Sept 20: Coronavirus 13 Sept - 12 Oct

Sunday 13 September

Day 181

Hot day so early morning walk at Entwistle reservoir. Then met Luisa and Luca for coffee.

More hoohah over Boris wanting to break international law over trade deals and Northern Ireland.

Tried prosecco with elderflower cordial (like a Hugo cocktail), elderberry cordial and créme de mûre. All different. All nice.

Monday 14 September

Day 182

Change of rules again - no more than 6 to meet up at one time.

People still struggling to get tests.

Heaton Park picnic with Luca.

9 UK deaths. 41,637 total.

Tuesday 15 September

Day 183

Laboratories under pressure with cv testing and delayed results called a 'shambles'. 

Lowest weekly death toll since March - under 100.  27 deaths and 41,664 total.

Sunrise at Peel tower.

Wednesday 16 September

Day 184

Another trip to Heaton park with Luca.

Ashton hospital cv figures very high. 'Canary in the mine'  Ema opening more cv wards again.

Ema and Lola both tested for covid after Lola was sent home from school with a cough. Both had to isolate.

Thursday 17 September

Day 185

Lockdown measures in the north east from midnight. Some areas of Wales too.

Only one in three getting test results back within 24 hours.

Extra funding for care homes for infection control.

Friday 18 September

Day 186

Dawn walk round Entwistle reservoir.

Ordered garden furniture (end of season bargain!) and bought wallpaper.

PM says second wave of cv is on the way. Over 4,000 new cases in last 24 hours.  More restrictions to start in more areas. Predicted that if numbers rise at the same rate as in April then in 3 to 4 weeks the number of cases will be the same as at the peak.

27 deaths.  41,732 total.

Ema and Lola clear of covid. Fast results as tested at Ema's hospital - so back to work and school. So many others having to wait up to/over a week. So many days wasted whilst waiting!!

Infection doubling every 7 days.

Saturday 19 September

Day 187

Early morning walk round Jumbles but no sunrise.

Cv cases increasing all over Greater Manchester.

£1,000 fines for people who don't self isolate after a positive cv test.

27 deaths. 41,759 total.

Grumpy Luca fell asleep when they took him to the park - so they had a picnic in the car in peace!

Family quiz - purple theme.

Sunday 20 September

Day 188

Papered the wall.

Monday 21 September

Day 189

Luisa's due date. Nothing 🙄 Had Luca for the day just in case and he helped grandad set up the smoker to cook chickens, salmon and duck legs.

Covid threat upgraded from 3 to 4 which means a higher or rising level of transmission which requires enforced social distancing.

Tuesday 22 September

Day 190

New back gate installed and new washing machine ordered.

New cv rules in place for the next 6 months! Boris says the country 'is at a perilous tipping point'.

37 deaths. Total 41,825.

Wednesday 23 September

Day 191

Luca made some biscuits.

Over 6,000 covid cases reported in the last 24 hours - up 25% on the day before and up over 130% over the previous two weeks. 37 UK deaths.

176 cv cases in Manchester - highest day.

Thursday 24 September

Day 192

Government announced that the Jobs Support Scheme will replace the current furlough scheme when it ends on October 31.

Lots of cv outbreaks in universities and Scottish students told not to go to pubs or parties - to face fines if they do.  Students also told they may not be allowed home at Christmas.

Some supermarkets already putting restrictions on certain products.

Highest daily number of cv cases - well over 6,000.

Friday 25 September

Day 193

Record levels of national debt - over 6 times the amount at this time last year.

Only 18% of people are self isolating when told.

Saturday 26 September

Day 194

Had flu jabs.

Over a quarter of the country now placed in local lockdown.

34 deaths. 41,971 total.

Family quiz - no Luisa as her waters broke.

Sunday 27 September

Day 195

Baby Nico born. 7lb 11oz. 12.33am. Nearly born in the hospital car park 😲

The Nico cocktail invented by Mike - prosecco with homemade elderflower cordial and and homemade mûre de cassis. Cheers to our latest beautiful grandchild.

Monday 28 September 

Day 196

Looked at Nico through the window.

More students and areas of the country put on lockdown.

Tuesday 29 September

Day 197

Distanced catch up with Beckie and then Pam.

New lockdown rules in the NE from tonight but councils haven't been advised of them yet - and Boris and an MP got them wrong when explaining them!! 🙄

NW has higher cv numbers but no stricter restrictions yet - even though they've asked for them!

71 UK deaths. 42,072 total.

Over 7,000 new cases confirmed - highest daily figure on record but more testing being done now or could be some numbers were delayed.  But hospital admissions down. To be monitored over the next few days.

16% of secondary schools have had to send all/part of their students home. But only 5% of primary schools.

Wallpaper fell off the wall 🤣

Over one million people worldwide have now died from coronavirus.

Wednesday 30 September

Day 198

Knittingale hospital was finished.

Boris said he didn't want to return to full lockdown. Pattern is different to the first wave. Students now to be allowed home for Christmas.

71 deaths. 

Thursday 1 October

Day 199

Italy keeping second wave at bay with drive through tests for children - if clear they can go back to school. Police checks on mask wearing. 

Liverpool and Hartlepool areas joining lockdown. Means 25% of UK population now in local lockdown.

59 deaths.  42,202 total.

Estimated that one in 200 people are infected across the country but the spread of cv seems to be slowing down.

Friday 2 October

Day 200

In 200 days of lockdown the only people to have been in our house are two washing machine repair men - and one washing machine installer after the 'repair' suggestions didn't work. 

And in the last month Luca. Just Luca no parents!

Mike assembled the new garden furniture.

The Trumps have covid.

Saturday 3 October

Day 201

Repapered the lounge wall and finished painting the other walls.

Trump in hospital - conflicting reports on his health.

49 deaths. 42,317 total. Over 12,000 new cases - concern over accuracy of the numbers 

Family quiz.

Sunday 4 October

Day 202

Curtains made and up. Mirror painted.

Trump left hospital temporarily to wave to his fans outside!!

Over 22,000 new cv cases. But an IT glitch meant that nearly 16,000 were added in the last couple of days. So figures have been inaccurate for a while!

Monday 5 October

Day 203

12,594 new cv cases - but are the figures correct?? Manchester now has the highest number of cases. One in every 200 people has covid in the NW.

Tuesday 6 October

Day 204

Seems that cv statistics have been done on Excel! 

Places with highest number of cv cases are also the areas with most students.

Lots of rain. Garage flooded for the 4th time this year.

76 deaths. 42,445 total.

Wednesday 7 October

Day 205

Sue's mum's funeral. Lots of family missing due to cv measures. Her sister Jane couldn't get from Sark as it would have meant 2 weeks of self isolation when she got back.

Garage flooded again - 5th time!

Strict measures adopted in central Scotland to try to slow the rise of cv cases there. Pubs etc to close, curfew on sale of alcohol.

70 deaths.

Thursday 8 October

Day 206

Tighter restrictions imminent in the north as covid cases continue to rise.

Government says too much exposure to cv through the hospitality industry.

Trump refusing virtual debate with Biden next week. 

♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️

Over 4m now waiting for routine treatments and operations. 

17,540 new cases over the last 24 hour period.

77 deaths. 42,592 UK total.

Friday 9 October

Day 207

Lots of surveys being done - all showing different results.

New financial support measures in place ready for next lockdowns. Two thirds of wages to be paid.  Business grants offered.

State of emergency declared in Madrid.

87 deaths.

Saturday 10 October

Day 208

Closures and redundancies forecast for NW lockdown areas. More financial help needed.

15,166 new cases today. 81 deaths. 42,760 total.

Family quiz.

Sunday 11 October

Day 209

UK's per capita infection rate is now greater than US, France and Spain and has doubled in a week.

Monday 12 October

Day 210

Three tier system to be put in place (Wednesday) to control Coronavirus. Only Liverpool in most severe category with bars etc to close. Manchester in middle tier but actually a bit better for us as we can meet in gardens again.

Hospital numbers up.  More cv patients now than at the start of lockdown. Admissions are approaching critical again and three northern Nightingale hospitals - Manchester, Sunderland and Harrogate - have been put on standby.

50 deaths. 42,875 total.