Coronavirus Crises
It took a while to understand the effects the deadly Coronavirus had on lifestyles and daily activities. Initially most of us simply went about our daily lifestyles without a care in the world almost ignoring what was going on in the outside world but this could in many ways be put down to confusing Government messages and announcements in early March. Looking back. I honestly feel Boris Johnson lost his way during these early stages of the Pandemic when most of Europe had already imposed strict lockdown restrictions. It wasn’t until Monday 23rd March that the British Government finally announced lockdown restrictions yet before that historic day I remember vividly continued life as normal, playing tennis, attending regular pilates classes, fitting in a couple rounds of golf and meeting friends for drinks and dinners and probably why I found coping with lockdown so difficult to start with especially when we were only allowed one essential daily shopping trip and a daily walk. Looking back now, even at that stage of the pandemic I still had little idea of the crises that lay ahead, its last effects how much this grim virus would radically change lives and daily routines.
Ironically, it was only a couple of weeks before total lockdown that I started noticing how eerily quiet London streets had become yet in spite of the continuing depressing news emanating from Europe, I still went about daily routines without a care in the world, first attending the Swiss Tourist Office ‘summer’ soiree on 4th March at the Chelsea Garden restaurant although driving down an eerily traffic free Kings Road was the first time I came to face with what would become the norm.. As news from Europe became increasingly grim, and daily news bulletins were demonstrating the silent virus’s destructive nature as 100,000’s lost their lives. It was trying to come to terms with this silent enemy and it’s potential impact that were hard to accept.
Still blissfully unaware of its increasing dangers, the day after the Swiss Tourist Office soiree I hopped onto a packed tube at Barons Court to meet up with the PR of Castellfalei golf resort in Italy for lunch in the busy Italian restaurant Ceccione’s in Mayfair. Th idea was to discus a potential golf press trip in the coming months which is still still to be arranged while I write this..That day the restaurant was packed with busy diners and every table full. If any underlying fear of the deadly virus was lurking around somewhere in the background, few in the restaurant that day showed any signs of its possible impact. Later travelling back to Barons Court for the first time felt a distinct uneasy sitting in a crowded carriage and little did I realise this would be my last restaurant meal for several months.
It was when a press trip to South Africa sponsored by Qatar Airways that I had agreed to go and due to leave on 14th March, was suddenly cancelled ‘due to Coronavirus’ it was then when I began to comprehend its true deadly potential. Another lasting memory was having supper with friends on 19th March albeit reluctantly and four days before lockdown was finally announced. It an arrangement that had been made some two weeks previously and the reason I felt obliged to go. Driving to South Kensington that evening was the first time I noticed the eerily empty streets, and coming back later the only traffic on the roads bar my car and taxis were mostly empty red buses.
As soon as lockdown was announced life changed radically, no tennis, no golf, no socialising only essential trips to shops and one daily walk were allowed. Even now I find it hard to imagine how I coped with these strict restrictions for so long. As human beings we natural social animals and social stimulus is all part of our make-up. Being confined to home quarters for nearly four months was one of the difficult times of my life I have experienced. Lockdown seemingly numbs motivation while the pace of life slows down to a snail’s pace. Thankfully spring produced some magnificent sunny, warm days which encouraged long walks in local parks and even the chance to sit outside in the garden reading newspapers and books but little was achieved very little during those long weeks of lockdown something I found difficult to get used to. .
Thinking back to my busy lifestyle prior to COVID-19, when I was almost always running in the fast lane, arriving with minutes to spare to play tennis and dashing to golf afraid I would miss my tee times. Seemingly by contrast my world suddenly came to a shuddering halt, no need to hurry anywhere as I had more time on my hands and forced myself to get into some kind of daily routine. . .
Thank goodness for social media, a daily chat with friends on Zoom or Houseparty kept me sane and alert. Soon I realised how senseless it was to read or listen to the radio when the daily grim facts and figures of Coronavirus was announced. I remember one particularly depressing day in early April when over 900 deaths were announced in one day, a depressing statistic that was when the virus hit its peek. But looking back now, the whole experience definitely hanged my perspective on life even after five months and we are still in lockdown…..!
End
This version of Tod’s blog was written three months after lockdown simply because I couldn’t get my mind around writing about a pandemic that was so difficult to comprehend and happening all around me