A month in lockdown – N is for near

The A-Z blogging challenge is quite straightforward, blog everyday in April, except Sundays, with subjects that follow the alphabet. It’s all a bit of fun. My subject is ‘A month in lock down’.

N is for near. I have been watching the progress of the COVID-19 virus since early on in the year. From the end of January it was obvious that something strange was going on in China. The Chinese authorities’ response to the situation in Wuhan was a clear signal to the world that we should take the threat of the virus seriously. 

Did we? I’m not so sure. At that time it was still a long way away, on the other side of the world. It was a Chinese or Asian problem and we in the West had plenty of other things to be getting on with. Even when the World Health Organisation declared it as a pandemic it still did not seem real yet with every passing day the virus got closer and closer to home. It has been getting nearer.

As I write this there are nearly 2 million reported cases of the disease world wide, with the UK 6th in the league that nobody wants to top and with the 5th worst global death rate. Remember these are reported figures and will be worse when the numbers are truly known.

Thankfully, no one in my immediate family has contracted the infection. We are all sticking to the government’s guidelines and have been lucky so far yet lately I have become aware of  how close it is coming. Three families of friends have been affected and have had to isolate as their elderly parents have been taken to hospital. Fortunately all have survived so far yet I  now have friends of friends who have died. I am only two degrees of separation away from the fatal effects of the disease.

I think it is inevitable that one day someone very close to me will get the disease and that I too will contract it. Everyday it is getting nearer and it is just a matter of time.

Stay safe.