and ultimately to save lives, so why are people playing roulette with other people’s lives? It’s selfish and beyond my belief. Why you would deliberately endanger a fellow human beings life?

My own life has changed in a flick of an eye. I’m a self-employed painter and decorator and the biggest number of my customers are over 70 years old so in a nutshell I stopped working about two weeks ago, not only for my own safety but for their safety too.

My life is now centred completely around our home. My wife is working from home in the mornings while I homeschool the twins. I have never taught anybody in my life so this is a huge adjustment . My only bit of fresh air is out in the garden while the girls play out there, but these adjustments are something I have no problem making if it means that none of us catch Covid 19 and potentially in a worst case scenario die.

I’m writing this on the evening of 24th March 2020 when the figure released today showed a massive leap in how many people have Covid 19 confirmed cases are now 8077 with 422 deaths, and this has not even started yet. Those figures over the next couple of weeks are going to accelerate to a situation where it’s out of control.

So when the government and the Prime Minster, Boris Johnson, gives us advice which we totally ignor, we will get locked down and rightly so. It’s quite likely that those restrictions on our lives will get a whole lot tougher. They are trying to protect us and save our lives. It’s really that simple. So listen and take notice and do as you are told. It may well save your life.

In the space of a couple of weeks our lives have being completely turned upside down. We are now living in our own family bubble to stay safe. Yes, it’s hard to change your life so dramatically so quickly, but if it keeps me and my family alive in such dangerous times we will do it without hesitation. Yes it will be stressful, mentally tiring and our mental health and wellbeing will be tested to its limits, but it will be worth it if we come out of this crisis alive, well and healthy.

Don’t be selfish and endanger other people by congregating in large groups or going out for no reason. For the time being life has changed. Accept this and obey the rules and laws that the government has laid out. It’s not rocket science. Stay home and stop the spread and save lives!

I have written this post because I’m hoping my children will look back on it in the future to know how I felt about the Covid 19 crisis. Should anything happen to me which I obviously hope it doesn’t, I just want those that I love most in the world to know that I love them with all my heart, and they completed my life. This will most likely be the only post I will write about Covid 19. I just wanted my thoughts out there in the world.

Take care all, stay safe and tell your family you love them.

Update as of 25/03/20 465 dead and 9529 confirmed cases.