I have been in self-isolation now for four weeks. During that time I have only been out of my home once, and that was to take a walk on Box Hill on Day 2. Even before the national lockdown started we realised that trips out were no longer an option, and that has, of course, been confirmed by the daily texts my husband gets from the government.
Of course, we are very fortunate, for many reasons.
Firstly, we have plenty of space in our house. It was our family home and we have never downsized. Our sons both live some way away so we like to have room for their families to stay. Also, both us have been self employed and working from home, so we each have our own study to retreat into.
I worry about people who are living in cramped conditions, like this family. I understand why the Government was loathe to introduce the lockdown too early because of the intolerable strain it would put on some people.
Secondly, we have a garden, too. It’s quite small but we like it. I’ve never really enjoyed gardening, and neither of us is very knowledgeable about plants, but we have a lot of things that we like – a cherry tree, a Japanese maple, camelias, hydrangeas, roses and several shrubs and dwarf conifers. Two years ago we planted a laurel bush with lovely variegated leaves and a rhododendron. Both are slow growing but are beginning to take over the spaces we had allocated to them. And the rhododendron is coming into bloom right now, as you can see.
I worry about families, especially those with young children, confined to flats with no outside space of their own and not within an easy walk of a park or open space.
When I chaired our neighbourhood committee as a councillor, I vigorously opposed a planning application for a development that included some four bedroom flats. We desperately needed family social housing in the area but the idea of putting a family with five or more children in a flat with no social amenity space at all appalled me. The nearest green space was a ten minute walk away which involved crossing a dual carriageway and walking along a narrow, rather threatening path. Needless to say the developer won on appeal. Our current councillors now spend a disproportionate amount of their time dealing with the problems arising from that totally unsuitable housing. I can’t imagine how difficult it must be for the families living there with restless children at this time.
Thirdly, we enjoy each other’s company, and we have many shared interests and tastes.
I worry about the huge increase in domestic violence in the last three weeks. Couples who can barely stand each other are now forced to spend a lot of time in each other’s company. Children are often victims, suffering the fallout from their parent’s anxiety and frustration. I was pleased to see that the Home Office has announced a package of support for domestic abuse helplines. A Home Affairs Select Committee has been set up to examine the impact of coronavirus on domestic violence and will be meeting on Wednesday. And the Home Secretary has launched the #YouAreNotAlone campaign.
Today I say to victims of domestic abuse – help is still available
The National Domestic Abuse Helpline is staffed 24hrs 0808 2000 247
Together, let’s demonstrate just how much this country cares#YouAreNotAlone#NoExcuseForAbuse pic.twitter.com/fTyCmwAGdV
— Priti Patel #StayHomeSaveLives (@patel4witham) April 11, 2020
The worst thing about all this worry is that I can’t do much to help. I must focus on making sure that we are safe, and have, to a certain extent, to be the recipient of other people’s kindness (which we fully appreciate). After a lifetime of social and political campaigning for others I now have to trust the next generations to do the right thing.
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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5 Comments
Thank you again to Mary. I enjoy reading her posts.
I too live in a house with a garden. There are also very large green areas within a short distance. When I go out for my walk it is very easy for me to change the rules to keep a twenty yard distance from anyone else, rather than just two yards. I walk a short distance because of the arthritis in my knees, but I could walk miles withOut being in a crowded area.
Mary put into words, more eloquent than mine, thoughts about those who live in flats or crowded houses with busy streets outside, and nowhere to exercise.
We really need to think about how we can prepare for the next time this sort of thing happens. And even more think of how to make life better for our fellow human beings who even when things are “normal” do not have the resources to live the lives that some of us live even now.
Why not make this a focus for discussion within our party?
No garden here – but a balcony with a jasmine plant with paper rainbows glued on it! We like your blog too Mary. Agreed about flats – even posh ones. What do you do on the 43rd floor of the tower at the Elephant and Castle and how do you socially distance in a lift?
Thank you Mary for raising such important issues. I hope also to see the party and in truth, the nation as a whole, reflecting certain things.
Firstly, on the importance of green spaces for everyone, including the bee in my bonnet, which is street trees. The impact of greenery on mental health and therefore physical health is well established and so councils and land developers should be required to give this priority in their designs and planning.
Secondly, is there an argument for the current minimum space laws regarding new build homes to be increased? The size of some of our supermarket superstores and shopping centres compared to the size of flats some people are required to live in, regularly causes me to question our priorities as a society.
Thirdly, will the value of the arts to society now be taken seriously? This lockdown is for many, being made more tolerable by access to musical concerts of all genres, virtual gallery tours, theatre broadcasts, dance competitions/recitals etc. Funding for the arts and the importance given to the arts within the National Curriculum need to be increased.
It’s a complicated issue; the most we can expect is that people will do what they can to minimise getting infected and if so transmitting it especially to vulnerable people. This depends on optimal education and quite a bit of guess work. If many transmit the virus while asymptomatic we all need to assume we are infected when we go out. Luckily much the same rules apply whether we are at risk or contagious. However, I might be willing to take the risk of getting infected or even welcome it while not realising that I might be an asymptomatic carrier and so contagious. We will all benefit when there is a reliable antibody test.
Thanks, all, for your comments. I have just been chatting to someone I know who is a retired psychotherapist. She has been called in to supervise (in the social work sense) people who are counselling women who are contacting a refuge. She is needed because of the big increase in referrals.