The Covid Diaries

Recognising the dangers of a depleted system

I’m scared.  What I’ve seen play out before me over the last few weeks scares me as much, if not more than the events of the few short crazy weeks leading up to the first national lockdown in March 2020. Back then there was a sense of solidarity, of battle...

Recognising the psychological impact of lockdown

It was week two of facing one of my greatest obstacles, a task so seamless to others, as simple as blinking or breathing. Not that I found either simple in this moment; I notice my blinking is rapid and my breathing is tense, fast, shallow. This familiar and yet...

Returning to work: managing that sinking feeling.

It isn't called a sinking feeling for nothing. It feels like you're in a lift, plummeting down the outside of a skyscraper, out of control, hurtling towards the inevitable. Your stomach is like a washing machine on fast spin, and the dread, deep in your soul, is...

Recalibrating: How am I?

People keep asking me how I am coping with lockdown. Given that it is also January, the coldest and often most miserable month of the year, and given that I am a little up and down emotionally at the best of times, and struggled with lockdown when it first happened in...
The Covid Diaries 6

The Covid Diaries 6

Saturday 9th May 2020 Our 1930s house has had no work done on it in the 25 years we have lived there, and not much prior to that. I have lived with a stained avocado bath suite which nothing would clean, a shower that hasn’t worked for decades and a vile and poorly...

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The Covid Diaries 5

The Covid Diaries 5

Saturday 2nd May 2020 Some of you will think this is the confession of a person who is barking mad. Some of you will think it is somewhat melodramatic. Some of you will recognise it. I hope those who recognise it feel somewhat less alone by reading it.  I...

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The Covid Diaries 4

The Covid Diaries 4

Saturday April 25th 2020 I once heard my Mum say, “we will get through this.”  In the current situation of the Coronavirus, I think this saying matters very much. This story is written by me, a 10 year old child, living through this virus in the UK. My Mum...

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The Covid Diaries 3

The Covid Diaries 3

Saturday 18th April 2020 This is all total madness! Wherever I look, I see the denial of the obvious. At my trust, we have the advice that Public Health England know best – their PPE advice is sufficient. But experience says the opposite. I saw a patient, elderly, in...

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The Covid Diaries 2

The Covid Diaries 2

Saturday 11th April 2020 Easter Saturday. The forecast is for a day of bright sunshine and above average temperatures for the time of year. A weekend when normally families would gather, friends would meet and hoards would head to the coast. A weekend for those with...

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The Covid Diaries 1

The Covid Diaries 1

Saturday 4th April 2020 Two weeks into so called lockdown, we have several distinct groups of people, all struggling with their own personal and professional restrictions. The medics we all rely upon when we become ill are facing restricted access to safety equipment,...

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