Corona Diaries

Simone

“I think lockdown has been fun in a way as I’ve spent a lot of time with my family, but not being able to see

friends in school and only going to town if it’s necessary is not the best.”

Background Information

Female, aged 11-17, Comprehensive School Student, South Wales.

Important events during the Coronavirus lockdown

Start of Coronavirus

Near the end of January, Wuhan, where the virus originated, was put into lockdown. The 31 st of January

was the date when the UK had their first confirmed case, on the same date, people were evacuated from

Wuhan back into the UK. On February 6th, a man was diagnosed in Brighton with COVID-19, however he

was the first British person to catch it outside of Wuhan.

The first week

My school was closed along with thousands of other schools across the countries by Friday 20 th. This felt

quite strange to have school cancelled due to a virus, it was beginning to get eerie to think about as it had

now affected our lives too. Boris Johnson made a speech at 8pm on the 23rd of March officially declaring a

lockdown for the whole of the UK. The next morning, we rushed to collect my sister from university as we

were worried she might get stuck there because of travelling restrictions.

Family quiz night

Saturday night at 7:45 is one of the highlights of my week! Family zoom call quiz with a new theme every

week, it’s great to talk to a lot of loved ones and have a fun time together even though we are far apart.

VE Day

Usually, to celebrate an occasion like VE day we would go to a family member’s house and maybe have a

Sunday roast. But in these times, that isn’t possible so instead we set up chairs at each side of the garden

and we had a very distanced celebration. Later in the day we drove into town to collect some shopping, it

was desolate, as if abandoned.

1st birthday

My baby cousin’s birthday is in June, and its her 1st birthday which we would have a big celebration as its

so special. Again, we had a distanced party in their garden, although each household had to arrive and go

at different times that’s because at the moment 2 households are allowed to meet. It was a lovely day as

the weather was perfect and it was really nice to see our relatives again!

My experience

I think lockdown has been fun in a way as I’ve spent a lot of time with my family, but not being able to see

friends in school and only going to town if its necessary is not the best. But I know that if we follow the

quarantine rules and restrictions now then hopefully thinks will get back to normal by 2021!