Lockdown Week 2 (Thurs)

THURSDAY

At 3.30pm the sun is shining, so I finish work early and suggest an after-school family walk around the block. Satchmo’s ears prick up, and he starts rounding up the troops. 

We haven’t been out all together since the weekend, so I remind everyone of the two-metre rule before we set off. Even Bertie-Wooster trots along for a stretch, until an excitable Labrador appears from the opposite direction, and he scarpers.

After a few minutes we round the corner, and I’m relieved to see that the world still exists beyond the view from the house. Satchmo runs happily up to the funny-pink-house-with-scary-dog, then droops slightly when the dog isn’t there to bark at.

In the news there are reports of well-known people with coronavirus - even Prince Charles and Boris have it. Some haven’t survived. Young people are starting to die, not all with pre-existing medical conditions. There are heartbreaking stories of people dying alone to protect family members from becoming infected, and funerals that loved ones can’t attend.

The 15-year-old reminds everyone to wash their hands when we get back from our walk. Later, we cheer on the NHS. We talk about our relatives working on the NHS front line, including ITU; one of them has been recalled from retirement, but was only too glad to help.