It’s January 2021. We’re in lockdown. Again. I say lockdown but listening to the amount of traffic outside people have obviously decided to ignore it. There is no way in hell they are all “essential workers.” That road was silent when we were first in lockdown. I could hear silence and birdsong.
Numbers here are frightening. We are definitely paying the price for Christmas home visits. Numbers have rocketed. The HSE are saying that the backlog of counting/ confirming cases from over the Christmas period has been caught up. We are exceeding 6000 cases daily and numbers in hospital with Coronavius has exceeded the peak of April 2020 during the first wave. I am staying at home. I have no intentions of doing anything that puts me at risk so I will continue to cocoon in my house.
I am not making any resolutions for 2021. My focus is on staying safe and healthy. I think given current circumstances, that is more than enough. Yesterday there were only 20 adult ICU beds available in Ireland. The vaccination programme has started here (with the Pfizer BioNtech vaccine) and if all goes according to plan, I will be offered the vaccine in April this year. The Moderna vaccine has also been approved for use here in Europe so it’s not all bad news. We just need to hold tight.
Christmas was strange. It was the first solo Christmas dinner I’ve cooked and the first I’ve spent away from my parents. I got through it. It was fine. I know 100% that I made the right decision not to go home. That said, I am very much looking forward to being able to celebrate Christmas with my loved ones in person again when it is safe to do so.
