On 1st June people in England who were shielding, like us, were told they could go out for a walk once a day for exercise, but not to the shops. If they lived alone then they could meet one other person outside, but still socially distancing.
Were we excited about our new little bit of freedom? At the time I debated whether I should go out, and did go for a short walk. But I haven’t been out since, apart from going to the dentist and taking my husband for a medical appointment.
I have to explain that I am not shielding because I am vulnerable myself, but to protect my husband who is. We have two options. On the one hand I could behave like the rest of the population – going out, shopping, meeting others safely – but I would then have to socially distance myself from him at home by sleeping in a different room, using a different bathroom (if possible) and being ultra careful about things that we handled such as crockery, cutlery and towels. The other option is to shield myself, which means that within the house we can live normally. Not surprisingly I chose the second option.
My husband hasn’t been out for a walk at all, and has said he won’t do so until the alert level is at 3. He is not alone in feeling cautious about the relaxation of the rules. The good news today is that the alert level has indeed been reduced to 3, so we finally went out together for a short walk this afternoon. It proved to us just how much we needed to do it, as muscles had been seriously underused in the last three months.
My reluctance to leave the house was not just because of my perception of the risk. I have realised that I am becoming quite institutionalised – not sure that is the right word, but I can’t find one that means that I have adjusted well to staying at home and don’t want to upset the equilibrium. It’s not agoraphobia; I’m not experiencing anxiety and I won’t have a panic attack if I leave the house. But I do feel very relaxed at home, and just don’t want to leave.
Please note
We have been in full self-isolation since 16th March to protect my husband whose immune system is compromised.
If you are in self-isolation then join the Lib Dems in self-isolation Facebook group.
You can find my previous Isolation diaries here.
* Mary Reid is a contributing editor on Lib Dem Voice. She was a councillor in Kingston upon Thames, where she is still very active with the local party, and is the Hon President of Kingston Lib Dems.
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4 Comments
My abode feels like a comfort zone now.
I feel this is important Mary, your comments above.
I am doing this partly too, as my wife has had a bad number of near misses, car accident injuries causing issues, years on, two bouts, years ago, of pneumonia.We only step out for air. We do not have a garden.
The level is not accurate. As David Raw shows on here, the govt are being irresponsible in this, the numbers do not make it appropriate. Stay home as far as possible if worried, out there many are not, and we are far from where it is safe yet.
As a fellow shieldee (is that the adjective ?) – transplant nine years ago yesterday – I know the feeling, Mary. But I’m lucky (despite new hip two years ago) to have a fairly large garden to get stuck into..and a great tonic it is. I’ve made loads of new friends (of the feathered variety, especially a pair of blackbirds and a cock robin which gets so near I could almost pick him up). I can also watch seals and heron at the front. Nature is pretty good stuff and I’m very lucky.
Yes, to a point, Lorenzo is correct about my being critical of HMG, but for their slowness to react at the start compared to Denmark and Norway…also for the second rate quality of the Cabinet deputees for part time absentee Johnson.
Too little, too late, forgot an early care – home lockdown – plus the Isle of Wight app and Dyson ventilator fiascos mean I’d rather be in the garden than watching telly….. except when Nicola comes on……. and I used to be fond of Barny Castle before odd people began to pop up there. Looking forward to seeing the grand kids and my 93 year old WW11 veteran father-in-law asap.
Anyway, good luck, eyes front, pecker up, keep on walking.
It’s hard to believe they didn’t check the Apple capability before going ahead with the IoW roll out. How long would it have taken to find out Apple kit was non compatible?