Like probably most of you, I have been finding life quite difficult since the "lockdown" started. Although I had seen them start in other countries on the news, I wasn't expecting to suddenly be told on a Monday evening that I couldn't go to work the next day. I had already been off work the week before as a precaution as I had a slight cough and felt low in energy, and although I was perfectly well on the Monday I had booked that day off as holiday, so I was looking forward to returning to the office and getting back into my work routine. But suddenly I was left trying to work from home on my laptop, trying to adapt to doing everything online when usually my tasks are predominantly paperwork based. The lack of time to prepare was one of the worst things about the situation.
Going out for a walk or to the shops became a more stressful event than usual. The shock of an eerily empty town centre, with so many shops that are usually open shut, the fear and confusion on other people's faces the first week or so, the worrying about not being able to get essential supplies, and the concern about people possibly getting angry if you accidentally got too close to them, or being told you couldn't buy something because it wasn't deemed "essential".
These practical issues have largely been resolved for me now. We (me & my partner) don't have a car and used to get a weekly shopping delivery, but now that's not possible we have managed to get a shopping bag on wheels so we don't have to carry everything, and we walk to Lidl twice a week which I'm starting to get used to. Nobody has shouted at us, in fact since the second week people have been more friendly and often smile or say "good morning". One day when I went to Superdrug I was informed they were only open for "essentials" - I panicked a bit as I wanted to buy hair cutting scissors and semi permanent dye to trim and colour my hair because I can't go to the hairdressers and I wasn't sure if this was " essential " or not, but they did let me buy it: which was good because now I'm not worrying about when I'll be able to go to the hairdressers again. 
I'm getting more used toworking from home, and I've now been able to arrange for paperwork to be emailed directly or scanned and emailed to me, rather than having it delivered & collected from my home or popping into the office to pick it up/drop it off myself. I realised that one of the things that was stressing me was the feeling that my home and work lives were sort of merging together, and that having work paperwork in my home was a big part of that. If I only use my own laptop and then close it down and put it away at the end of my work "shift" I find it easier to keep work separate in my mind.
Because I have a logical, enquiring mind I was also finding it hard to make sense of the information about the symptoms and mortality rates we were being told. I couldn't stop wondering how a virus that for some was milder than a cold, or even asymptomatic, for others was apparently deadly. It was classed as a respiratory disease, but smokers seemed to be suffering from it less than non smokers. It was reported that obese people and black and Asian people were at higher risk, but not why.
I have now seen reports that may answer these questions. An American doctor has put a video on the internet telling people that the he believes the virus does not cause pneumonia or acute respiratory disease, but causes oxygen deprivation like high altitude sickness. A New York Intensive Care Specialist has written a blog supporting these ideas and explaining that the virus attacks the red blood cells, which de-oxygenates the blood and causes hypoxia, and prevents oxygen getting to organs, eventually causing organ failure. They both believe that the medical community need to work together to change treatment, so hopefully the result will be that as they come to understand it better, it becomes a more easily treatable disease for those more vulnerable to it. Another report highlighted the importance of vitamin D in supporting the immune system, as viruses are killed off by a healthy immune system, sometimes before symptoms become apparent it would seem. It is believed that darker skinned and obese people, as well as the elderly, are more likely to be vitamin D deficient. Supplements are recommended for older people and young children, but getting sunlight on our skin allows our bodies to make it, so it's good that the UK rules have allowed us all to get out in the sunshine and with summer on the way we should all become more resistant to viruses in the next few months.
What are your reactions, results & revelations 're this situation?
