Coronavirus Stories - Reaching Out From Isolation

 Edited BY G P Kennedy   Sally and the baby - London, UK  This time next year, at the moment I can’t even see past this time next week.  I have my first job since February but it is in Manchester, which means that myself, my boyfriend and the baby have to stay in my parents house in Liverpool so I can make a 30 mile drive to work each day instead of a 230 mile one if we stayed London.  This is causing me a lot of anxiety as I want to keep my family and myself safe but also I would like some ‘normality’ back in our lives.     I have spoken to colleagues who have already had a few days at work and they say that TV studios have all safety measures in places so as long as I wear a mask and sanitize and observe social distance rules then it shouldn’t be anymore stressful than a supermarket shop… But then I worry about going home to my parents especially since my dad’s heart attack.   Will we be celebrating Christmas with our family?  Anyway h...

 Edited BY G P Kennedy Sally - London, UK  I am writing this on the evening of day 142 in isolation for me and my family.  After last weeks looking back on “If I Could I Would’ I noticed in my diary that the last time I had anything written was 14th March.  I met up for an evening of drinks with a few of my colleagues that all started work on the same day in July 2000 and it was an early 20-year celebration.     COVID-19 was already in the news and I remember getting the train into Central London, some people were wearing masks and everyone was trying to keep their distance but the train was packed.  When I got to the pub I didn’t hug anyone like I usually would as we were all just a little bit paranoid but we had a few drinks and had a good night.     When we woke up the next morning one of the guys who was out with us said he felt unwell like he was getting a cold or flu!  He got worse over the next week or so and thinks that...

Edited BY G P Kennedy This week we asked some of our Storytellers to reflect on the differences between August 2019 and 2020. Today Sally frames her thoughts around the idea of 'If I could, I would...' Sally and the baby - London UK  This week I decided to look back at what I was doing this time last year.    August 2019.  I had a coffee date with a pregnant friend, I went to a friends anniversary BBQ, I had weekly baby swimming classes and a visit to the baby clinic to get her weighed, I had friend coming to my house for lunch, I met another friend in a pub for lunch, I had a hairdressers appointment, I had a family wedding, I had the in-laws staying, I had a massage, I had a doctors appointment and a dentist appointment, I travelled to Liverpool to see my family and I had work. A packed August last year  Scroll forward 12 months to August 2020 and the page is blank apart from things that have been cancelled. A university friends wedding - CANCELLED! 14 days wo...

Edited BY G P Kennedy Sally - London, UK  Pretty much the same as last week and I still have a ball of anxiety in the pit of my stomach. It’s like something bad is about to happen but I don’t know what.  I think I am just fatigued with it all now and really just want it all to be over.  It feels like I am living in The Truman Show and someone somewhere is seeing how long I will take to snap under this pressure.  I just have to keep remembering that this is affecting everyone and that there are a lot of people in a worse situation than me.    We still are being cautious and not seeing family or friends but I guess there has to be a point when we make the leap and do it.    So the pubs and non essential shops opened last week and the government released a statement a few days later saying something along the lines of ‘they realized drunk people can not socially distance’. Well, duh!  Three pubs have already had to shut their doors again as eit...

Edited BY G P Kennedy Sally - London, UK   I still feel a little bit down after last week, I have a feeling in the pit of my stomach that something is going to happen like an anxiety ball? I am not sure if its because lockdown is easing and pubs and hairdressers etc. opened on 4th July but the numbers of COVID cases hasn’t slowed down but I feel that people are going to go crazy with this little bit of freedom and take more risks and we may get the second wave that they are talking about?    A city in England called called Leicester, has been given a local lockdown as the cases of COVID drastically spiked, which means that children have been pulled out of school and all non-essential shops have closed again.  The Government are saying that they will do that to any area that sees a sudden rise again. Leicester is back on lockdown  Its is now “law” that face masks are mandatory on all public transport. Personally I think this should have happened as soon as it sta...

Edited BY G P Kennedy Sally - London, UK  This week has really, really gone slowly for me, but the world seems to be moving faster and faster.  Non-essential shops have started to re-open which means the roads and pavements are busier which people taking more risk and not observing the 2-meter (6 feet) rule.  Some of my friends have started to go back to work, which is great for them I guess; hopefully their employers have made it a safe environment.     Football (soccer) has started again, with no fans allowed in the ground, but the risk level hasn’t gone down!!  My colleagues who film the matches say its very surreal to be there when you can actually hear what the players and managers are shouting to each other instead of the deafening cheers are 50,000 fans.    Mané and Salah - two key players for Liverpool FC  Liverpool FC won the Premier League, which is brilliant as the last time they won it was 30 years ago. Unfortunately it broug...

Edited BY G P Kennedy Sally - London, UK #blacklivesmatter  The death of George Floyd has been a catalyst for the Black Lives Matter movement to be brought for the forefront of the news.  The color of someone’s skin should not matter in 2020 but for many ignorant, racist, prejudiced, ill-informed people, it still does?  Seeing and reading some of the stuff on the news and on social media, it is unbelievable to see that we are still living in a hugely racist world.     I admit that I thought it was getting better as I tend to surround myself with people that are similar to me, people that do not judge others by their color, their appearance, their sexual preference but by what kind of human being you are, but I have realized this is not a realistic view of the world.    I am from a predominantly white family but I have close relatives that are black so I know about racism through them and am disgusted at how cruel some people can be.    S...

Edited BY G P Kennedy Today we check in with Tassy, in Karachi, where there is troubling news close to home. While thousands of miles and several time zones west we hear from Sally, in London, who is forced to miss out on a family birthday. Tassy – Karachi, Pakistan  It has been an eventful week. The bad news is that my 79 year old father tested positive for COVID-19. The good news is that he is well and his symptoms are mild. He is quarantining by himself in a room away from my mother.  The news came as a shock to us as my parents have been very particular about staying at home and taking necessary precautions. The did venture out for a couple of weeks ago to the hospital as mum had an appointment with her cardiologist which was overdue. They believe she caught it there. They were both wearing masks but the virus has a way of creeping up out of nowhere.  I was talking to a close friend, who happens to be a doctor directly involved in helping patients suffering from COVI-...