Corona - Freedom?

This weekend marks my 12th week of shielding. 3 months of my life has gone. In all honesty it hasn't been that hard. I've had plenty of contact, both virtual & real, with a lot of friends & with my daughter who has shopped throughout. It isn't what I would have chosen, but I have had lots to do. Indeed too much sometimes.

Yesterday I went out. In theory I'm not supposed to, but I am capable of deciding for myself what risk I think is reasonable. I don't need a politician to do it for me.
Oxfordshire Population: 687,524 – COVID-19 Incidence Rate: 306.8/100,000 inh – COVID-19 Increase: 0.36 new cases per day/100,000 inh -12th June.
It seems to me that at some point we all have to take responsibility for ourselves. We cannot isolate forever. Life has to return to some form of "normal".

I walked to my daughters house 10 minutes away. We all sat in the garden a chatted. Then M & I walked the dog down to the river Cherwell. It was really lovely. I enjoyed every moment & I don't think any of us were at serious risk.

Walking there felt odd. I felt as if I was in an invisible bubble. I was very conscious of everyone around me & at 10am there were quite a lot of people. I found that I was the one who had to move out of everyone's way, going into the middle of the road to avoid breaking the 2m rule. I wasn't nervous, but was in a state of heightened awareness, which was completely novel.

I now realise how unfit I have become. Walking there, walking the dog & walking back, would have tired me prior to Covid 19. I did have a rest sitting in the garden when I arrived though, so it was OK. But I could feel my heart on the way there & on the way back & I was breathless.

I don't yet feel that I would want to go into a shop. But I do think that at some point soon I may have to. My daughter has a demanding job & a family. A lot falls on her shoulders. She cannot continue doing this. Because I haven't had the shielding letter yet, (hopefully my surgery has this in hand now), I haven't been able to get a supermarket delivery slot. Also there is an issue for single people given that we don't need as much food as often as families do. Previously I shopped locally daily & did a big supermarket shop once a month.

The big issue for me is fitness. I can tell that I have deteriorated. Even if my swimming pool opened, I'm not sure how comfortable I would feel returning to swimming. Having to walk home in wet clothes would be uncomfortable.

How will we older people return to some sort of normality? Especially if the vaccine takes as long as it might to get to everyone. But even that is only the answer until the next Pandemic.

Unless we change our relationship with flora & fauna by stopping deforestation, supporting biodiversity, and having better farming methods & food chains, this will keep on happening.

https://ejatlas.org/ - Environmental Justice Atlas

We have brought this on ourselves, but it is possible to do something about it - The window of opportunity is very small though.

 Brazil's Soy boom destroys tropical forest.