Covid-19 – An Open Letter To Everyone

To whoever reads this. Covid-19 (Corona Virus) is a little hard to ignore right now. It’s not something we ever thought was possible, it’s a movie plot! Nothing seems real at the moment. Every morning I wake up and for those first few seconds I’ve forgotten what’s going on in the world. It’s bliss. I soon remember though and that sinking feeling creeps back in.

I live in an area that hasn’t been hit properly by it yet. But it’s coming this way. I’m sure it won’t be long before the local hospital announces its first cases and sadly, first deaths. Mostly, I’m a positive person but even I’m a bit worried now.

I’m not worried about the virus itself. I may lose family members, friends, clients…. That doesn’t scare me though. What scares me is people.

Only a month ago we were all about being kind after the suicide of a celebrity that was hounded by the press and negativity. What happened to that? Where has that thought gone? All I see now is greed and selfishness. People fighting over the last toilet roll even though they’ve got 30 stored at home already. People grabbing all the meat they can to put in their freezer, leaving the shelves empty. Civil queues outside supermarkets turning into savage pushing and shoving as soon as the doors are opened.

What has happened to the world?! We don’t have a food shortage, we never normally have this kind of mental behaviour, even at Christmas!

As I said, I live in an area that hasn’t even been hit yet and this is still going on. I’m scared of what people are going to turn into when it does get here. It feels like Covid-19 has almost taken us back in time. People have become neanderthals, clubbing others over the head for a chicken breast. Grunting at each other and ramming their overfilled trolley into someone rather than asking them politely to move.

We need to take heed and start social distancing. The schools are closed to stop the spread of infection, the idea is to keep the kids at home, not taking them to busy shops. I understand that some people will struggle. Having my little one at home means I’m not going to be able to do my usual shop. Things will be difficult but I’d rather just run out quickly by myself when I have chance and grab the essentials we need. I popped out today as I needed some bits for my daughters 13th birthday this week. The shops were quieter than usual but I still saw families wandering around like nothing is happening. Groups of teenagers still riding around on their bikes. Social distancing unfortunately means staying away from our friends and even vulnerable family members.

Social media has become a horrible place full of fake news, nasty comments and arguments. I’m quite lucky that my Instagram feed is actually full of positive people that are a joy to interact with but unfortunately, I can’t say the same about Facebook. I have considered deleting it until we’re out of the woods but I run a couple of pages so that’s not an option.

I would love to wake up tomorrow and this all to have been a dream. The kids can go back to school and life returns to normal. Unfortunately, it’s not a dream. This is real. Covid-19 is very real. It’s killing more people every day. This doesn’t mean we need to destroy ourselves and each other though.

Please, for the sake of the nation, your family, your friends, just listen. Shop like you normally would. Stay in as much as you can. Be kind!

We’re all in this together and fact is, catching it is kind of inevitable, whether it’s mild or not. What we’re trying to do as a nation is spread it bit by bit so our NHS can cope and can save more lives.

Find new things to do indoors like crafts or cooking. Play board games or do some exercise. Learn something new. See this as an opportunity to get to know your family better. I wrote a post about things to do with the kids in January, it still applies now so go get some ideas.

This is not the end of the world. But for now it is the end of life as we know it. Let’s try to make it better than it currently is. Oh, and wash your hands.

Yours Sincerely

For more information on Covid-19 then head over to the NHS or Government websites.