Lockdown Life - Crisis in Care!

Once again my daily walk today took me to places in Portsmouth I haven't visited before. Southsea Castle, built at the time of Henry VIII and Southsea Rock Garden, were both beautiful places to walk around, take in the sea air and contemplate for a short while. The weather was particularly blustery, with sea spray lapping over the promenade, so I avoided the beach for the most part, preferring to explore other hidden gems.

I have discovered much about Portsmouth during this lockdown period, as well as doing more walking than I have ever done in my life. This city is a fantastic place to live and has many venues of interest to visit, but most of all it is compact enough to explore on foot, from one end to the other. This is the positive side of life at the moment. It is however quite lonely walking on ones own, but this period has given me time to think about just what is happening in the World and today; Coronavirus and the spiralling number of deaths in care homes was top of my thoughts.

Yesterday I had commented on a friends assessment of these fatalities. He had used a picture to illustrate that the number of people dying, isn't as high as in other countries. I did a little bit of digging at this point, and it was clear that the figures used were not telling the complete story, which just goes to show how we can manipulate data to suit our own agenda.

We do have the second highest death toll for COVID-19 in the World and a large proportion of those deaths were older people living in retirement facilities. I have become increasingly angry at the Governments lies and spin surrounding this travesty, claiming they had thrown a protective ring around homes early on and the older generation were always at the heart of their Coronavirus policy - what a load of rubbish! The Government has completely failed our old people, and they know it. It sickens me, that they would even try to hide the truth and make us believe they were doing all they could to look out for their best interests.

There was no protective shield in place to keep care homes isolated at the beginning of this crisis. In fact occupants who were being treated for COVID in Hospital, were being sent back to their residential homes, to self-isolate, putting the lives of all other residents at risk. As we know now, this is the main reason why so many have died in care and it is a shocking indictment of the Governments handling of this pandemic.

It wasn't that long ago, that I went to visit a dear old lady, Mrs Fisher, who lives in a care home, not too far from me. I had become very fond of her and did what I could to make sure she was safe and well, and we had a good friendship. I have tried to call the facility on a number of occasions, but haven't been able to get a reply. The building is closed to public access in any case, so I will not be able to visit her anytime soon. People like Mrs Fisher are important to the local community, and we need to look after them in their old age, not leave them to their fate without the safeguards they need, especially at this time. 

There are so many failings from this Government, that I remain aghast at the publics unwillingness to even question their management of this public health emergency. I understand we are still suffering from its ramifications, but there will come a time when people wake up to the appalling way this was handled. Like America, we failed to recognise the seriousness of the situation at the beginning, and are paying the consequences today. I just hope there will be no cover-ups, lies and evasion from the facts; the country deserves better.

So despite enjoying my walk today, surrounded by flora and fauna, amazing history and exhilarating sea air, I did find myself getting quietly wound up about issues I have no control over. Luckily I can express my views in this blog, which is the only thing keeping me sane. Writing down thoughts and expressing deeply held views and emotions is my way of coming to terms with the terrible events that continue to unfold in front of us all. When I can finally look back at this awful time in my life, I can use this experience to remember the way things were, the difficulties we faced, the lives that were lost and the loneliness we all faced!

Stay Safe!