Isolation

Today is the 22nd of March 2020 and it’s Mother’s Day! As a mother of 5 with kids ranging in age from 5 months to 14-years-old, I had a joyful start to the day which began with an extra (much needed) hour in bed. Unfortunately, a black cloud is hanging over day to day life at the moment thanks to the looming threat of the global pandemic, The Coronavirus.

For anyone who is fortunate enough to have been living under a rock recently (and if you have been, I hope your rock is surrounded by an impenetrable tractor beam and is full of supplies), the Coronavirus (or COVID-19 as it is also referred) is a terrifying flu/pneumonia like illness that has been sweeping the world, causing destruction and massive death tolls wherever it goes. Heartbreakingly, in countries such as Italy and China many thousands of people have succumbed to the virus which currently has no vaccine or specific treatment.

The terrifying illness arrived in the UK around two weeks ago and already 281 people have tragically lost their lives as a result. The Government advice is to undertake ‘social distancing’ from others to help prevent or slow down the vicious spread of the virus. This advice translated as doing your best to avoid anyone who doesn’t live in your home, particularly those over 70 and with underlying health conditions. This meant that, like many others up and down the country, the hubby and I couldn’t visit our own mums on Mother’s Day, We attempted Skype and Facetiming with both sets of parents and subsequently found both sets to be equally technically inept. Although their video call efforts did serve to provide a few hilarious moments for the kids who loved all the upside down and unflattering angles of their grandparents as they tried to get to grips with the technology.

Afterwards though, I just felt a little hollow. Normal life is definitely on hold at the moment – schools closed for an indefinite time on Friday and my teenager was gutted when he found out that all the McDonalds restaurants in the country will also close their doors to help in the fight against the virus that is spread by human contact. The official Government guidance is to stay indoors and only to leave if you require essential food or medical supplies. So my family is now officially ‘self-isolating’ and to be honest, it all just feels a little bit surreal.