It has just been 4 days since I wrote my first Lockdown Diary report from Spain and the figures are exploding over here, despite the whole country being in lockdown for 9 days so far.
Four days ago, Spain had surpassed 1000 coronavirus deaths in total, now we have had more than that in the last two days (738 dead yesterday) and our total is now well over 3400 in total. That means the death-rate is doubling every two days.
The UK reported around 100 deaths yesterday, which is where Spain was just ten days ago. If you explode at the same rate as Spain, you will have our figures in a very short time, and it may even be quicker considering that Johnson has only now decided to start restricting movement (or advising you to, at least). You will be surprised how quickly you are over-run and people will start dropping like flies…
I am pretty certain that we personally are not infected with COVID-19 after spending the last 9 days with just the company of my lovely partner, with minimal contact with anyone else, but today I had to take my first run into the local town for urgent top ups of dog food and cigarettes (necessary goods over here!).
The town, which usually has a population of over 10,000, was completely deserted with hardly anyone in the streets. At the dog supplies, the owner did not even come out of his office, but let me load the car myself and just leave the cash on the counter. The Tobacco shop was barricaded at the door and the owner gave me a pair of rubber gloves and exhorted me to put them on every time I left the house.
We stayed the statutory 2 metres apart but my partner still made me scrub my hands when I got home, because the coronavirus could be on the cigarette cartons, while she wiped the cartons down before opening. The life here feels very eerie, with no noises to be heard from our villa outside town, until 8 at night, when all the English ex-pats in the area all play the same chosen song, and bang tins and drums in solidarity. This is our only communication with our neighbours every day.
If you are still thinking that Boris has got it right with his freedom strategy, let me show you how quickly the death-rate is going up in Spain, despite the lockdown strategy…
It may be noted that we all went into total lockdown on the 15th March, but it has not arrested the increase in mortality rates in the slightest so far…..
So the UK has only just gone into lockdown, so perhaps this graph of UK deaths is going to start jumping like Spain did 10 days ago….
(All graphs taken from Worldometers.info)
So, everyone in the UK can fully expect to be where Spain are in the next week to ten days, and come to terms with keeping out of contact with anyone at all except in urgent situations. The news that a healthy 21 year old girl in Buckinghamshire died today of coronavirus should be a wake-up call, so please don’t think that because you are young and healthy you have nothing to worry about. The facts say otherwise…
Stay safe, and most of all, STAY IN!
Admin Pat