Corona Diaries

Sloane

“But the virus hid in corners As it crept across the world From East to West it travelled It’s fury yet unfurled.”

Background Information

Female, aged 55-64, Retired Health and Social Care Performance Specialist, South Wales, White, Married, Two adult children.

10th May 2020 - A Poem for our Times As the bells rang out at midnight When the New Year had begun We cheered in blissful ignorance Of the horrors yet to come For an enemy was lurking But still without a name To prey on all humanity Life would never be the same. It started with the rumours Of death so far away In China and the Far East It came from bats they say A virus that was deadly Affecting sick and old But the young would be protected For them, just like a cold. So China called a lockdown And the people stayed inside And many went to hospital And many people died But those of us in Britain Carried on without a care Too far away to bother us It's just a little scare. Our leaders said don't worry The risk to us is low Most of us won't get too sick Unless we're very old.

But the virus hid in corners As it crept across the world From East to West it travelled It's fury yet unfurled. Some countries they were clever They saw the threat unveil They tracked and traced and tested So their people would prevail. But others struggled greatly In Italy and Spain The hospitals were overrun And people died in pain. We watched as this unfolded But it couldn't happen here The UKs made of sterner stuff Our leaders made that clear. We'll shield the old and shield the sick And that should be ok The rest of you can go to work And still go out to play. So life remained as normal Mass gatherings were approved They failed to heed the warning signs Our leaders were unmoved. We'll aim for herd immunity Yes that's the way to go We're following the science here But the science was too slow. Then suddenly the message changed Disaster loomed ahead We're going to lose too many lives So this is what they said Stay home, save lives, good citizens And protect the NHS We'll give you lots of money So you won't get in a mess. Thus lockdown here was started New hospitals were built To nurse the sick and dying So they wouldn't feel the guilt Or remember they ignored the risk Our leaders great and good

Who were following the science And have been misunderstood And so began the battle here For many thousand lives And children lost their parents And husbands lost their wives And all the while our heroes Were the carers in our midst The frontline staff, our lowest paid Too many here too list. They also cared for Boris When the virus made him ill And he owed his life to the NHS, To the health staff and their skill So they promised to protect them With equipment, gloves and gowns They said there would be plenty Enough to go around But PPE was lacking When the virus hit in waves So we clapped and cheered And said well done While we sent them to their graves. And in amongst the mayhem Our leaders would forget To shield the old in care homes Who died to their regret And those who lived in Wales Well they couldn't get a test And the leaders said don't worry We're the Senedd, we know best We're following the science here So please don't be distressed And all the people stayed at home They slept and learned to bake But the shops ran out of flour So we couldn't make a cake We were allowed to exercise But only once a day We drank too much and watched TV The lockdown here to stay.

We missed our friends and family Though we didn't all complain We kept in touch by Whatsapp It just wasn't quite the same. So what about the future And will this ever end Will life go back to normal Will I ever see my friends Will the science find the answers To the questions that we seek And help us fight the virus For the old, the sick, the weak. I'm hoping for a better world And when this nightmare's done We'll care for one another, For our planet, moon and sun So that history won't judge us Too harshly or too strong And remember 2020 As the year it all went wrong.

7th June 2020 - The Sorry Tale of Dominic Cummings By May the mood was changing And we’d all begun to tire This Covid’s lasting far too long Still spreading like a fire But then a further crisis Another media storm A pantomime of politics And things got very warm For Boris and his best friend The villain known as Dom Who’d lied about his journey To the North where he came from The papers leaked the story And the news began to spread Of Cummings misdemeanour When he should have been in bed For when he caught the virus He'd failed to stay at home

But drove himself to Durham To the place where he was born He also took his wife and child So he wouldn't be alone A journey of great urgency That could not be postponed Reporters rubbed their hands in glee You’ll have to sack him now He’s breached the rules he helped to write Which mustn't be allowed But Cummings he protested And Boris took his side “He’s told me he's done nothing wrong And I know he hasn't lied I'll let him have a conference So you can all decide And once you’ve heard his story There’ll be nothing left to hide” So on a sunny afternoon In Number 10’s rose garden Our Dom began his sorry tale And our views began to harden He spoke to press and cameras In a quietly spoken voice Believe me when I tell you this I didn't have a choice You’ll see I acted reasonably And I'm sure you’ll understand Just why I drove my family Four hours across this land I know you saw me running But you see my wife was bad We thought she'd caught the virus And that made us very sad For there wasn't any childcare And I might have to work You all know that I’m important And it's crucial I don't shirk Or perhaps I'd caught the virus too My thoughts were for our son We couldn't cope without support Only one thing to be done

But then my wife felt better I went back to Number 10 To finish off my work that day And then went home again But just in case we both got sick We’d better make a plan To drive at once to Mum and Dad To a cottage on their land It's all your fault in any case And just because of Brexit You’ve made our home feel quite unsafe So we had to make an exit I drove up North that evening And we didn't stop at all I didn't speak to Boris then I didn't think to call When we arrived at midnight We all went straight to bed But I woke up in the morning With a fever and bad head We didn't see my parents Who are vulnerable and old We just stayed within the cottage And were careful who we told We didn't try to misinform Or say that we were home You just made the wrong assumptions When we thought it best to roam And yes I drove to hospital Where my son had been a patient I know I still had symptoms And I went with trepidation But the ambulance had disappeared And no taxis did exist But I didn't breach the rules that day That’s a fact I must insist And yes we did go walking Upon my Dads estate But my wife and I were better then And didn't think to wait We thought we were well hidden

And that people wouldn't see That we’d travelled up to Durham Our small family of three And when we all recovered And 14 days had passed I checked that I would now be safe To return to work at last But the day before my journey My eyes were very weird And I thought I'd better have a drive So we wouldn't be afeared Thus I drove another 30 miles To make sure I could see And my wife and child were in the car Seems reasonable to me We went to Barnard Castle A well known beauty spot But I then felt sick and quite unwell And was feeling rather hot So we sat down by the river But only for a while And we waved to passers by Who waved back and gave a smile And when I had recovered We drove a little way But my son wanted the toilet So we stopped and had a play Most people would have done the same I can't believe the fuss It's not as if we broke the rules There’s nothing to discuss With this tale of woe now ended Our Dom he seemed quite pleased He never once apologised He didn't feel the need And reporters who had heard his words Well they were all confounded And the rest of us who watched the news Were frankly quite astounded For he had no shame, he didn't care He didn't give a toss For the millions who stayed at home

And the loved ones they had lost He didn't see the irony Of his sanctimonious stance His hypocrisy beyond belief And barefaced arrogance The rules he wrote were flexible We just didn't understand And only meant for fools like us Not the leaders of this land He belittled all the sacrifice That millions have made The thousands who all died alone Whose memories won't fade And despite a public outcry And demands that he resign We were told by dear old Boris That we had to draw a line He had to keep his best friend Or the government would go bad But lockdown would be easing soon Which should make us all feel glad And all the cabinet agreed Like sheep without the wool That they all believed poor Dominic And his tale of Cock and Bull