4/4/2020 0 Comments COVID-19 : Strange Times #1I have been asked if the events caused by the COVID-19 directives have affected our daily lives... I sent this brief description to my brother Terry who has been settled and living in the USA for many years now. “30 March 2020: Roads and streets are empty - think old school Sunday mornings. Generally people are working from home, if their jobs allow. I was at Canon in Woodhatch last week, and only 2 staff were working at their desks on Tuesday and Wednesday, none at all on Thursday and Friday. Non essential shops are closed - only supermarkets and pharmacy and some food takeaways are open. Schools are closed (except key worker and some vulnerable children). Key workers are NHS, Emergency Services, Distribution, utilities, some catering. In the main, movement from homes is being kept to a minimum. It has been requested (so British 😉) that just one person leaves a household to do shopping, but a family group from the same household can take a short walk / exercise as long as social distancing is observed. Shopping is interesting - queues with 2 metre gaps are long but move quickly 😉 Many shops have a limit on customer in store numbers. Now the panic buying is done, the stocks are getting more normal. Personally, SPS has been asked by Canon to provide a service, so one person is covering. I was in last week, so I am out of the office at least Monday and Tuesday this week. The odd thing is that I am due to start a new job at an SPS site in Guildford on Wednesday, but it is not clear yet if the office is actually open for business at the moment. So, I might still make a Special Guest appearance at Canon later this week. Jenny’s school doesn’t require catering, so she is out now until the end of the mess (talk is 12 weeks, but we shall see). House Purchases and Sales are all but stopped, which is annoying as we have accepted an offer on Dundrey Crescent and surveys etc are just not being done. Of course, with the movement restrictions and Mum being classed as in the vulnerable group, I can’t go up to see her- possibly for 12 weeks 😢 If I am honest, I don’t like the feeling that I can’t do anything as and when I like, but the restrictions make absolute sense with this virus. I saw that with “normal” flu, you generally infect 1.4 people. If they pass it on to 1.4 people and so on for 10 steps, your infection can lead to about 30. COVID-19 is more contagious, so you can pass on to 3 people. If they pass it on to another 3 each and so on for another 10 levels, you are up to 59,000.“ The background is that Boris Johnson, the UK Prime Minister had announced that schools would close from Friday 21 March. Jenny was suddenly without about 350 children to cook for at the school where she works, it was providing sandwiches for 15 and warm meals for only 25 children and teachers. On Monday 23 March, he told the workforce in the UK that they should work at from home from the following day if their jobs allowed. In truth, at Canon UK the numbers working at the Woodhatch HQ had been dwindling following their decision the previous week to promote home working as a prudent measure during the current situation with the Corona Virus. On Tuesday, the decision was made to reduce the number of “soft service” support staff to a minimum, so cleaning, 2 Postroom, Reception and 1 switchboard operator were sent home. On Tuesday and Wednesday, just 2 staff were working in the two blocks which normally buzzed with 200 plus people. On the last 2 days of my tenure at Canon, no one came in to work at all. Courier deliveries were down to maybe 2 daily. Snail mail came in a very slow trickle. My move to a new job in Guildford has been put on hold as the office is closed during the crisis. For possibly the next three months, I will be classed as a “Furloughed Employee” and will paid 80% of salary by the government, and the remaining 20% by my employer. I shall be staying at Jenny’s for the duration, but popping back to mine to tend to Blakka the cat every couple of days. Slowly, other things in the real world began to bite. The house purchase and sale market was put on hold until further notice. Store shelves which were initially stripped bare following panic buying are recovering and most things are now available if sometimes in short supply. Of more immediate concern is that supermarket food deliveries to my Mum in London (well, anywhere to be honest) are in such high demand that although I had luckily pre-booked one for 3 April, I have not yet found an available delivery slot until at least 24 April. It looks like I will have to break the Golden Rule and take a food package up to her in the car one morning during Easter to top up her fridge and food. Of course, the hard thing will be explaining to her that I will need to not come into the flat even for a quick cup of tea. In actuality, I think that both Jenny and myself are struggling with the feeling that everything is out of our control. I think that even Layla is getting bored - she has school work to do, but it is now officially the Easter holidays. We cannot go anywhere, or visit anywhere, or travel to somewhere, or visit family. Birthday gatherings are out. Weddings are currently off the cards (fingers crossed for Jenny and mine on 1 August). Only funerals can take place with minimal attendees - the great entertainer Roy Hudd’s was recently attended by just 3 immediately family. Just one person can go to the supermarket or pharmacy, keeping the designated 2 metre social distance. Most goods are limited to 2 or 3 only per person to prevent over-buying. I understand completely why the advice is to #StayAtHome to #SaveLives and #ProtectThe NHS. Currently the COVID-19 lockdown in the UK is a Very British Affair - “Come along Chaps, would you stay at home please.” Most people seem to gather around the TV for the daily COVID-19 update from 10 Downing Street. I hope that it works and that the idiotic actions of a few individuals ignoring the social distancing advice do not screw everything up and mean that more draconian measures have to be brought in. Time will tell. I’ll keep you posted ...
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Archives...
February 2024
CategoriesAll Christmas COVID 19 COVID-19 Diary Football Gigs I Love That Song Music Scouting Site Updates |