Everyone needs to stay at home to stop the spread of coronavirus but for 1.28 million people, the measures are more extreme.
Some people have health conditions which mean they need to be ‘shielded’ and they have been told not to go out at all for 12 weeks.
The aim is to ensure they are protected from the coronavirus as they are most at risk of serious complications.
Today for My Quarantine Routine, we’re speaking to Lorna Harris, who was told by the government to stay at home because she is currently on immunotherapy. Friends are helping by bringing her supplies so she does not need to go out at all.
She is a freelance PR consultant and writer, who lives in Whitstable on the Kent coast.
She moved there last year from London following the death of both of her parents – so she is experiencing living in lockdown and grieving at the same time.
This is how she spent Monday 30 March.
10 am
I work for myself, so no alarms. Woke up to blue sky and brilliant sunshine shining through my window. I moved to the coast last year after the death of my mum and dad. Little did I know my first spring and summer here would be spent in isolation, little did any of us know, eh?
I am trying to be positive so I get up, shower and put some lipstick on, to make myself feel better more than anything else!
As I have health conditions and I am on immunotherapy I have to be super careful. I got one of those NHS texts with a harsh warning to shield. I am on Day 17 so far.
11 am
Strange not to be heading into London to my client office. I am a freelance media consultant. I work with organisations and people to get them in the press, but today is different.
I am lucky I live on the coast and can see the sea from my little house. In fact it is just 10 steps to the beach from me but being high risk I need to be very careful.
I am going to try and limit the news today. It is making me a bit paranoid! I am also writing a book at the moment and thought this time would offer me the space I needed, but so far I haven’t been very motivated…
11:35 am
Bowl of muesli and some fruit. Had anyone else noticed they are eating so much more than usual? I said to my friend that I will either be QuaranTONED after this lockdown, or leave the house looking like Pavarotti. I have never looked forward to dinner so much!
11:45 am
Call one of the ladies from bereavement group to check she is doing OK. Have a real giggle. Needed it.
12 pm
Monday’s are usually my favorite day as in the evening I go to my Soul Choir. I moved to the coast last year, still in a fog of grief after losing my mum and dad just six months apart, both unexpectedly.
Choir has been such a great tool in coping with my grief. But tonight my choir teachers from Kent Soul Choir are launching Home Sing online – anyone can join and it will be fab to ‘see’ my choir friends again.
1 pm
Client Zoom meeting. Everyone is feeling it a bit, especially those who are trying to home school – but we all manage to have a giggle along with getting some solid work decisions made. Perhaps we are better on zoom?
1:30 pm
Client meeting ends. Is it just me that is loving seeing what the other people’s houses are like? Can’t help but wonder what those who ‘blur’ the backgrounds are hiding!
2 pm
Struggling to write a press release. Will the media even care? Is it all about ‘The Rona’ right now? The thing is, this charity works with vulnerable children, who are now more vulnerable than ever before. If you are already marginalised before this, imagine how it feels now.
3 pm
I keep thinking about my mum, who died last year. I could really do with her right now. Grief and isolation are weird flat mates.
I feel strange feeling a sense of relief that they are not going through this though. They would hate it. My worry for them would be through the roof.
3 pm
Had a snotty cry.
4pm
Coffee in the garden. Blue sky, birds singing. Maybe this won’t be so bad after all?
4:10pm
I hate my life
4:20 pm
Chat with my brother, who is a key worker and seeing it all from a different perspective. MUST GET A GRIP.
5 pm
Laugh like a drain with my friend Linzi on a WhatsApp video call. She is isolating alone as well and we have been keeping each other company. Makes me so happy to laugh like that. Get a pang for my friends. I miss them!
6 pm
No, Dave from 1998, I do NOT want to add you as a friend on House Party! This lockdown is unearthing all sorts of people from the past!
7 pm
Realise all I have eaten today is museli, an orange and a Twix. Happily defrosting the spag bol I made over the weekend and going to make some garlic bread as nobody can smell me! I add loads of garlic.
7:30 pm
Sing like nobody is listening! It’s time for choir…… WOOOO. Check out Homesing on Facebook – it is run by Kent Soul Choir but anyone can join in!
9 pm
Quick chat with the family on WhatsApp. Then a long bath. I am reading Grief Works by Julia Samuel, and it is calming me down when the grief overwhelms me and there is no outlet.
10 pm
Two episodes of Ab Fab on Netflix. I love a retro happy comedy in times of crisis – they to send me off to sleep. I am going to bed MUCH earlier and my skin looks A LOT better. Maybe my body is thanking me for the rest?
What shall I do tomorrow then? Lather, Rinse, Repeat. Hang in there everyone!
MORE: My Quarantine Routine: Pooja, who works in London but travelled to India to be with family
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source https://metro.co.uk/2020/04/07/quarantine-routine-lorna-high-risk-shielded-group-12518672/?ITO=squid
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