Covid Diaries Day 161 – Freedom, a Month Later

It’s been a whole month since I wrote a Covid Diary post. Some people think it’s all over because the death rates are going down. Some are marching for their freedom. Some people think it was all a government scam to keep us in control. Yeah, I have read up on this and I really don’t get it. Why would the government of almost every Country in the World make up a virus that kills people and destroys economies?

People have rebelled against having their basic human rights removed. It’s up to them what they where on their face, who they see, where they go and no-one can tell them otherwise. Especially not an invisible virus that only kills a minority of it’s victims. I’m not giving a figure because the figures are a mess, but thousands have families have been affected by this virus, and in my opinion, one family is too much.

Not Affected

A lot of people have been unaffected by this virus, they’ve been able to get on with their lives, continue almost normally, and they’ve not lost anyone or known anyone get sick. They are the lucky ones, but luck can run out.

The things that have been put in place to keep people safe are not for the lucky ones, they are to protect those that are less lucky, the vulnerable in the society, and those that put their lives at risk every day to help victims of this cruel virus. If you’ve not been affected that doesn’t mean that you can’t help others that have.

Freedom

People cry out for freedom, they refuse to be in lock down, they refuse to stop meeting up with family and friends and they refuse to wear masks. They do it all in the name of freedom, their rights to do what they want.

In the larger picture, a lot of people have survived the virus, they have recovered, some well, some not so good. But, it’s proof you can survive. Some have suffered at home without going to hospital and are now almost back to normal. But it’s becoming clearer that this virus can leave long lasting effects.

It’s true that it’s only a minority that end up in intensive care, and die. But a minority of millions of people is thousands. Take Wembley Stadium* full of people and kill them in one go. If there was something as simple as wearing a mask and social distancing that you could do to prevent that massacre, would you do it then? What if one of those people in that stadium was your Grandma? Would you give up a tiny bit of your freedom to save your grandma, or anyone else’s grandma? Do people really care so little?

Off My Soapbox

I have always been an empathetic type. I can’t help it, it’s built into my mindset, it hurts too much sometimes, but I’m glad I care. I talk a lot about my own issues, but in my mind I feel that my sharing is helping others to feel less alone in their issues. Maybe I’m wrong, I’ve often thought that. But, I can’t change who I am and how I feel.

I may even be a snowflake. I don’t care, call me what you will.

Anyway, now I’m off my soapbox I can let you know how the last month has been for us.

We’ve had two birthdays, Boo turned 13 and the Little Man turned 10. We had a little friend around on Boo’s birthday and the Little Man asked her back on his birthday. I also had a visit from a friend and her two boys. We were going to stay in the garden but it was one of those steaming hot summer days and ending up having to shelter from the sun.

We’ve had a couple of days out. One was at Cosford Airforce Museum which was really nice. We spent a lot of time outdoors, but inside we wore our masks and followed the one way system. They had staff on the doors with clickers to make sure that there were a safe amount of people in the buildings. It felt safe and it was a lovely day out.

The other day out we had was at Spencer’s Retreat. We were given a couple of hours on the farm by ourselves which was really nice. Of course this meant we had no contact with anyone else apart from the farm animals.

My eldest daughter went back to work, but she’s only part time at the moment and Graham is taking her and picking her up so she can avoid public transport.

Graham is still the only one going out, he goes to the shops, garage and has been to pick up take outs. He has also visited a friend and his Mum. I don’t have anyone to visit apart from my brother, and he has been to see me a couple of times instead. It’s easier as I have more space. We are being careful, but I think we have dropped our guard a lot too. I’ve noticed Graham doesn’t wash his hands every time he returns home like he used to.

The virus still scares me. I don’t want any of us to get it. I don’t want to go through any of it with any of my family. It’s not gone anywhere, it’s just being controlled. But if we don’t listen and do as we are told then I’m sure it could get out of control again very quickly.

How do you feel? Are you a freedom fighter? Do you think the pandemic is over?

*Wembley Stadium holds a total of 90,000 people and we are no where near that figure in the UK. I could have used a smaller stadium as an example, but this virus has not gone away and we could easily reach the number to fill Wembley if we don’t get it under control.