The UK: Funny if you believed today was COVID-19 Freedom Day

A promise they couldn’t keep

Lest we forget, today, the 21^st of June 2021 was supposed to be our Freedom Day, the day when all lockdown restrictions would be fully eased, and we can return to a new normalcy according to Prime Minister Boris Johnson. This was announced as part of a roadmap published on the 22^nd of February and I had no confidence in the expectation that this government could pull it off.

Blog: A roadmap of potholes

This was two days before I took my first Pfizer / BioNTech jab and whilst we were ahead of Europe by a long mile in the vaccination stakes, the idea that the vaccine would be a talisman or a panacea to the rampaging effects of the pandemic in the UK was a farfetched as it could ever be. The greater pandemic afflicting us is government hubris, policy inertia, prime ministerial indecision and executive incompetence.

Everyone but the one

The breakdown of order that is redolent of this government ably and valiantly snatching defeat from the jaws of victory started from the end of March when a variant first discovered in India, now referred to as the Delta variant was one of concern. By the 2^nd of April, it was concerning enough for the UK Government to immediately put the neighbouring countries to India of Pakistan and Bangladesh on the red list of countries requiring a mandatory 10-day assigned hotel quarantine, but leave India off where the virus was festering at rates higher than the red list countries.

With pernicious Brexit thinking in the fray, Boris Johnson was planning to visit India to negotiate a trade deal and hoping not to annoy Narendra Modi, the Indian leader, our government inadvertently, if not deliberately and carelessly, allowed traffic from the Indian subcontinent whilst he vacillated for weeks on whether the trip was possible whilst affirming there was nothing that indicated Freedom Day should shift.

Come on in with variants

It was not until the 19^th of April, after the impending trip to India was cancelled that India was put on the red list of countries with a 4-day notice before the enforcement of the assigned hotel quarantine requirement. In which time, there were 20,000 arrivals from India with no scrutiny of their status or conditions, some of whom might have contracted the Delta variant prior to arrival and seeded community transmission that it ranks as the most prevalent infection in the UK today.

Obviously, as this government is wont to do, they will accept no responsibility for this debacle, but it is not oblivious to neighbouring countries that this matter has been badly handled that the UK is on the red list of some countries and Scotland has banned travel from Manchester or Salford which apparently now boasts one of the highest Delta variant infection rates in the country. [BBC News: Covid: Manchester-Scotland travel ban comes into force]

Well done for 4 weeks more

Anyway, this is what informed the government to shift Freedom Day back another 4 weeks to the 19^th of July and going by this government’s record, I will believe it when it happens, because their penchant for bungling with bombast for excuses can never desert them. They have credit and accolades for that ability to lie barefaced with no sense of embarrassment and utter lack of shame. They are reprobate to the core and their maleficence has cost many lives.

In the numbers game, whist we have moved down to 7^th in the death rate from the pandemic, and apart from Russia that straddles Europe and Asia, we are still ahead of our erstwhile EU partners even though they caught the waves first and are still behind in the vaccination stakes. It should be obvious to anyone by now that the excuse for this situation being unprecedented is weak, all countries faced the same pandemic, some just handled it better especially in saving human lives. [Worldometers.info: Coronavirus]

Abandon hope with this lot

We instead trying to save the NHS and lose people in the devastating spread of the virus in care homes, and whilst we needed to save or store up NHS capacity to handle infections, the focus should always, always have been on people and not institutions with vacuous slogans deployed to distract us from pertinent matters.

For how much longer we can endure this murderous cabal in government, I cannot tell, but let history note that at the time of our greatest existential crisis this century, we are cursed with the most incompetent hands to ever hold power in the UK. I dare say, we are in the unconscionable grip of a mendacious kakistocracy. It is scary if it were not damningly so true.

Blog: The UK: On easing the lockdown, we're being taken for fools again

Coronavirus streets in London & Manchester - XXXIII

Ladies, of the night

We can somewhat agree that England is opening up and the lockdown eases. In London over the last weekend, on one of my long walks, at Camden was a bevy of raucous females exhibiting everything but ladylike behaviour, outside the public house, unsteady on their high heeled shoes, clothes hardly protecting their modesty, screaming at the top of their lungs. It was scary.

Yet, it was a sign of the return to a sort of normalcy you would have thought our year-long sequestration might have ameliorated. How wrong I was. On Sunday, the Starbucks café was busy, with people sat at tables sipping their coffee and working on their laptops. That one of them ignored the sign on the table meant to allow for social distancing was unnerving, but I got my café grande latte and stepped out to have my drink.

Sitting about in restaurants

When my friend arrived to meet me just outside Vauxhall Railway Station, we walked up the Albert Embankment promenade by the River Thames as far as the London Eye Ferris wheel before we had to get a cab to the restaurant we planned to go to, where we both had to register using QR Codes and were shown to a table we chose distant from others for most of the time we were there. It was busy.

Back at home, to the right across the road, a coffee shop had closed permanently. So, I was pleased to see the Central American restaurant across the road to the left with its doors open and probably patrons sitting inside having a meal. All this still comes with caveats, the Indian variant strain is gaining prominence, the final easing of the lockdown in June is looking at best tentative.

Unlocking the rails of travel

Travel in this day

The weekend past presented the first time I had travelled out of Manchester by train since December 2019, considering a friend had once said the places I visited the most in Manchester were the train station and the airport. I was always on my way out, though the year of lockdowns meant one was forced to explore and discover Manchester itself.

We donned our masks, socially distanced and we boarded the train and took up our outrageously priced reserved seats. The announcement throughout the journey to London suggested we were going to arrive late because of a fault on the line. We did arrive over an hour later and that meant we were entitled to a full refund for that leg of the journey.

In the look of things

Though as I have said before when I pay for a service, I would rather have the service than be compensated for the loss of it. The advent of Great British Railways in the grandiloquence of its name which is redolent of the symbolism that the government attaches itself to without effectiveness would leave much to be desired. We might even get it interesting if Michael Portillo who hosts an eponymous programme on the BBC was asked to head the new company.

The hotel I last visited sometime in 2018 had a welcoming concierge and reception, my room had been upgraded ere my arrival. The view from the 9^th floor was a spectacle of the ancient and the modern of the means of transportation with the River Thames to my right and the railway tracks to the left, whilst across me were luxurious apartments probably bought with foreign money that has upended the London property market.

The River Thames to the right.

The railway lines to the left.

To Leicester we went

My plan to meet friends and the first opportunity to hug someone was as therapeutic as it was rewarding. Out to Leicester on Saturday morning, we found that the Fortnum & Mason café at St. Pancras International Station was not open even though I had called their customer services line to determine if it was. A family bereavement meant we could not meet with who we were expected to see in Leicester.

In trying to occupy ourselves, we made for the Leicester Richard III Visitor Centre which was closed that we were left with visiting the Leicester Cathedral which had a Gaia exhibition on that we were supposed to have registered and paid for, but the ushers made allowances for us to contemplate in a chapel before we looked around the exhibition and the cathedral and returned to the station for our journey back to London.

On returning to London, we shopped for teas at Fortnum & Mason before I walked back to my hotel on the Albert Embankment, probably in the wrong shoes and it took the best part of 2 hours.

Lest we forget

For Sunday, I had planned to meet my best friend of 37 years. We met up at Vauxhall station and walked up the Albert Embankment and just before the National Festival Hall, it began to rain. The wall of the St. Thomas’ Hospital facing the River Thames was a poignant memorial for the COVID-19 victims, red hearts painted for as far as the eye could see with names and inscriptions. This is what we must never forget.

The National COVID Memorial Wall

The National COVID Memorial Wall

The National COVID Memorial Wall

We took a cab to Vapiano on the Bankside had a meal before walking up the promenade from Tate Modern to pick up my luggage from my hotel and then began my journey back home which was not as peaceful as it could be as a lady literally spent the whole time on the phone. I got home just before 11:00 PM and that was the weekend done. Another friend had visited my apartment and cleaned it up in my absence, gladness and bliss. Life is good.  

Coronavirus streets in Manchester - XXXII

Doors flung open

Manchester is apparently open for business in a way, walking past restaurants that had closed since last year they had chairs and tables out for alfresco dining, but few of them were occupied as people chose to sit inside the restaurants instead.

By observation, probably those who need to smoke were sitting outside even though one could begin to feel the chill of the evening. The sun was out and out in the parks were children at play and adults in exercise groups with others jogging, there was a jolly feel to things.

Guests in town

The hotels also seemed to have come to life, like people could not wait to arrive in Manchester, the car parks were full, I would think hotels are up to brisk business, but they would need more custom to begin to recoup their losses due to the pandemic.

As for the larger supermarkets, I checked in on one at almost 9:00 PM as it now closes at 10:00 PM when during the stricter lockdown it had shorter opening hours. I do sense a bit of reticence still, the streets and shopping precincts are not that crowded, we are trying to be responsible by keeping safe still and that is a good thing.

Thought Picnic: The unlocking has begun

The way things are

All indicators suggest the untightening of the Coronavirus lockdown restrictions has set people free to begin a sort of return to normalcy, whatever that normalcy might turn out to be.

Personally, I have not been too excited about the development because there is nowhere for me to go yet and I am still trying to understand how I keep safe whilst being able to do the usual things whenever I step out of my building.

I did go out to do some shopping and in the short walk to the supermarket, I did not notice anything different from last week or even the last year, we still wore masks, maintained social distancing, avoided crowding around each other, and overused hand sanitiser at every opportunity provided.

Then for things to be

My plan is to visit London by the weekend and get to see friends I have not seen for almost 18 months, it has been a long time. Hugs, a peck on the cheek, a Belgian kiss of two kisses on the cheek, a Dutch kiss of three on the cheek alternately, or a French kiss – reserved for lovers, making the shaking of hands or still the elbow nudge, we just need to be sensible in whatever we do.

Whether I have been persuaded to visit a restaurant, I do not think I am close to that level of daring-do, how to travel on the trains is something that has been on my mind, then hotel stays; the one I used to visit was not available. Then, so of us have already been on the first flight out to Portugal, which is in the green list of countries.

For obvious reasons, I want to be in Cape Town and I am on the lookout for opportunities that would allow me to work remotely out of Cape Town, it is where my heart is, and hopefully where my new life can begin.

The UK: On easing the lockdown, we're being taken for fools again

Defined by incompetence

The unforgivable inability to anticipate and act dogs the government of Boris Johnson that its rank incompetence cannot fail to show itself. In the handling of the Coronavirus pandemic there is one statistic that cannot be ignored, the fact that the UK, despite its success in the rollout of the vaccine still remains ahead of all European countries in the death toll, mostly acquired into early this year. Then fifth behind the United States, Brazil, India, and Mexico in that order. [WorldMeters: Coronavirus]

In my view, someone needs to be held responsible and accountable for that failure, the successful vaccination campaign cannot subsume the critical analysis of what went wrong and for some justice regarding the unfortunate martyrdom of the innocent, especially frontline workers, an independent inquiry with far-reaching scope to interrogate, indict, and publish cannot begin soon enough.

We could have avoided it

Having set out a roadmap for the unlocking of the England and broadly the UK, with an end date of the June the 21^st to all restrictions, Boris Johnson appeared to inform us that the Indian variant of the Coronavirus might stymie those plans. We hope it is just a scare, but they have form.

That situation was completely avoidable, it was obvious that in places where leadership was populist and caught napping variants would emerge, yet, our borders were left porous for people bearing the virus to arrive with minimal checks and so introduce community spreading that would definitely begin to alarm any public health official. [BBC News: Covid: Indian variant could disrupt 21 June easing, PM says]

It was a gamble, not a plan

As I have said before, the successful vaccination campaign was a gamble that paid off, for we were the first to grant emergency usage of a CoVID-19 vaccine and administer it to the broader public, and against manufacturer notice extended the timeframe between vaccine doses to capture a broader cohort of those taking the first dose. If this vaccination programme had not been under the management of the NHS, it would have gone the way of the exorbitant and corrupt PPE procurement scheme and the ineffective but outrageously costly testing, tracking, and tracing programme.

The gamble paid off, but the incompetence of the government cannot seem to find total concealment behind that success for the failure to act promptly, check border entry, institute stringent protocols against variants long before they became of concern, makes it the third time of lethargy and inertia that is about to put the UK nations at risk of another avoidable Coronavirus wave. The utter carelessness of which has been unbelievably rewarded at the polls.

Green list to nowhere

Then when you look at the 12 Green List countries, never has a confidence trick been performed so brilliantly on the public as this group of shysters have thus attempted. New Zealand, Australia, and Singapore are not receiving visitors from the UK, Portugal, Israel and Gibraltar have local restrictions as to who can visit from abroad, The Faroe Islands you can visit, but no airline comforts like food and beverages, the in-flight magazine, then blankets and pillows must be removed from the flights. [Faroe Islands] [BBC News: Green list countries: New rules for England revealed]

The vaccinated or recovered can visit Iceland, and at least if, from a high-risk country, you can have a hotel quarantine at no extra charge. [Iceland]

Brunei; how to get there or Falkland Islands; maybe idyllic, then South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands are apparently remote and literally inhospitable in the South Atlantic, also in that region, a volcanic outpost that spots the place of exile and the death of Napoleon Bonaparte is St Helena, Tristan de Cunha, and Ascension Island, places that might well be exotic but you probably cannot reach without traversing one of the amber or red list countries, or get to directly at great cost. Gosh! We really have been taken for fools.

Coronavirus streets in Manchester - XXXI

More of the same

Besides the alfresco dining, I cannot say I have noticed much difference in the way people are going about their business. Obviously, since the first level of opening up last month, I visited the opticians and got pairs of glasses even though I might have to visit them every year rather than probably once in 3 to 4 years.

At church, we now have a fuller choir singing in the quire rather than just one cantor, more people are coming to church, the socialising is left to waving at each other during the service when sharing the peace or the short but distanced conversations we have on the grounds after the service is over.

Readying for the change

Yet, there is a sense of anticipation, the yearning to travel abroad calls to those of us with itchy feet, but nothing looks promising, many of the green-listed locations we may not be able to get to without traversing an amber or red-listed country, so, it becomes as good as the worst affected place we have been through in the last 10 days, despite being vaccinated.

The Bentley is parked outside one of the exclusive hotels that I think indicates the owner of the boutique hotel is about. In the midrange hotels, I am seeing pillows and duvets on chairs and settees, as if the housekeeping staff have returned to set things up for the next level of opening on Monday. Even then, I might find the opportunity and occasion to get on a train and visit friends in London. The unlocking is beginning.

Coronavirus streets in Manchester - XXVIII

Life in the city

The city is still in slumber or just being aroused for the day when I go out for my walks in the morning. Apart from delivery lorries parked in loading bays to stock the shops I pass by, there isn’t much activity to see. That suits me as the absence of people and crowds means I do not have to don a face mask for the most part of my walk.

Brian recognises that soon after work, I do need a nap before I decide what else to do in the late evening. He has somehow urged me to go out probably for another long evening walk, which might be helpful to tire me out of the throes of insomnia, but there was much else to see especially after the easing of the lockdown measures in England.

Lights, chairs and tables

Out of my door and up the street, there was Canal Street, the gay village, all lit up and busy, chairs and tables on the pedestrianised street, I cannot account for whether there was adequate social distancing, the city was indeed abuzz. The back streets for which new licenses were granted were no more thoroughfare to vehicular traffic but now bustling aisles and pavements of alfresco dining.

Further on, some premises and businesses had died Covid-19 deaths, they were not open, the doors shuttered in the finality of regret that they could not endure the economic strains of the pandemic, a club that caters for patrons absent of class, style, or manner had followed that tale of woe for which with difficulty I mustered a bit of sympathy.

Gems make affordable

Then Primark, much as I do shop at Fortnum & Mason that is in the same Wittington Investments Limited conglomerate was having a late closing time. I will not buy a shirt or a suit there, but there are gems in the store at affordable prices.

A good woollen jumper and sexy track bottoms along with a few handy accessories, it was busy enough with people who wore their masks on their chins probably due to the protuberances on their faces being too big to be concealed by the healthy requirement of a mask. Did I hear they are called noses too?

Thinking of Brian, we can share trousers, his waist slightly thinner than mine, but we have the same leg length, or just about. He is taller than I am. Jackets, however, we can’t as my chest is bigger, we have to give or take 3 to 4 inches, he risks looking like a scarecrow in my jacket, though what a laugh that would excite. I hope the life that has returned to Manchester is not the precursor for another lengthy shutdown.

Coronavirus streets in Manchester - XXVII

They are out already

Stepping out at 6:10 AM for my walking exercise, I noticed that there was a queue at the entrance to the Arndale Shopping Centre and it wasn’t even 6:30 AM. Whilst I did get a close enough look, I have my doubts these were employees, rather customers who were ready to swoop down on bargains.

I have this notion because with the easing of the pandemic lockdown in England beginning today, I heard on the radio that people braved the freezing cold just after midnight for a drink at their local public house, outside.

Trim out of the gym

Out there, there was a frost on the grass with the temperature barely above zero Celsius, it was left to my brisk walk to generate enough energy not to feel the chill. Much as I could be forgiven for not noticing any difference in human activity until I was on my home straight after walking 8 kilometres, the traffic on Chapel Street was enough to suggest things were changing.

Up into town, the gyms had opened and whilst I appear to have no need for gyms as all I want to do is keep trim, jettison visceral fat and keep my weight in check, I know that I do not have much upper body strength, I cannot hold up my body weight dangling from a bar with my hands and arms. It is something I will have to address.

Keeping it sensible

My only concern is with the eased lockdown people would still recognise the pandemic is still very much around, the vaccinations are helpful, but we should not let down our guard for our safety and to prevent another interminable lockdown.

I might just have a wander after work to see how things have changed. The shops and crowds can wait, I am seeking the social buzz, but for now, let’s pace ourselves.

The toys have been delayed

Bitter to sweet

In other news, Evergreen’s Ever Given, the super container ship that blocked the Suez Canal for 6 days was dislodged and re-floated this afternoon. It heads for the Great Bitter Lake for inspection before it is sent on its way to Rotterdam, all things being equal. [BBC News: Suez Canal reopens after giant stranded ship is freed]

There is cause for great sweet celebration for moving the ship out of the way would soon address a pressing need that the pandemic and lockdowns placed on us. As without partners and companionship for intimacy, some people have sought alternative avenues to fulfil human expression, even pleasure for self or with some company.

Escape your inhibitions with toys

Wending its way to The Netherlands, a shipment of 20 containers contain toys of a titillating and excitable variety which on usage, application, and play can or could bring orgasmic heights or spasmodic climaxes, or some feverish expression of body, soul, and escape that is currently absent from my vocabulary. [iNews: The Suez Canal crisis is now blocking a huge shipment of erotic toys from reaching the Netherlands]

Where people absent themselves from a Puritanical view of sensual pleasure, they might find a fuller experience of the essence of their being human and humanity, for which the Dutch, the Belgians, and the Germans might be considered quite ahead of those of whom it is known, No sex please, We’re British. Any wonder that consignment is not bound for Liverpool.

The unlocking of England begins

The story is a prism

The fields, parks, streets were alive with the crowds of people who had been unlocked from the throes of a pandemic that by inference conferred unprecedented powers on our government to restrict freedoms and liberties in the quest for saving lives by preventing the National Health Service from being overwhelmed by admissions of people infected with the Coronavirus.

The focus was never on the people, it was on the protection of institutions and organisations, the people becoming pawns in the macabre dance of misused power and rank incompetence leading to the unmitigated loss of lives numbering 126,615 people with the UK being the 5^th globally yet by population less than half the number of people in the lowest populated country of the 4 with more deaths than The UK. That is the measure of the carnage in our country which by global population is the 21^st. [WorldMeters: Coronavirus]

A failure by comparison

The success in the vaccination programme which must be commended cannot however obviate the other realities of the failings in the management of this pandemic and we must be able to hold all those thoughts together. A basic analogy is in a certificated course of study that consists of 5 subjects, getting an A-grade in one does not constitute a pass if the other 4 subjects are failed. You acknowledge the grading in each subject and reach a conclusion that a certificate of completion and meeting the requirements for the meeting the award of a certificate have not been fulfilled.

That is what pertains to the UK in terms of acting purposefully and with alacrity in initiating an early lockdown, the provision of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), the instituting of an effective testing programme and the essential need for a contact tracing system to contain the spread of the Coronavirus on which £37 billion has been expended.

When reviewed in that context, we have been grossly failed even as we have tried under the pain of sanction and prohibitive fines rather than persuasion of my better selves and common good to follow the diktat of a government speedily becoming redolent of an autocratic junta with little scope for accountability or assuming responsibility.

A future for reckoning

Yet, there is something to celebrate, with the easing of the lockdown, and the weather providing a warm spring, we all came out, met friends, played music and in my little neighbourly bubble, we met in our village garden for some Backsberg Pinotage Rosé 2019, Belgian curls and Nigerian chin-chin, catching up on things we had left unshared since the first weekend of December.

There is an air of defiance and hope that we are all on the up, I just hope that in our enjoyment of the moment we are not forgetful of the few successes and the many tragedies for which we must find the forum to review the issues and properly learn the lessons to ensure we are never again caught in the unconscionable grip of a kakistocracy as we endure today. Cheers to the unlocking.

Coronavirus streets in Manchester - XXIV

Out for a walk

It looked like an early spring day, the temperature not too high but comfortable enough for an outing, I dressed up and stepped out to enjoy the weather. The route I had planned on taking which would have been through St. Peter’s Square was sealed off by the police, fire engines everywhere, and a cherry picker over 5-storeys high had crew looking over the roof of a hotel.

The curious crowded around to see what was going on from all the sealed off with tape areas, I did not think it safe to wait around as I retraced my steps to my standard walking exercise route. Soon I was at Trinity Way, over the bridge towards the Meadow and then into Peel Park.

We are close to enough

For the first time in quite a while, people were out for leisurely walks on bridges, towards parks and in parks. It was unusually lively; we had been on lockdown for so long we were not going to let the good weather escape the wealth of our pleasure, come what may.

Obviously, there were too few people with masks outdoors apart from apparent foreigners and those going into supermarkets. We are finding ways to manage the lack of social interaction imposed by this pandemic and I know that eventually, we would get on with our lives despite and in spite of our government. We have tolerated so much; they risk taking us for granted with dire consequences.

Seeking sanity indoors or outdoors

Caring less of the outdoors

I must be getting too comfortable sitting indoors when it appears the weather is getting better out there. It was sunny most of the day today, but I was not keen on getting out into the chill even to get the air blow in my face.

Apart from when I stepped out on Wednesday for my vaccine and took a long detour back home, I have not been that driven to make my 10,000-step daily goal for quite a while. It is something I expect to return to doing hopefully in March.

Making the best of indoors

It is not like there is no desire to get out there and get fit, it just seems that this lockdown scenario in the UK saps you of any excitement if all you are left with is walking the same route, all without the assurance of socialising, adventure, or event.

In any case, it is not all indolence at home, you find something to do, whether watching, listening, or learning. I am just finding ways to cope better with the restrictions we are under because of this pandemic without losing any sense of purpose or being. I think I will be fine; I really do.

Coronavirus streets in Cape Town - II

Regulations alert

I have just finished reading the 19 pages of the government gazette regarding the Adjusted Alert Level 3 restrictions instituted by the South African Government, presaged by the national address by President Cyril Ramaphosa last night. [BusinessTech: Here are all the new lockdown level 3 changes – including which businesses have to close] (The gazette is linked below the news story.)

During this pandemic, things have been in flux to such an extent that one cannot act in haste, you look to the long-term and act with discretion and discernment. It is important to be fully informed of what has been promulgated and how it affects one, especially when one is on holiday in a foreign land.

Whilst the restrictions would appear to be quite difficult for those visiting as tourists, I have lived under similar lockdowns in Manchester for most of the year. As long as we can go out for walks to take the breeze and get the essentials for living, we would most likely be fine.

A false sense of security

Cape Town has been determined to be a hotspot, from what I have observed in my just over 2 weeks of being here, I am not entirely surprised as I observed in my previous blogs, there are many who think this pandemic is behind us as the opening of certain establishments to things presented as protocols giving us a false sense of security to let our guard down.

The total prohibition of alcohol sales with the perceived or actual consequences of the consumption of alcohol suggests the government thinks there is an alcohol problem in the country. Besides CoVID-19 related hospital admissions, those that pertain to alcohol consumption follow closely exacerbating unruly behaviours, illegality, recklessness, and violence. The president mentioned amongst other things, bullet wounds in relation to this.

Coping with a pandemic

Being in the Cape, we would miss visiting the Cape Winelands that we have always enjoyed going to. It must be devastating for those businesses, but the fundamental is the preservation of lives first above all else. It is a shame that parks and beaches are closed, the botanical gardens remain open.

The borders have not been closed, international travel can still take place, subject to existing requirements, the presentation of a negative SARS-CoV-2 PCR test at arrival amongst other things. Hotel accommodations can take full capacity, but faith gatherings are prohibited.

The government has made it a criminal offence not to don a face mask covering both the nose and mouth when in a public space. Looking out of my window, most seem to have pulled up the mask to cover their noses, others might need a bit more persuasion.

We made the decision, Brian and I, to meet up again in Cape Town after 11 difficult months apart, for us as a couple, it has been wonderful, some plans might have to postponed for better times ahead, which is a shame. We celebrated our second anniversary yesterday and make the best of it all.

Coronavirus streets in Cape Town - I

Doing everything possible

The incidents of Coronavirus infections in South Africa is quite concerning that there is a constant review of policies and options to gain control of the pandemic and reduce the spread of the virus.

Generally, the standard protocols apply, avoiding crowds, avoiding close contact, and keeping away from closed spaces. We wear masks that cover the mouth and nose fully, sanitise our hands anywhere we go, mostly in the shops. Some restaurants and establishments go further by scanning your temperature and taking down your details before you can access their services.

With all these precautions there still seems to be a lot of clear and present dangers, of much concern is closed spaces. We are masked and socially distanced but the closed spaces without extensive ventilation might well be unwittingly super-spreader locations.

Things of concern

The indoor places are usually not open enough and I doubt where air-conditioning is present, the recirculation of air is as safe as it portends. People are however still going about their business that makes you wonder if there is something amiss.

On the registers that document visits of patrons, there are fields for names, addresses, identification numbers (optional), phone numbers, and recorded body temperature. One would expect there to be a time in and time out column too. It is bureaucratic but necessary, you do not want to pile together all visitors to a location where it is unlikely any two people encountered each other there.

The absence of time recordings mean that if anyone contracts the virus and tests positive, everyone who attended the establishment on that day if records are clean and properly maintained, or who has attended over the last couple of days will get contracted of their possible exposure with no indication or detail as to the way and means by which they have been endangered.

Living on prayer

As much as we should avoid letting paranoia and suspicion become our lodestar, as we cannot tell whether anyone is affected on sight and as people are asymptomatic but infectious long before they present any symptoms, you have to assume everyone is a possible vector until proven otherwise. With strangers, you only have their word in terms of where they have been, who they have been in contact with and whether they will be truthful about their recent exposure and history.

All these factors weigh on one’s mind that you have to be very careful of what you do and where you go, or you complete sequester yourself and shun every circumstance that could put you in a vulnerable situation. There are ramifications in unintended and radically consequential ways, we need to be conscious, conversant, and conscientious. We can gain control of this thing, it will take time and as things are in such flux, we live from day-to-day alert, in hope, and in prayer.

Coronavirus streets in Manchester - XXIII

Things looking normal

After we came off the national lockdown into Tier 3 last week, I did not go out for my early morning walk on Wednesday but did for Thursday and Friday, long before the city had woken up. Yesterday, however, I left it until the late afternoon where my walk was part of my visit to ethnic shop for foodstuff and condiments.

Through Arndale Centre shopping precinct, it was a beehive of frenetic activity, people were out, buskers making music and the big shops had queues at the entrances. Something fearfully suggesting a kind of normalcy had returned when everyone should be more aware that things are not as normal as they should be.

Changes getting noticed

As my trek reached Bury New Road, the melting pot of humanity from all corners of the world with the Indian subcontinent more represented than most, it was bustling and lively. I walked on the quieter side of the road to the right knowing that my return route would be a different course.

In Tier 3, we still have many restrictions, though the gyms are open, the hotels are still closed and I the only restaurants open were serving take-out food only. I even availed myself of a Deliveroo service on Friday, for the first time this year.

I cannot say if the prospect of a vaccine is already beginning to change attitudes to social-distancing, close contact, closed spaces, or crowds, but I do see a lot more people donning masks. A building complex that had its cordons and hoardings taken down a few weeks ago was being outfitted for an office and I could not help but notice the early starters on Friday too, there were 3 staff at their computers and it was not even 7:15 AM.

A timely renewal

My walk today in much broader daylight though colder than usual took me by one of the pedestrian bridges over the River Irwell from Peel Park that had been closed for repairs and refurbishment from the first week of October, it was under a completely enclosed white canopy which had now been removed to reveal a newly painted bridge in navy blue from avocado green. The scaffolding still needs to be taken down and it initially was to be open yesterday until another week was added to the schedule.

I am hopeful that we would begin to put the worst of this pandemic behind us, not so much for the efforts of our government but for the community we live in understanding what is at stake. Having breached the 60,000 deaths to COVID-19 mark this weekend, I will not be giving this government a pass, by the ballot box and by posterity, they will not escape being held to account. I believe we have the resourcefulness and ingenuity to come through this situation, that is the strength of our humanity.

Home and away with József Szájer

25 men in the buff

The amiable and extroverted József Szájer from Hungary would easily have been unknown to me or many other people until he broke the lockdown rules in Brussels and that would have meant nothing, he was a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) and should have gotten a get out of jail free card with his diplomatic passport.

However, with a slightly closer look at this matter reveals that Jozsef has been a very naughty boy, he apparent clambered down a gutter from the window of a first floor apartment, which apparently was above a gay bar, but let us not jump to unfounded conclusions, but it was where a party of 25 naked men had gathered for everything left to our imagination.

A big boy about

When the police apprehended Jozsef, he had on himself, a rucksack full of narcotics that he avers he did not use, and I believe him, quite absolutely. If there was anything to spice up this story, he has been married to Tünde Handó, a jurist since 1983 and they have a 33-year old daughter, Fanni Szájer, whose paternal grandmother is Edit Kiss. All names that might travel well in Hungary but will run the gauntlet of humour you cannot squelch from an English perspective.

One can assume that 25 nude men in an apartment are just admiring who is the bigger boy along with discussing the physics, chemistry, or even the biology of piston mechanics. That anyone would implicate these fine men in activities of a lewd or sexual nature would be beyond the pale.

Saint at home, a sinner abroad

Yet, one must not overlook that Jozsef of a right-wing persuasion helped make the life of people who are not heterosexual unbearable, intolerable, impossible, threatened, and precarious in Hungary whilst living free to explore all sorts of proclivities in Belgium. It is not like he had committed a grievous sin until it appeared that he might have been living a double life, one at home in Hungary and another away in Belgium, and by all respects, this looks a bit hypocritical if not downright atrocious, for which, very little sympathy will be present and forgiveness is far from view.

As so, Jozsef quite suddenly and almost quietly, immediately resigned his posting to Brussels and sought to put it all behind him, but not that easily, on the part of his family, he does need to mend relationships, but for the others that have suffered for his politics and policies, he will walk the path of notoriety, ignominy and infamy, and much more besides. Shame on him. Maybe the title of the blog should have read crudely, Homo and a gay with József Szájer.

[The Guardian: Right-wing Hungarian MEP resigns for attending 'sex party' that broke Belgian lockdown]

[EuroNews: Brussels 'sex party': Hungarian MEP József Szájer fled along a gutter with drugs in backpack]

Coronavirus streets in Manchester - XXII

What I see, I saw

The weekend affords the luxury of a lie-in that I do not feel compelled to get up early for my walking exercise, though, if I can get it done by noon, I will be the happier for it. Getting out with a limp as I seemed to have a trapped nerve down the back of my right thigh with the result of a somewhat weakened leg and funny stride, I walked through the pain.

Taking a left turn there was a crowd ahead of me, gathered around what noticed was a hearse in front of a gurdwara, I cross the road from them and in our pandemic times, I saw no masks, no safe-distancing and arrivals who had come to pay their last respects to whoever was in the coffin. A few hushed sounds and someone presiding over a ceremony for the dead, I limped on my way.

Like a stalk, I walk

The person being seen off, of whom many had come to revere, one could not say if the end was the natural course of life or exacerbated by the Coronavirus. Though, it did not leave any less worried about other consequences that might result from this early morning gathering.

In life and in death, things go on. I, on my walks, others completely oblivious of what I had just witnessed. I was into my 5^th kilometre when the discomfort subsided, but I was averaging 10 minutes to the kilometre transitioning from a hobble to a little less than a wobble. The light of day allowing me to vary my course a bit and with a detour by the large supermarket, I got home with 12 kilometres in the bag.

Funerals indeed can take place during the national lockdown period and there is consideration and sensitivity for dealing with bereavement and the bereaved, but there should be no more than 30 people attending apart from the funerary staff. I did not do a count, may the soul of the departed rest in peace and to their survivors much strength, comfort and wellbeing after the ceremonies.

Coronavirus streets in Manchester - XXI

Angst or anger

During the waking hours of this morning, I wondered what would happen to my city and the wider region of Greater Manchester after the national lockdown ends on the 2^nd of December. I had hoped that we would have the opportunity of moving into Tier 2 with a slight relaxation of restrictions.

Looking at the numbers and the expectations, I realised that we were probably going to be Tier 3, the very high alert tier with the restrictions we have been under since July will remain with further limitations to our way of life. [GOV.UK: Local restriction tiers: what you need to know]

It is not that much has changed for me apart from not being able to attend church, my walking exercises continue in earnest. The people I see daily are as pleasant and communicative as you go about our activities.

Guided by the blind

The shops for essentials remain open and though I do not see that many people around, the roads into town still have considerable traffic like life continues to some extent. More importantly, I needed to know whether after the national lockdown I will be able to embark on international travel. Thankfully, there is no impediment to travel both for business and leisure.

Wondering why we still have high rates of infection in Greater Manchester even though the numbers are falling week on week, you could blame the unconcerned, inconsiderate and selfish people who have paid no heed to government guidance and warnings, if any of them were coherent, understandable, and effective.

I lay the responsibility of the mishandling of this pandemic squarely at the feet of the UK government, especially that part which oversees England. We have lost too many lives, the guidance has been patchy and the prospect of offering a window for Christmas will have dire consequences for those who fall for the gimmick and symbolism.

Other Christmases to come

Whilst, I do realise my going away will include Christmas and the New Year with my partner, in terms of meeting up with vulnerable people in England, the judgement calls should be simple, there can be many Christmases to come, there is no point making this the last Christmas for our loved ones if soon we might be safer with vaccines and a better understanding of the Coronavirus to see beyond the next Easter and years to come.

The conscious act on the part of everyone is the vigilance of 3-Cs, eschewing Crowds, avoiding Closed spaces and limiting close Contact, wearing masks indoors, and washing or sanitising hands. We would come through this, but individual responsibility with neighbourly consideration is what will help us get there. This pandemic is teaching us to be each other’s brother’s or sister’s keeper, with it comes the hope for a new kind of normal, probably much better than before.

Coronavirus streets in Manchester - XX

No meeting at church on Sunday

When we went into what is now termed Lockdown 2 nationally on Thursday, I regretted that the main social gathering of attending church that we began under limited and COVID-19 aware circumstances on the 5^th of July will be stopped.

Apart from that, not much will change from my routine, the daily walks, the shopping for household essentials and the living at work would still follow the same order of things. The ban on travel is a moot point as South Africa that I want to visit still has the UK on the high-risk country list. It is my hope that by December, the opportunity will come to travel and meet up with Brian for Christmas.

The people we meet each day

As I stepped out on Thursday morning, I noticed that the local gym that opens at 6:00 AM was closed with closure notices posted on the door. It felt weird, though further down on my route, two lovers were sat on a bench in amorous embrace, that early. You can’t put a schedule on love, I thought.

Getting to the first park, I met up with the lady who takes her dog on a walk in a perambulator, she chunters to the dog which I think is old and infirm shaking a rattle at it. In the other park, the old lady with her usually one and sometimes two companions exchange pleasant greetings as she feeds the birds. The lady in a hijab I have not seen in weeks and the young man who sprints like a gazelle never acknowledges anyone.

Some open some closed

On the home straight, I was surprised to see that the two Starbuck’s cafés open whilst the Nero coffee shops were closed. I guess what surprised me more was the outdoor gym by the River Irwell was taped over whilst the children’s play area in Peel Park was available with children on the swings.

The roads do not look deserted, just as many cars seem to be plying the roads, indicating people are still going about their business. Many of the restaurant with outdoor seating have kept their seating arrangement stacked indoors as they have transitioned to mainly takeaway and delivery services.

Whilst I am not entirely convinced that Lockdown 2 will yield the benefit of getting the Coronavirus under control in England, it is my hope that enough time would have given policymakers ideas on how to rejig their restrictions to travel and commerce to allow some modified return to normalcy. Meanwhile, we cope and thrive in this lockdown with much consideration to our mental health and wellbeing whilst looking towards possibilities borne of imaginative solutions and human ingenuity.