Day 29 - Lockdown extended

Today started with an 8am weights class with Pete and, by the end of the class, I was in tears of laughter, because one of the guys in the class didn’t mute himself on Zoom during the cool down, and all we could hear during the stretching was his heavy panting! It was a really warm day out today too. The temperature got up to 18 degrees. So I spent a lot of the rest of the day sitting outside reading. Then I went for an evening walk. Part of my usual walking route, the trail through St Mary’s Health Campus, has now been turned into a Covid community assessment hub, although it doesn’t seem to Beo pen to patients yet. We finished the day with a Zoom quiz hosted by the Byrne family.

My day was interrupted at 4pm, with Peter calling me in from the sun, saying that Leo Varadkar was giving another address to the nation. We expected this, as the current lockdown restrictions were due to expire in two days time, on Easter Sunday. Leo said that the restrictions would be continued for another three weeks until 5th May. I had been expecting him to extend for two weeks, so my jaw actually dropped. I’m not sure why one week made such a difference in my mind, but I suddenly started really missing my family as soon as he declared an extension of the lockdown. May sounds very far away, and three weeks sounds like a much longer time than two weeks. All the increments so far have been two weeks long. The schools were initially shut for two weeks, then the more restrictive measures were initially put in place for two weeks. I’ve actually been doing quite well recently, especially in the past two weeks, with my chest infection behind me. I’ve been really enjoying the extra time I have each day. However, this evening knocked me a bit and I started thinking “when am I going to be allowed to see and hug my family again?”

There are constant reminders on TV, however, about the importance of staying at home. We are also constantly praised for continuing the important work of social distancing, as it is saving lives every day. These messages picked me up again this evening. What I want to do isn’t important right now. What is important is that we each make the sacrifice to stay at home, for the national good.Lue lisää