Getting out and about. Restrictions here and there. Who to blame.

The weather forecast promises me a 10% chance of rain. A more detailed forecast tells me it will get brighter and finer as the day goes on, and so I took the chance and hung the washing out in the garden. I couldn’t stand the thought of hanging it up indoors. So five minutes later another rain shower came along! It was only brief, so the washing remained in the garden. We shall see!

Yesterday we finally took Phil’s bike on its real maiden voyage. We have been up and down the Donkey Line bridle path a few times but yesterday I persuaded him to accompany me to our granddaughter’s house, about three quarters of an hour’s ride away. We almost turned back as it started to rain lightly but determination won the day. And so we rode mostly along bridle paths to meet our daughter, with her smallest children, at her oldest daughter’s house so that we could all go for a walk together. We had our waterproofs just in case but the weather favoured us.

It was strange to hear the not quite four year old say solemnly, “We can’t go in Tasmin’s garden. Am I allowed to hold Grandma’s hand?” Such are the times me live in!

But we managed a pleasant walk, examining snails and beetles along the way.

I suppose it could all be a lot worse. In Australia Victoria has declared a state of disaster and the city of Melbourne has instituted a curfew. Serious measures! 

 Mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham, warns that the sudden increase in restrictions we are currently facing around here are likely to be a frequent occurrence:

“Last week we got a taste of things to come. As we head for winter without a Covid-19 vaccine, we will all need to get used to a new routine where, every Thursday, the latest round of local restrictions is announced. Greater Manchester was not the first and we certainly won’t be the last.”

He argues that a major factor in the parts of Greater Manchester which have seen an increase in Coronavirus cases is the nature of employment of the people living there. Almost all unable to work from home, they have had to continue going out to work just to keep going.

In similar vein. Kenan Malik, has been writing about how the poor get the blame:

“Obesity is a significant health issue and an important factor in Covid-19 deaths. But the reason poor people eat junk food is not because they are ignorant or lack middle-class virtues. It’s because of the circumstances of their lives. Britons work the longest hours in Europe. Many are forced into two or more jobs. Few have the time or the resources to cook like Jamie Oliver.

For poor households, fast food is one of the few indulgences they can afford. “A millionaire may enjoy breakfasting off orange juice and Ryvita biscuits; an unemployed man doesn’t,” George Orwell observed in The Road to Wigan Pier, castigating middle-class homilies on working-class diets. “When you are unemployed, which is to say when you are underfed, harassed, bored and miserable, you… want something a little bit ‘tasty’.” If we want healthier diets, we need not lectures on healthy eating but a serious attack on poverty.”

While our PM seems to have decided to take the possibility of further spikes in virus a bit more seriously, across the Atlantic POTUS appears to be continuing to argue with his scientists:

“Donald Trump launched an extraordinary attack on his own top infectious disease expert, Dr Anthony Fauci, arguing against the doctor’s claim that high rates of infection in the US stem from a less aggressive reaction to the virus in terms of economic shutdowns and stay-at-home orders.

“Wrong!” countered the president as he retweeted a video of Fauci making the point in recent congressional testimony. Fauci had explained that differentiations between surging US infections and a sharp decrease seen across Europe could be explained by the different reactions to the virus. Fauci said most European countries shut their economies down by 95%, while the US only shut down its economy by half.

Trump countered: “We have more cases because we have tested far more than any other country, 60,000,000. If we tested less, there would be less cases. How did Italy, France & Spain do? Now Europe sadly has flare ups. Most of our governors worked hard & smart. We will come back STRONG!””

It must be nice to be so confident!

Life goes on. Stay safe and well, everyone!