What a difference 14 days makes...

Bake Off - we are not getting out of this any skinnier!

Can it only be 2 weeks since I last wrote the blog? In such a short space of time it seems like the entire world has changed. To date nearly 300 people have died in the UK and over 14,000 worldwide. Almost every country in the world has reported a case and in some countries, Italy and Spain in particular, the death toll has risen incredibly rapidly. We are at war with an invisible enemy and while we frantically wash our hands as our main form of defence, the global economy has dropped through the floor. Markets have been in free fall, companies are reeling from the impact of the pandemic and whole populations are in lockdown. What seemed a bit silly initially now feels very real.

For the UK we are in unprecedented times. We know this as Boris Johnson and two of his advisers stand in front of the country every evening at 5pm and tells us so. I can't remember the last time I heard him say "Get Brexit done". I miss those simpler times. Instead at the end of last week we heard him say that schools across the county would be closed indefinitely to all those except the children of key workers. Pubs, restaurants and bars are closed. Ikea, McDonalds and John Lewis have all shut their doors until further notice. Weddings are limited to 5 people (including the vicar). Anyone who can work at home has been told to do so and if you are over 70 or have underlying health issues you have just been told to stay at home, with no outside contact, for 12 weeks - that's 3 months!

I have gone from being in the office 5 days a week, incredibly busy but enjoying the challenge, to being based at home for the foreseeable future. I know I was a bit worried my new boss wasn't keen on working from home, but even I'm not keen on this level of home working. shows you should never worry about the things you cant control - sometimes something comes along and addresses the issue for you. Tomorrow is the start of a whole new normal with me working downstairs and the kids upstairs with their laptops following an online timetable. They had to come to terms last week that less than 2 terms into their school year that might have been their last day in school until September. GSCEs and A Levels have been cancelled, as has everyone's holiday plans. Not only are they not allowed to go to school but they are not allowed to see their friends. What is abundantly clear is that the science shows that if left unchecked the virus would grow so rapidly it would overwhelm the NHS and we could be looking at more than 260,000 deaths. That's not funny and so we all have a part to play now - we need to stay at home, stay away from others and wash our hands! My hands are so sore.

So this weekend started the beginning of what will be a historical time. We hunkered down and tried to get our heads into the right space. It is interesting - we went from still being a bit reluctant at the start of the weekend ("It's not people like us") to be full on outraged by this afternoon seeing the pictures on the TV of people in parks and so on packed in like sardines - that's not social distancing we shouted! It's behaviour like that which will result in us being subject to far more draconian rules - Germany has now banned groups of more than 2 people outside and Italy has banned anyone being outside at all!

The kids have been brilliant. They've spent time setting up their workstations and tidying up their respective sheds in the garden so they have some quiet space to escape to. They had a bake off this morning and left me in peace while I went to my yoga class - all the way upstairs to join in via a Zoom video link. They've made the most of the lovely weekend and hung out together brilliantly. I hope they maintain this as all they have is each other over the next few months.

We are looking on the bright side - we live in an amazing house and if I had to self isolate anywhere this would be it. We don't live in a crowded place so we can still get out and Bertie needs walking twice a day so that's always going to create a need. I have a job that's pretty secure, even though I've just started, and in the event its not, we have savings. Many people are nowhere near as lucky as us and despite all of the (enormous) inventions the government is making, will be feeling incredible stress right now.

We will get through this. There will be plus points (global emissions have fallen dramatically in the last 2 weeks due to flights almost entirely grounded and minimal factory production). we will talk more to people, even if it is via phone or video. We have the technology to make all this feasible. I just hope we have the patience and humility to do what we are told over the next few months so we can beat this. Stay safe people.