Our housing schemes contain around 250 to 300 people each.

In the past week we have been seeing about three hospitalisations per scheme per day from COVID-19. Some have died. Ambulances are taking between 5 and 24 hours to arrive to seriously ill elderly people.

Our scheme staff are crapping themselves. Even though our residents are all over 55 and many over 80 our staff aren't allowed vaccinations. So they go into apartments where people are dying of COVID-19 with basic PPE- as recommended - and no other protection.

Meanwhile dozens of our staff are getting ill, both in Schemes and Care Homes. This is so much worse than anything we have seen to date.

And loads of our Care Staff have been scared into not getting vaccinated, despite the vaccinations taking place at their Care Home.

Please forgive me if I come across grumpy.

Our housing schemes contain around 250 to 300 people each.

In the past week we have been seeing about three hospitalisations per scheme per day from COVID-19. Some have died. Ambulances are taking between 5 and 24 hours to arrive to seriously ill elderly people.

Our scheme staff are crapping themselves. Even though our residents are all over 55 and many over 80 our staff aren't allowed vaccinations. So they go into apartments where people are dying of COVID-19 with basic PPE- as recommended - and no other protection.

Meanwhile dozens of our staff are getting ill, both in Schemes and Care Homes. This is so much worse than anything we have seen to date.

And loads of our Care Staff have been scared into not getting vaccinated, despite the vaccinations taking place at their Care Home.

Please forgive me if I come across grumpy.

I love travelling but I don't see any point at the moment. I have no idea when I will be vaccinated I am 60 but even if it was tomorrow you have to factor in where you are going. If they are in some kind of a lockdown it wont be much of a holiday assuming you are allowed into the country. Too many variables at the moment maybe in 3 months things will be clearer.

A friend who is a great one for cruise ships (not my cup of tea) has just received the new guidelines from one of the major lines. If you have breathing difficulties you are banned. Looking at the list of people who will not be allowed it probably wipes out a huge chunk of their customer base e.g. elderly frail and or disabled. Even if they allowed them the cost of travel insurance will rocket, not a good time to get into the cruise line business.

I don’t post here overly frequently and this is not a sympathy post.

I run my own accountancy practice and have seen the toll that Covid has taken on businesses everywhere. The uncertainty, the cost and everything in between. In the past year I’ve had less than 15 days off including weekends often finding that rules we have learned change with no notice and I’ve seen the damage to businesses up close. I’m not a called key worker, but like many other people out there you get your head down and on with the job.

On a personal level I spent five days over the last week watching (and I use that term loosely) my dad pass away from Covid pneumonia . My mum also has it as do I now (I tested positive the day after he passed)

16 months ago someone (probably) ate a bat in a Chinese market and that led to the death of a 72 year old man in the middle of England.

This is a vile disease and having now seen it up close I can begin to comprehend how difficult this must be the frontline staff, gp’s, care home workers etc. I can also understand why people may be not worried about Covid as I’ve had nothing more than what feels like a cold and been very tired, as has my mum. On a third level I can also see what an impossible job this is to manage for those in charge.

The doctors initially misdiagnosed this while he was still at home and he was not exhibiting any signs that would have gone “yep that’s Covid”. He was also taking shielding seriously and we were all being careful. It took a doctor in A&E to figure it out. I hold no malice towards the medical staff as they are doing an incredible job.

The Government (whoever they may be) has a thankless task here. Whatever they do there will be criticism from somewhere. They always say that a person is smart and people are stupid and never before has this been more true. You can introduce every rule in the world, but there needs to be personal responsibility too, which sadly if even 1% of the population don’t follow then it f**** it for the rest of us.

Having seen the way PPE is used I can understand why there is a shortage. There is a demand from all areas and each area is also using more. The front line staff quietly get on with their job and the ones I’ve spoken to recognise this is unchartered water.

I think the other issue is that we are used to being “free” and also being in control and with this we are neither. Has the Government got a lot wrong - absolutely, but whatever you do you’re damned and there will he voices yelling

You close the borders - you are restricting free movement

You bring in lockdown - you kill the economy

You open it back up - you should be locking down

Human movement has never been so free, The public are not used to being told “no”. I drove through Leicester last summer shortly before they entered lockdown and doing that you could see why. As you went from the suburbs to the more ethically influenced areas you could see why it was coming. There was no social distancing, and everything was very close together. The local community leaders were saying that the Government needed to recognise that it was different in these families and communities and they should be given different rules. That’s true, but if that’s the case then you also have to accept the restrictions that come with it.

I think one of their biggest mistakes ironically was bringing in the term keyworker. What happened was a group of people suddenly became more “validated”. If you notice - frontline NHS staff rarely refer to them key workers, they call themselves a nurse/doctor/caregiver. My father was an ex policeman of 35 years and he would have thought of himself as a copper still doing his job. I know of one individual who did typing for an NHS surgery and immediately shielded last year on full pay despite having very mild Asthma. We’ve then had to watch every post about how “key” she is - claiming every discount, and yet she took the job for the money. She’s now left to go to another job as they asked her to work a different day. She was also out all over the summer.

Our local paper ran an article last week showing hundreds of workers being brought in from London to slice vegetables under the term “keyworker”.

Have people a right to be angry over what is happening here - absolutely. But whether you sit left, centre or right on the political spectrum is irrelevant. This disease is non political and in terms of people you can’t cure stupid. When social distancing and the clap started my next door neighbours actually held a family bbq so they could all clap together. When you have stupid like that around - you are screwed trying to control it.

I have to say the one group that have really pissed me off are teachers. There are some truly amazing ones out there but there are also some militant b******s out there that don’t give a crap about education. A couple of local heads put out a release round here saying they teachers were key workers and were “selflessly giving up their time each day in virtual classes to teach your children”. There was me under the impression that’s what they got paid to do. Another teacher complained she had to do “a few hours work” over xmas.

I also saw two hgv drivers pissing up their lorries and returning to the cabs without sanitising. I got back a reply saying they were key workers and had selflessly been continuing to work. I’ve worked with HGV drivers and I’ve never met one who wouldn’t do a minute extra without overtime and these guys were parked outside the f***** services. Yet you throw in the term “keyworker” and its like suddenly all ok. Worse still they were delivering food!

The virus has brought into focus both the good and bad in society. But it’s also brought into stark contrast the battle between personal freedom and rights v National Interest. Aside from doing the job of governing you have to navigate the minefield of political correctness and be aware that whatever you decide it will be wrong to a group of people. Whatever you do you are discriminating or not caring about a particular group and I think those who have the most right to claim they have been put at risk are generally the quietest. My respect for the Police, care workers, NHS frontline staff has grown as it has for those who have taken the pandemic seriously. The flip side is my respect for the leadership of certain professions and jobs has taken a massive decrease and it has for the selfless b******s who go “what about my rights”

Seeing the constant criticism and hindsight is also draining.

This is our titanic moment. We’ve hit the iceberg and our collective focus should be who gets on the lifeboat first and sadly there isn’t enough to go round. 100+ years ago it was women and children first and there was clearly defined order. Not saying it was right but it was there.

Now we are trying to get people into the lifeboats and while the majority are following instructions - there are groups wanting to walk there differently “as it’s their right”, demanding to be first “as it’s their right”.

Then to really add a spice to it you have groups of people demanding to be prioritised, those who are telling you it’s all wrong and another group of people denying you’ve hit it at all and complaining they can’t get a drink!

We’ve conditioned ourselves as a society that we are unsinkable (though they never said that I know) and you are trying to deal with something that no one could have foretold exactly what it was going to be. There is also far more stupid people and ones who only think of themselves.

Through the evacuation who are keyworkers changes The care givers and protectors are constants of course.

At the start it’s the ones who try and stem the water flow, then it’s the people aiding the giving out lifejackets, then it’s the ones readying the boats and so on, then it’s the ones who are rowing etc.

All each of us can realistically do is be mindful of others and to take personal responsibility for the parts we can control. There is always going to be some b****** out there who will screw it up for you. Any rule you introduce is only going to be as good as the people following it and sadly the ones who will follow the rules aren’t the problem.

I love travelling but I don't see any point at the moment. I have no idea when I will be vaccinated I am 60 but even if it was tomorrow you have to factor in where you are going. If they are in some kind of a lockdown it wont be much of a holiday assuming you are allowed into the country. Too many variables at the moment maybe in 3 months things will be clearer.

A friend who is a great one for cruise ships (not my cup of tea) has just received the new guidelines from one of the major lines. If you have breathing difficulties you are banned. Looking at the list of people who will not be allowed it probably wipes out a huge chunk of their customer base e.g. elderly frail and or disabled. Even if they allowed them the cost of travel insurance will rocket, not a good time to get into the cruise line business.