Day Seven - Covidiots and Viral Load

Seven days of social distancing that I fear might end as we will probably progress (I use the term ironically) into lockdown. Yesterday's social media photos of Victoria Park and Richmond Park defy belief. And the supermarket crowds? I was lost for words. I feel I need to do something but what? I have ordered a customised t-shirt which should arrive on Wednesday. On the front it says Keep Your Social Distance Please and on the back it says Keep Your Social Distance Thanks. I'm hoping that by wearing it when I'm out it will make folk think a bit more seriously about all this. That's just supposing it arrives before a lockdown. If not I may seriously have wasted my money.  This morning I was out even earlier for my walk. Today I was jostled by a jogger! Yes. Can you believe it? No, don't answer that. From behind I might add. If I had seen them approaching I would have distanced myself. Obviously I was walking more slowly than they were jogging and in their way. So give me a shove, love. The hell with catching a virus eh? I was too stunned to summon the necessary expletives to convey my feelings. 

Apparently there is a new word - covidiot. I found this on social media. It is as alarming as it is amusing because it holds a truth.

A dear friend had an unenviable dilemma today. Her son's ten year old cocker spaniel, Harry, developed seizures yesterday which continued throughout the night. His wife suspected a brain tumour. In all of this coronavirus frenzy pets and vets don't seem to have been mentioned. This morning he managed to make an appointment with the vet but asked his Mum to go with him breaking all the social distancing protocols. She went. Of course she did, he's her son. She wanted to be there for him. She loved the dog too. She said she came straight home afterwards, showered and changed her clothes. Was she right? Was he right to ask her? I don't know the answers. 

I've been on the phone to her a couple of times today as well as copious WhatsApp messages. She's struggling. What isn't helping either is the fact that she works for the NHS as a medical secretary. She is not being allowed to stay away from work. With non essential procedures being cancelled there's less for her to do. She's been told staff will be deployed to the wards! She's not trained in ward duties. She also says her managers are not taking  sufficient precautions against the virus. Meetings where staff are cheek to jowl, people coughing and sneezing. One of her managers who she was working with on Friday is now in isolation. She's terrified of going to work. 

I think a degree of paranoia is beginning to creep in. Even my sister expressed a fear that she might become scared of even stepping out into her patio. She heard that the virus can linger on hard surfaces for 3 or 4 days. She lives in London and admits she's getting paranoid with so much of the virus around and being relatively near large gatherings like supermarkets the atmosphere is full of virus particles. 

I did read an interesting piece from a doctor about a concept called 'viral load'. It makes a lot of sense particularly within the remit of social distancing. Have a read.

I decided today that I need to make better use of my time. I've been using this situation to avoid tasks and sitting about reading and writing. But today I cleaned the bathroom thoroughly, on my hands and knees! That's not easy when you have a deranged spine so I'm feeling pretty smug.