Covid-19 Review
Boris Johnson announced a few days ago that the lockdown will ease a little from Monday 1st June and we will be able to meet in an open space as a group of up to 6 people (not from same household). Social distancing must still be priority and we must still keep 2 metres away
Face coverings are now recommended in all enclosed areas to help protect you and others. They don’t have to be medical masks but just something to lessen any chance of catching or passing on germs.
The main message is still to keep washing your hands. It’s recommended you don’t wear gloves and use anti-bacterial wipes, sanitizers or better still wash hands.
You are now allowed out of your homes to do shopping but also to exercise as much as you want now in an open space and currently with one other person from another household.
Excel in London (known as the NHS Nightingale hospital) currently hasn’t been used yet and has been closed and will stay dormant until it is needed
From Monday 1st June schools will be reopening for Nursery, Reception, Year 1 and Year Six ages only. They will prioritise the key workers children & the vulnerable first. You will not be fined for not sending your child if you chose not to. High schools are due to open to Year Ten and Year Twelve two weeks later. For everyone else parents are home schooling and teachers are doing remote learning using the internet. BBC bitesize also has been created to help teach children who don’t have work or want more help etc.
It was announced some non-essential shops will open from 15th June but details are unclear. Lots of take-aways are now open and some restaurants are offering takeaway services.
The elderly and vulnerable are still being advised to stay home and stay safe for now.
Last Thursday evening was the last stand clap for the NHS staff, all standing united on our doorsteps, balconies and open windows applauding and cheering for all our amazingly brave NHS staff who so courageously and selflessly battled on to try and save as many lives as possible.
Live experiences are now available, to watch online, from a Live theatre performance, a visit to the zoo or an interesting chat in a museum and on Friday night Take That with Robbie Williams performed a virtual concert via the internet.
Petrol prices close to home is £1.04 per litre for unleaded/ £1.11 for diesel (but I haven’t bought any since 16th March!).
The current statement from the government has changed from ‘Stay Home Stay Safe’ to ‘Stay Alert, Stay Safe’.
We are working towards lowering the “R” curve and keeping that below 1. As long as we keep doing that then lock downs will ease. We are currently between 0.7 & 0.9.
Tape on the floors at supermarkets & shops is a normal sight now to help distance shoppers from each other. Essential service workers & NHS staff are given priority in supermarkets at certain times.
Limited numbers of people are allowed inside shops, therefore queuing outside the store doors is the norm, 2 meters apart.
Businesses were told to continue to work from home unless unable to, then as long as the safety measures are in place, you may return to work.
The Government is paying 80% of wages to all employees across the country who were furloughed due to Covid-19. Furlough has been extended to October.
Airlines are still mainly grounded but services are gradually being resumed this months - any travel abroad must now be followed by a two-week quarantine period on return however.
Air pollution has improved. Rivers cleaned up. City & traffic emissions reduced.
Parks are now open for exercise but playgrounds remain closed.
Everyone has been advised not to use public transport unless there is no alternative and if you do use it then you must wear a face covering. Also there will a maximum of 25 people allowed on a bus at one time.
Entire sports seasons had paused but Premier league Football has just been announced to continue from 17th June. Golf has already restarted but all of these will be conducted behind closed doors. The Olympics are postponed to 2021.
Concerts, tours, festivals and other entertainment events all cancelled and all theatres closed for the foreseeable future.
Weddings family celebrations, holiday gatherings cancelled.
Funerals are limited to ten guests that are socially distanced so lots of funerals are now being shown over Zoom.
The new way to chat with friends and families has been by using apps like Zoom and Teams, as well as the usual what’s app and FaceTime. It has almost become the new ‘norm’ to have a catch up with family via zoom, or have a quiz night with your mates!
If you are fortunate to have a neighbour who is a Singer or in a band, then you might be lucky enough to get some free entertainment live from their driveway or balcony.
No mass gatherings are allowed as churches are still closed. However again the use of modern technology is slowly creeping into this world and Mass is now streamed on a Sunday.
Still a Shortage of masks, gowns, gloves for our front-line workers. Shortage of ventilators for the critically ill in many parts of the world. Formula 1 racing teams and Virgin Galactic designed and produced ventilators in the space of a week. Manufacturers, distilleries and other businesses have switched to making visors, masks hand sanitizer and PPE. Seeing People wearing masks and gloves outside has become ‘normal’.
Panic buying set in in those early days, but it seems that eggs and flour are the main things that people still struggle to get.
Fines have been established for breaking lockdown rules and this has been done to break up many a house party
You are still not allowed to visit or stay anywhere other than your own home but you are allowed to drive now to an exercise place (like a bigger park area) but government would prefer you to stay within 25 miles of your home. Public toilets aren’t open yet so they advise people to stay away from beaches if you don’t live by one.
Press conferences are daily from the Prime Minister and other government officials - daily updates on new cases, recoveries, and deaths.
355,356 deaths globally so far from 28 May 2020, wit 37,837 in the UK.
This is the Novel Coronavirus (Covid-19) Pandemic WHO declared March 11th, 2020.
Life is precious and we should not to take the things we dearly love for granted. We have so much we need to appreciate. Be thankful. Be grateful. Be kind to each other - love one another - support everyone.
Stay Alert, stay safe.
© Tyler McDowell 2020
Books co-written by Tyler McDowell (with Fay Johnson and Kevan James)
Details on the Home Page
Airport Days and Nights, Terminals and Runways
Airport Days and Nights Evolution
Pictorial and written accounts of many of the world's airports and the three co-author's experience of them.
Also available -
Heathrow Airport 70 years and Counting, by Kevan James; the most definitive book written about the UK's primary International hub airport
Comments of a Common Man, by Kevan James
The NHS; Politics and Politicians; Law and Order; the EU; The cost of having a home;
Killing off the old; the rise of state power, the risk to freedom and more;
Available from Amazon at £9.99
