Greetings friends,
It's taken me a while to write this because I wasn't sure exactly what I wanted to say, or even if I wanted to say anything at all.
Coronavirus is all anyone is talking about, and rightly so. It is undoubtedly the biggest global challenge we have faced in the majority of our lifetimes. I keep hearing people making comparisons to wartime, and I think that's exactly how you should think of this. We are fighting a war against an invisible enemy. Only, this time, all people are fighting on the same side... at least we should be. Yet, I have witnessed more selfishness, more narcissism, more racism and hate than ever before. What does that say about humanity? That we would so suddenly lose it at a time you'd hope to see people pulling together?
Here in the UK we have been on official "lockdown" for just under two weeks now, although most of us have been under these measures for longer than this.
Unfortunately, there is still an alarming number of people who are not taking these measures seriously. To be clear, this level of social distancing means that you should only be seeing the people who you are living with. It does not mean you can meet up with your friends in open spaces. It does not mean you can see whoever you like as long as you stay 2 metres apart. Yes, it's boring and isolating and it will drive you crazy but it will also save people's lives. So please, please, stop going to see your friends. Stop thinking that the measures don't apply to you because you're young or healthy. Millions of people don't have that luxury.
Which leads me on nicely to a little PSA.
When you post a picture of you walking with friends, or a Facebook status about how the lockdown is unnecessary, or about how you are going to continue to go out as and when you feel like it, you are inadvertently sending a message to every person out there who is not young, or healthy. Your message to those people is that you don't care what happens to them, that your walk or your social time is more important than their lives. It is absolutely heart-breaking the number of messages I have received from my readers suffering with various illnesses (invisible or otherwise) in the last few weeks about how devastating it is to see their friends and family blatantly ignoring the advice that is in place to keep them safe. I understand that for a young and healthy person, this feels like too much restriction on your life. But for someone battling an illness, of any kind, your simple task of staying at home could be the difference between life and death for them. That's a difficult concept to grasp because never before have we had to stay at home to save people's lives. But the data is there, the stats are out there for you to see and read. It does work. It does save lives. So if staying at home for the next couple of months prevents even one person from becoming fatally ill, it's worth it. Please take a moment to think of all the people who are scared at home, just waiting for the day where they run out of supplies and have to go out into a world where some people are simply living their day to day lives, spreading a virus that has no effect on them but could kill others.
The current statistics suggest that the death rate in the UK is up to 10%. Whilst this prediction is likely to be much higher due to the number of people with symptoms who have not been afforded a COVID-19 test, this is still a much higher figure than is being projected in the media. This includes young, elderly, those with health conditions and those without.
Nobody is untouchable. Please be safe. Please think of others.
Charlotte x
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