Week 46 - Lockdown remains in place but Olivia still sees the green shoots of renewal

Edited BY


G P Kennedy


Olivia - Liverpool, England



 Spring has well and truly sprung here in Liverpool.


The start of March has brought with it brighter and sunnier days and an end to winter hibernation. 


 I’ve enjoyed taking walks along the river Mersey recently.




Despite its industrial landscape, looking out at the water brings a sense of freedom as I move from one end of the city to the other. 


 While we are still living under strict lockdown, the mood here in the UK is positive.


There has been a steady decline in the number of COVID-19 cases, and 22 million people have now received their first vaccination.

 


As well as this, the government has put forward a ‘roadmap out of lockdown’.


The four-stage plan maps out a gradual return of freedoms over the next few months.


 There are two dates in particular that people here in England are likely to have marked in their calendars.

The first is being able to visit hairdressers and barbershops from 12th April, and the second is pubs and clubs reopening on 21st June.


 Of course, this could all be pushed back if another spike in cases occurs. However, the list of dates has given us all something to look forward to and strive towards. 


 People are prepared to move slowly and cautiously out of this lockdown in the hope of what’s to come.

 


 I’ve had a lot to be thankful for recently.


My boyfriend has found himself a fantastic job up here in Liverpool and we are now looking for our first home together.


 After a horrible year of travel restrictions, we are both looking forward to this new start.


 Here’s to an exciting year of haircuts, pints, and new beginnings.






Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Week 44 - Mixed messages lead to protests in Turkey

Image
Edited BY G P Kennedy Gul- Aegean Coast, Turkey  The weather was icy cold last week, when I said I can’t take another day, suddenly that feeling of spring was in the air.   According to the Turkish folk calendar, the first Cemre - imagine a meteor fireball passing by up in the sky, warming the air - fell on Feb 19 and 20. There are two more yet to fall, one on Feb 26 and 27 and the last two in March – also will lead to the New Year Nevruz (Nowruz, Iranian).    They say the first Cemre always falls to the air, the second to the water, and the third to the earth.  Nowadays, because of warmer weather, we are able to have coffee in our garden with our neighbors and have a chat. Otherwise, we were overwhelmed with loneliness.  POLITICAL CRAZINESS  Our ordinary lives can be boring but daily politics is the opposite, there was a controversial event almost every day this week.   This country will make all of us mentally sick. It is ...
Read more

Week 49 - Simon says, 'Count your blessings my fellow Aussies'

Image
Edited BY G P Kennedy Simon - Perth, WA   Hi everyone, hope all is well wherever you are.  So here we are at the end of March in Western Australia, which means over 12 months of the Pandemic.   Across all of the country, the vaccines are being slowly rolled out but we are not hitting our intended targets.   This seems to be a combination of lack of supply and the doses being given by GP’s rather than at vaccination centers. I guess the only thing that stops this from being a real concern is the size of our case numbers.   The vast majority of our small number of cases is from returned overseas travelers who are put in quarantine anyway.   This week sees a small outbreak in Queensland with some community transmission. This has led to a snap three-day lockdown to try and contain it and perform contact tracing.  Going forward it looks like this will happen fairly frequently. We have demonstrated that these short and sharp lockdowns seem...
Read more

Week 15 - Wednesday in Milan explores the 'new normal' for Ellie

Image
Edited BY G P Kennedy Ellie - Milan, Italy    “How are y'all doing?” a friend from Texas asked me recently. I am happy to report that the contagion rate in Italy have been mostly down. Daily rates of new infections have been around 150 for the country.    I have the feeling, though, that this is due not only to scared people who mostly stick to their masks and distancing, but of the possibility to do things outdoors, which is what helps with holding new infections down. There are many unwelcome signs for change, though. For example, hope for getting rid of plastics, and its dispersal in the environment, is definitely given up.    Now that all coffee shops, company cafeterias and restaurants that hope to have clients indoors are required to outfit their spaces with distancing partitions, plastic has drastically increased. But it has also started causing some awkward moments.    I met with a friend for a coffee recently, our first get together after...
Read more