Last Updated on 08/07/2020 by Alex Squire
Today (20th of June) I have officially been in lockdown at home for 100 days, or:
- 8,640,000 seconds
- 144,000 minutes
- 2400 hours
- 100 days
- 14 weeks and 2 days
- 32% of 2020
Now before you get too impressed with me I must admit I did not work all that out by myself, apart from the number of days. I used a calculator online that tells you the length of time between two dates. Here’s the address if you want to try it for yourself: https://www.timeanddate.com/date/duration.html
I don’t know how much longer I will continue to stay in lockdown. I don’t feel confident enough to go into town or places where there are likely to be a lot of people. Although I have been thinking about going to a nature reserve nearby if it’s not too busy. It should be possible to avoid people and as it’s outside the risk will be lower. But I haven’t decided about that yet.
The number of daily new cases of the virus has not decreased since when I started shielding on 13 March.
On 14 March the number of new cases was 342. Today (20th June) the number of new cases was 1,295. So it’s actually a lot higher than when I started shielding. And that’s only the cases they know about, the actual number will probably be higher than that. (Source: https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/country/uk/)
So I don’t think it is safe to come out of hiding yet. I don’t think it will be safe until the government have a proper track and trace system up and running and that probably won’t be ready until July at least.
This New Scientist article from 9 June looks at whether it is safe for vulnerable people to leave lockdown yet. Here’s a pertinent quote from the article:
“While infections are falling, the UK is still seeing about 1500 new confirmed cases a day, compared with about 1000 a day in March, when the first letters were sent to shielders. The total number of new cases a day is likely to have been higher in both March and May, as not everyone gets tested.”
To be honest I think the government have relaxed the lockdown predominantly for economic reasons, not because it’s any safer.
So the answer to the question of how much longer I will stay in lockdown is: I don’t know. I won’t be going out until the number of daily new cases is significantly lower than when lockdown started (at least not anywhere crowded) and who knows when that will be.
Fair enough Alex, have been out a few times but with such useless hands the temptation to touch potential hot zones is limited! Staying well clear of folk.
Yes, that is one good thing about having useless hands – I can’t touch my face even if I wanted to! I will try my best to stay clear of everyone too 🙂
Hi Alex, yes, hear what you are saying about the figures not quite adding up. with regards to them relaxing the lockdown as much as they have and intend doing further in the next few weeks.
Not sure how it will all unfold, we can only speculate to the eventual outcome. But do think the powers that be are hoping that lots get the virus and it eventually flattens the death rate, due to them either recovering from it, or them now having some drug they can use to help with the serious hospital cases..
I did expect another spike and more lockdown, but perhaps not, we shall see.
I have self isolated for years from the outside world so don’t feel it much different to my norm, to be honest… lol
Have many interests to be getting on with, although did feel a little controlled at one point, but think that was just me having a bad day.
Thanks for the skype link….(hugs)
Kaz
Hi Kaz, yes the government may be going after the herd immunity strategy again. But if that’s the case I doubt it will work. Even countries like Sweden that didn’t lockdown at all only had about 26% of the population infected. Not enough for herd immunity. I don’t know, it’s hard to predict what’s going to happen next. I guess we just have to wait and see. I’m also quite used to isolating, some weeks before the lockdown I didn’t go out anywhere anyway. I hope you find Skype useful 🙂
You have me beat by 10 days, it actually feels a lot longer than 90 days to me. I’m in central Ohio, and have a C4 complete injury. Our governor started lifting the stay at home order at the end of May for certain people and businesses. As of right now its almost like a regular day for most people, plus with all of the protests across the US the new cases are starting to spike again. My mom and I haven’t went anywhere, only my sisters and dad have brought us everything we have needed during the pandemic. However, I haven’t been inside the entire time, there’s nice sidewalks throughout my parents neighborhood, so its been wonderful to get outside even if its just close to home. Hopefully you’ll have an opportunity soon to enjoy the nature reserve when its not busy! Just keep hanging in there and being safe!
I hope the 90 days so far hasn’t been too hard for you. It’s amazing how quickly people seem to forget about the virus and default to normal, or maybe they just don’t care about it anymore. It’s good that you have managed to get out in your neighbourhood though. Even if it’s just for a short while it’s good to get outside. Hopefully, the weather stays nice and warm this week so I will try and get out somewhere. Hope you stay safe!
I feel exactly the same way. I’ve only been out of the house a handful of times and during all but one people weren’t being safe, wearing masks or keeping distance so it was too stressful for me with my disability and COVID. The cases here keep climbing here too yet people are out and about and acting like everything is normal again because things have reopened. Wishing you lots of health and sanity!
I think the government needs to make it mandatory to wear face masks in public places, otherwise, people probably wouldn’t wear them. It’s unbelievable how people can act as though everything is fine now when pretty much nothing has changed. It’s selfish of them, if they don’t have a legitimate medical reason not to wear one, as they are obviously not thinking about those of us with disabilities. Thanks, I hope you stay safe and sane too! 🙂
I wholeheartedly agree about the masks. Our governor finally made it required for the entire state because people weren’t doing wearing them everywhere, but unfortunately the police in my county have said they won’t enforce it so there’s road blocks at every turn it seems. It baffles me how horrible people are being about just wearing a piece of cloth on their face, something that’s been proven to reduce the risk of transmission and keeps others safe.
It seems a bit pointless making masks mandatory if they are not going to enforce it. In the UK they have made it mandatory to wear masks on public transport and people could be fined £100 if they don’t wear them. I think it remains to be seen how effective this will be but hopefully, it will work. I read that some people think that wearing a mask is infringing on their rights to free speech or something, which is ridiculous. They are completely missing the point of it.