A Covid-19 Sunday In Beetley

~ beetleypete

My usual Saturday report is a day late, and so replaces ‘Thinking Aloud…’ this week.

Since the last time I looked at the lockdown, not much has changed around here. Mask wearing was made compulsory in shops, you may recall. So far, it is being complied with in the main, though a fair percentage of people are still failing to have them covering their nose. I have stopped trying to tell them, or signal to them. They just don’t get it. Or they do get it, and couldn’t care less. On my Monday trip to the supermarket, it felt as if shopping was getting back to normal levels, with a fuller car park, and more shoppers. Other than the masks, it felt the same as before February.

My car had to go in for an annual service and MOT inspection on Tuesday. I went to a different place for a change, and had the bright idea to take Ollie with me, and walk back with him. Julie would take me to collect the car later, when she got in from work.

It is just over five miles from the car place in Dereham to Beetley. That’s not too far by our usual daily standards, but it does involve walking through the town, something Ollie is never happy about. Sure enough, he became agitated by the buses, motorcycles, and other unfamiliar traffic. So I diverted into a quieter road, and let him run around a small park for a while. He was obviously missing his regular haunts, and the chance to get into a river. He let me know his displeasure by lagging on his lead, walking slowly, and constantly stopping.

Nonetheless, we made it back to the river in Beetley in under ninety minutes, and he was happy to plunge straight in.

Despite the crowded beaches during this week’s heatwave, and the fact that so many people under the age of thirty still don’t seem to believe that the virus can kill them, I am very conscious that it hasn’t gone away. People are still becoming infected, and some of them are still dying. The figure is currently around 55 deaths a day. That’s 385 a week, every week.

When the politicians boast on the TV news that they have the virus under control, let’s not forget those 385 people. They had lives, families, jobs, loved ones, colleagues. They anticipated a future, whatever their age.

And next week there will be another 385.

71 thoughts on “A Covid-19 Sunday In Beetley”

  2. It’s great to read other’s experiences from around the world at this abnormal time. Where we are, we effectively haven’t left the house for 5 months now and that has become the norm, really. I will admit to sneaking out a month ago and getting my hair cut but that’s about it. Housebound and used to it now.

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  3. Pingback: A Covid-19 Sunday In Beetley – Embracing This Storm

  4. More and more i think Ollie could be something like a role model for us. 😉 Here in Germany the cases are increasing again, and Bavaria has not informed over 1400 positive tested persons. One can predict how many persons maybe got infected by them. If its right and Russia really has a vaccine, i think i will made may way to Moscow. 😉 Michael

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  6. Bloody oath mate and too right. I completely agree and one is too many. Let’s keep working to get it low. Covering nostrils ain’t a big ask. Just ask a nurse. I am happy to hear of Ollie’s walk and the car getting fixed. I am ecstatic too numbers are down but you are absolutely spot on with your sentiments.

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  7. The Poles are going very much like the brits, mad for the beach and a beer (vodka), so its no surprise our numbers are starting to go up. Still its just not serious enough for people to take it seriously.
    The next big challenge, as in the UK, is schools going back in September, that could well be the tipping point.

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    1. So many young people and schoolkids around here have ignored it all, and had a great time out and about during the lockdown and hot weather. Once they return to school, it will be like a breeding ground for them to bring the infection home to parents and relatives.
      Best wishes, Pete.

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  8. But it’s only the old who are dying and they would die soon anyway… how soon people forget about the impact on NHS and other care workers, how many of them died or were brought to breaking point. Clap for carers was a buzz, sharing videos “look at me, clapping, I am such a good and thoughtful person” but now pubs and parties and beach holidays are much more important and necessary. The way the human race behaves makes me so angry.

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    1. Yes, all those who went out and clapped, and now many are crowding beaches, and unconcerned about the deaths of anyone over 60, or that the nurses they clapped were denied their pay rises. In an awful way that I am not comfortable with, I really hate them, and wish bad things on them. I didn’t want to feel like that, but cannot shake it.
      Best wishes, pete.

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  10. The situation is scary in India. More than 64 thousand people were confirmed COVID 19 yesterday. It doesn’t count the people in villages who never reach hospitals. More than 44 thousand have already died. A lot of them weren’t responsible for their fate, their family and neighbours were. Our system doesn’t have enough ventillators for COVID patients AND other diseases. So, people are dying not by COVID but by the after effects on the hospital system
    .

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    1. When I see the situation in India on the news here, I find it appalling that in a country with so many billionaires and millionaires, so many people still live in shacks, on the streets, and on roadsides without adequate income, health care, or education. Some massive social change has to happen over there, for anything to ever improve.
      Best wishes, Pete.

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      1. The biggest issue here, most of us choose not to vote. Most of us choose to steer away from politics because politics is dirty. We choose to stay on the side and criticise government. The ruling party had enough donations to build the biggest temple of India they won back from Muslims after 150 years of court case. But they don’t have money to give employment to people on roads. Clean water and electricity is a dream in most villages and small towns. But the government spends time in feeding and housing cows.

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        1. My Dad was in India from 1941 until partition, serving in the Army. When I was younger, he told me “India may have finally got independence, but nothing will change for the ordinary people there”. I thought he was being racist at the time, but history has proved him right.

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          1. 🙂 Well, a lot has changed, Pete. I understand the point of view of people from other countries who see either the best or the worst of any country because that is what makes it to the news. 🙂
            India is a lot better than how Britishers left it. India at that time was at the rock bottom of poverty, where hospitals and education were privileges reserved for higher ups. Indians were pushed to do menial jobs and not allowed to reach higher positions in the bureaucracy. Indian morale was where they would rather be dead than be Indian.
            Ever since, India has built its infrastructure and the situation is thousand times better for many, just not all. The current government has been around for 6 years and is now taking the country’s economy to the greatest low. We now need a government that actually works for development and not just rely on the bureaucracy to do it.

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            1. I hope that you get that better government, Shaily, and I do appreciate the many improvements since 1946. Just a shame there is still so much to do. We have some poverty in Britain too, but not on the same scale.
              Best wishes, Pete.

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  13. “…let’s not forget those 385 people. They had lives, families, jobs, loved ones, colleagues. They anticipated a future, whatever their age. And next week there will be another 385.”

    I couldn’t get past that, so I simply repeated it.

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    1. Great news, Frank. I confess i was geting worried. Wishing you a speedy recovery from all your blogging friends. I posted about you, so I will now update that.
      Best wishes, and my regards to Marie. Pete.

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  17. The people under 30 may be statistically correct that the virus is not likely to kill them, but their not wearing a mask increases the odds for the rest of us. They must have missed the day in school that taught them about social responsibilities. Warmest regards, Theo

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  20. Both my folks are above 70 and I fear for them. Especially because of a bunch or morons who think that there is no virus, or that it simply can’t touch them. The worst is they seem to forget that they can infect others. It makes me truly furious at times 😔

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  22. Pete, here in the US, an annual motorcycle gathering of more than 250,000 is underway in South/North Dakota, what’s the difference. No make, of course no social distancing, and 250,000 potential virus carriers who will take it back to where they live…and the deadly cycle continues…

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    2. The Sturgis SD Motorcycle Rally is just one example of people and states being in complete denial that the pandemic hasn’t gone away. People are still having house parties, so much so that the mayor of Los Angeles has threatened to shutoff utilities to any homeowners hosting one. Some schools are already having in person classes, with more reopening in the next couple of weeks. In the last two weeks at least 97,000 children have tested positive for Covid-19. But not to worry. The very Stable Genius says children are immune!

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  23. same here, Pete although majority of people wear mask in public. still, the numbers (or any number for that matter) is distressing.
    glad Ollie went to town but it is obvious he wants his usual turf. 🙂 🙂

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  25. Very sad, and I agree. Here the cases keep climbing up, in general, in some places more than others, and although most people follow the recommendations, it doesn’t take many breaches of the rules to cause much harm. Ollie is a creature of habits, for sure, and I do sympathise with him. And in this heat, the river sounds very inviting. Have a lovely week, Pete.

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