Day 54 – Phase One

Today Boris Johnson updates us on step one of our phased return to “Normality”.  I am supportive of easing the restrictions when the time is right, but this just seems rushed and I am left feeling rather anxious about the whole affair.

My interpretation of the message is:

• People who cannot work from home are being encouraged to go back to work from tomorrow, but they must restrict the use of public transport.
• There is no restriction to the amount of time people can spend outside exercising.
• We are now allowed to meet people from one other household, as long as we adhere to social distancing guidelines and remain outside.
• Certain school years will be allowed to return to school.

On paper this sounds fairly reasonable. However, in reality (and I refer you to picture below) I think this has the potential to turn into a royal mess.

In my humble opinion, people are likely to flout the rules. Relief will go hand-in-hand with complacency.   In addition, there is general stupidity/ignorance/lack of common sense. Do I want to rely on other people to keep our society safe?

No.

On one hand, it will be very beneficial for vulnerable children to return to a safe and routine educational system. However, try herding 30 Reception children in the playground and stop them from hugging and generally being tactile and explorative kids. And what about the key workers’ safety?

My concern is that we will be hit by the second wave with enormity. Yes, we may have capacity to deal with this – we may well have the appropriate PPE and equipment – but there will be a surge of further deaths. And I for one am quite happy in the safety of my home thank you very much,   at least until there are less Coronavirus cases and lower death rates.

Surely restrictions should remain across the UK: if Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland are retaining the “stay at home” rule, shouldn’t we?

I understand it will help the economy and I genuinely feel terrible for those struggling. I don’t mean to be selfish, but this outbreak is scary as shit and I want to save lives, not money. I don’t want my loved ones to become infected. I am terrified of not being able to breathe and God forbid, having to go into hospital. To be honest, I am so saturated by the guidelines that I momentarily panic when people are sat next to each other on TV!

Not only am I super relieved that my team have a positive approach to flexible working, but I am confident that my organisation will ensure our working environment is COVID secure. This will take time and we don’t know what it will look like, but there will be a plan in place.

I’m pretty sure the public are going to be confused by the guidance which states we should stay at home but go to work and isolate but you can see people outside.

Until next time, “Stay Alert” friends.