COVID Blues

Sundays are always a boost. We went to church in person today, along with perhaps 40 other individuals. We got there in good time because compared to the last week with the streets thronged with people and cars, it seemed like a ghost town. Perhaps everyone was hung over from a night of celebrating.

We heard some ugly rumors today. Apparently there will be an announcement from Boris Johnson tomorrow about COVID restrictions here, and from all indications, it seems that we will be told that current restrictions will be in place for another 4 to 6 weeks. That means millions lost on a daily basis for businesses around the UK.

Here is the latest news release:

The Prime Minister is expected to announce a delay to the lifting of lockdown restrictions tomorrow (June 14) amid growing concerns about the surge in cases of the highly transmissible Delta variant.

Boris Johnson is expected to delay the June 21 deadline by up to four weeks when he meets senior ministers and officials on his return from the G7 summit in Cornwall today.

Scientists now estimate that 96% of all new cases of coronavirus are attributed to the Delta variant.

The latest figures from Public Health England (PHE) show there have been 42,323 cases of the Delta variant confirmed in the UK, up by 29,892 from the previous week.

It estimates the strain is 60% more transmissible compared with the previously dominant Alpha, or Kent, variant, and that cases are doubling every four-and-a-half days in some parts of England.

It is a terrible disappointment on a number of fronts. Everyone has been enjoying their newfound freedom, especially in bars and pubs, as well as restaurants. We have all been enjoying meeting together at church. We have been looking forward to being at the temple with the entire mission after June 21. And most important, we have been anticipating visits from family with great delight and are waiting with bated breath to see what will happen.

Today was the last Sunday we will see Kristina for a few weeks, and then we may only see her for moments when she gets back to Oxford. She and Cameron will marry and then move to Coventry where they will work and Cameron will pursue a PhD.

SK and I took her a little necklace at the end of the day. She lives about a mile from here, and we would have walked except for the heat wave (79 degrees). We drove over and visited with them both for awhile. I will try to organize a wedding shower for her when she is back for that brief time. I looked for a key necklace and since could find nothing, settled for the infinity symbol - both she and Cameron on math majors.

It has been a beautiful Sunday until just now when I received this notice on my phone. I put the app on my phone when we registered with the National Health Service, and apparently it is always tracking me. I opened my phone an hour ago saying that I had been exposed to COVID.






If I don't comply there is a hefty price to pay. We have heard from others that The government is serious about containing this virus, and if you are isolating, you can expect one or two visits from authorities to make sure you are where you are supposed to be. Of course you could go out without your phone (very sneaky), but they also call you, and expect you to answer.

This will impact the week significantly.

Comments

melissa said…
Argh!! How frustrating! This is the case even if you’re vaccinated? And I’m anxious to hear the announcement tomorrow. How sad if we all have to cancel visits.
June 13, 2021 at 10:50 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A Master Teacher

In the 1st Ward today, an 11-year-old boy gave a talk that was one of he best sacrament meeting talks I have ever heard.  He got up to speak and his head just barely cleared the podium.  He is small and has a shock of dark hair topping a cute slightly freckled face. It will be several years yet before his voice deepens.  He had his written talk, and he read most of it, but he was familiar enough with it that he looked up often and it seemed as if he was speaking from his heart. He began with a quote from Nephi in 2 Nephi 25:29, where Nephi prophesies about the future and then tells us how to worship the Savior. How? this boy asked us. He went on to answer his own question.  Nephi says "with all our might."  The boy then asked how that is done. He cited the story of the converts in the Congo who threw all of their idols into a massive waterfall where they were unrecoverable.  The boy said that when we worship the Savior with all our might, that mea...
Read more

Going Home

  Fifteen missionaries are returning to their homes this week.  For this Saturday night zoom conference broadcast, each bore their testimony from their flats with their companions by their sides.  SK and I teared up many times as we listened to humble, sweet and strong testimonies.  It is easy to see the difference as they get close to their release date.  It they have been faithful, there is a maturity and a sweetness that is unexplainable. Here is a smattering of what was said: There is no growth in the comfort zone.  I am about to go home to my comfort zone...but it struck me that my old comfort zone is no longer comfortable for me.  I want to be in a growth zone. The early apostles did not succeed, but they knew we would. One elder quoted Dave's poem "If."  "If you can meet with triumph and disaster and treat those two impostors just the same...Hold on...even through the hardest times."  "How can I accomplish these things?  Jesus Chr...
Read more

Shark!

Image
We left our flat way too early for my taste this morning, heading out to go south to Farnborough.  Forty-eight miles, supposedly an hour and twenty minute drive.  We got into some heavy stop and go traffic and it was closer to 2 hours before we got there. We inspected the two young sisters' flat, which was beautifully clean and organized.  They are cute sisters.  They had been in London yesterday for zone conference and excitedly shared all they had heard and been taught.  They had their notes out and were very cute to repeat some great messages from President Checketts.  I hardly ever talk to him when he isn't dealing with numerous issues in the mission and in the middle of at least one or two crises, and planning the next gathering....all at the same time.  It must be that he and Deb are in a constant state of stress.  But he has cleared the half-way mark.  I wonder if he knows how highly he is esteemed by these young missionaries, who ...
Read more