Week 28 - an explosion of COVID cases in England creates a bleak outlook for Sally and family

 Edited BY


G P Kennedy


Sally – London, UK


 So things in the UK are turning pretty shitty again and as it stands I probably won’t be able to see my family for at least another 6 months. Later on today the government is set to announce a three-tier system, low, medium, and high and each area, according to COVID stats will fit in a tier and have to follow those rules.


As it stands, Liverpool, where I am from and where my family still lives, is one of the highest-rated areas for Covid at the moment, which means they will have the strictest rules when they are announced later.



 Personally, I believe that all the areas that are the highest at the moment are large university cities, which means that over the last few weeks students from all around the country have been going there and moving into halls of residences or flatshares and therefore spreading Covid, no matter how safe they are trying to be.

 My niece moved to Newcastle, to attend uni, a few weeks ago into a shared flat with 5 others.  They were told they could go out to pubs etc. but could only socialize with their new “bubble” of flatmates.  Within a week Newcastle’s R-rate – the Rate of infection - soared and the students were told they would potentially be going into lockdown, so many of them chose to go back to their homes rather than spending 14 days in quarantine in a flat with new housemates in an area that they didn’t know.


 A few days after being back in Liverpool my niece got a call saying 2 of her housemates had tested positive for Covid so she got checked and has also tested positive.  She is now isolating in her family home.  But you can see how easily it is spread. The new rules and the prospect of another lockdown have caused people to get angry and question how the government is running things.


















 I spoke to my mum before and she is upset. This year has been crap for her; my dad had his heart attack and her brother passed away and she hasn’t really been able to see me or my sister or any of her 5 granddaughters for over 6 months and its starting to take its toll on her. It’s a vicious circle: we stay away from our families to keep them safe but then we need our families to comfort us but we can’t see them.


 I have had to lose work this month as I would have had to stay in my parents' house and I chose to protect my family over earning money, which means it’s another month I am living off government handouts.


 Sorry, I can’t really be positive this week but the thought of things to come is rather depressing.

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