The weeks pass and we are still in lockdown. There has been no abatement to the onslaught of this deadly virus and no sign of a way out any time soon. While the suffering and grief continue and we learn to adapt to our changed circumstances, working out how to live so differently, every day we bear witness to incredible acts of selflessness, bravery and determination.

People we didn’t realise we rely on, people we have taken for granted for far too long:

Health care professionals – doctors and nurses; hospital support staff; the carers; the educators; sanitation, postal & delivery workers; food providers… The list goes on.

Every Thursday at 8pm, emerging briefly from our places of self-isolation, as a nation together, we thank the NHS for everything it has done, everything it does and everything it will continue to do in the face of huge adversity.

We also thank everyone of you, the ones who really keep our country running.

Thank you all.

Thank the Heroes

Another day in isolation
At home with loved ones or alone
Our main form of communication
Is now the internet or phone
Vital technological lifelines
Bridge the distance we all now feel
Allowing much needed contact time
And the chances to keep it real
Not just talk but to see each other
Face to face though so far apart
On the front line or under cover
We were together from the start
All through this pandemic’s destruction
The majority does its best
Heroes rise to meet the infection
Fighting it daily without rest
People coming from all walks of life
Pulling towards the common goal
Helping others in desperate plight
By taking on amazing roles
Putting at risk their very own lives
Despite the lack of PPE
Caring enough to help us survive
Everybody, you and me
So, we clap our hands – we owe so much
To people we might never know
It is amazing that there are such
And it is to them our thanks go
Thank you for being amazing souls
Thank you for all the things you do
We thank you as one and as a whole
Life’s for living because of you.

At the end of 2019, a deadly disease came to our attention. Starting in China, it quickly spread across the globe to almost every other country in the world. Coronavirus, as it is called, is highly infectious, spreading through the air and entering human bodies via the eyes, mouth and nose infecting at an alarming rate. It causes the disease Covid-19. Most humans recover from the infection but for some, it is fatal. On Wednesday, March 11th, the World Health Organisation (WHO) declared Covid-19 a global pandemic.

To stop health services being quickly overwhelmed by the weight of numbers of patients needing to be admitted to hospital (this virus spreads at an exponential rate) and in an attempt to reduce the huge numbers of predicted casualties, governments across the world make the difficult decision to force everybody to stay in their homes, self-isolating themselves from everyone else and thereby help to slow the transmission rate.

Work stops, streets empty and scenes never seen before become the norm. We witness panic buying of basic staples and a surge in online activity as we remain stuck in our houses, glued to the news, watching and waiting for signs that the infection is becoming under control as hundreds of thousands of people become infected and tens of thousands die.

We are living in unprecedented times as a chapter of human history we will never forget is written. The world we left to go into lockdown may be gone for good when we get out.

Lockdown

Early 2020, Coronavirus came to our shores
Bringing with it times we’ve never seen before
People starting getting sick with symptoms like flu
Friends, an invisible enemy, standing right next to you
As it spread, a pandemic it became
Every day lives changed, never the same
Governments forced us into our homes
Stockpiling madness picked shelves to the bone
Toilet rolls, pasta and every type of soap
Crammed into trolleys and bags along with the hope
That by hiding away in self-isolation
There would be swift end to the decimation
So many lives lost as twice seen before
Counting in zeroes – our Third World War
Hospitals fill, resources stretching to break
All doing our bit for everyone’s sake
From front line support to just staying inside
To slow the spread and turn back the tide
It’s only three months, so many have died
So many more will – there’s nowhere to hide
From the fact that lockdown came too late
COVID-19 infecting at an alarming rate
We were not prepared, how long will we stay
In lockdown and fighting, surviving each day
Protecting our loved ones and strangers alike
Watching and hoping that today is the spike
That vital moment when we gain control
Downward the numbers begin to roll
Testing, more testing, a vaccine, immunity
Every day closer to once more being free
No longer closed off, instead closer than ever
Once more looking forward to a future together.