Covid 19 – My London+

Yesterday, the 20th December, the whole of London, as well as many other counties in the south and south east of England went into a new Tier 4 lockdown. With that comes restrictions that no households should mix, even over Christmas, except support bubbles already in place. Basically, Christmas is cancelled. People outside Tier 4 cannot come in, and vice versa. Families have had to change all their Christmas plans, they can no longer spend the day with parents, children, grandchildren and wider family members.

Apparently there is a new strain of the virus which is spreading faster and it seems to have come from Kent and has spread across London. What has annoyed people is that a week ago we were told it was okay, we would get to see our families over Christmas, but this decision came on Saturday night and came into force at midnight that day. There was no time to adjust. Shops shut on Saturday afternoon and will no open again until who knows when. The only shops allowed to open are essential shops, and cafes for takeaways. No hairdressers, gyms or anything else, and we’ve all been told to stay home.

Well, you can imagine this has plunged a lot of people into despair. It is hard to find anything good right now, but I’m trying to. Today is the winter solstice – the shortest day. I have to say to me it feels like the longest day because it is so dark today. It is raining and I still have my light on at getting on for nine o’clock in the morning. I have been watching sunrise live from Stonehenge on Facebook – no sun! It’s raining there too! However, after this shortest day, light will stretch out ever so slowly, but nonetheless it will. Spring is on its way, and with it thousands of people will have been vaccinated against Covid 19. It has to get better, doesn’t it?

I can tell that a lot of the people who drop by this blog, or who follow, are from other parts of the world, and I am sure you have had your share of dark moments this year. I try to keep as upbeat as I can when posting, but I have to say I am struggling right now. It will pass, I know.

I don’t want leave this post on a low, so I am posting a few festive photos. Christmas will happen anyway – it will just be very different. Thank you for reading this blog. Thanks to my followers, and thanks to everyone else who drops by now and then, or has just come across this today. Wishing you all a very Happy Christmas. Let’s hope that 2021 is a better one for us all.

My London is a strange place today. As Coronavirus numbers increase so the city and the country as a whole shuts down. In the last twenty-four hours the streets are quieter, buses run almost empty and tubes and train station have been deserted. Here, like in other countries of the world, we are being told to go out only if necessary – for work (though companies are being encouraged to allow their staff to work from home), food shopping and essentials, to avoid bars or to socialise in groups. This is a weird world right now.

Although I don’t live in the centre of London my own town is no different. Presently schools are still open, cafes, normally very busy places, have a handful of customers, yet the supermarkets are struggling to cope with the number of people stockpiling food, toilet rolls and cleaning products. I walked out of one supermarket on Monday because the queues were so long. I refused to join in with this crazy lot and went somewhere else.

I had to visit the dentist yesterday. I was worried they would cancel, but no. It was only for a routine check, but it was evident while I was there that people were cancelling left, right and centre. The receptionist told me that theirs has to be a sterile space and people were cancelling unnecessarily. I wonder how long they can continue like this.

Already I am getting confused with the days of the week. My usual groups that meet regularly in the week are now all cancelled. They were my routine, my pointers for each week ahead. Now there is nothing in my diary to look forward to, and for someone who loves to be out and about, this feels strange. At home, life goes on. You wouldn’t know anything was wrong unless you turn on the TV and watch the news. I guess this is the time we see if humankind adapts to enforced isolation. A week, yeah, okay, months?

So what am I going to blog about? Perhaps I should re-name the blog through my window!

I thought I might blog about places I have been to in the past and post some inspiring photos. We have a garden and spring is here. I take lots of photos of flowers, the sky, and often the moon. So, while I may not be able to travel around (all theatres, museums and galleries have closed anyway) I hope I can still find something to blog about. If you would like to respond about how things are where you are, please feel free to do so. Let’s keep positive. Stay safe and well everyone.

Tag: Covid 19

Christmas is cancelled

London today