Coronavirus entry 10: VE Day: 75th anniversary

Today marks the 75th anniversary of VE Day - Victory in Europe - this day in 1945 where Winston Churchill made a radio announcement at 3pm that fighting against Nazi Germany had come to an end, following their surrender the day before. On that day, people dressed up in red, white, and blue and stood outside Buckingham Palace celebrating with King George VI, Princess Margaret and Princess Elizabeth (our current Queen) who looked on from the infamous balcony that still draws crowds to today. Apparently later that evening, both Princesses dressed up in disguise and snuck out of the Palace to go and join the masses who were partying. Girls after my own heart!

Under normal circumstances, and given the landmark anniversary, there would have been a lot of parties, parades and events taking place to mark the occasion. Even May day bank holiday was moved to coincide with the anniversary, however, as we are still in lockdown, there have been strict rules around what we can and can't do. 

Street parties are still banned, however people have been encouraged to put DIY bunting up outside their homes and enjoy social distancing drinks and cake on front gardens. I saw a few houses have been decorated during my afternoon walk today and there was a little gathering of people sitting outside their homes enjoying drinks, chatting and laughing together, all within social distancing limits, of course! I even heard fireworks going off in the distance this evening, although I couldn't see them, but I did think that was nice touch. (I haven't watched the news today so I'm writing this with the hope that people haven't ignore the rules and put themselves at risk!)

Despite this strange time we are living in, there was something special about seeing people together, and hearing the laughter did bring a smile to my face. A sign of things to come, I hope. 

Boris Johnson is set to address the nation on Sunday to give another update on the current lockdown situation. There have now been 211,000 confirmed cases of Coronavirus in the UK, and more than 31,000 deaths, the highest official death toll in Europe. Yesterday 626 deaths were recorded in this country. This number has started to reduce, but I don't think it's enough to warrant any major changes. Once again, there is a lot of hearsay around what announcement will be made. A lot of people, me included, are hoping there is something around being able to see family members in small groups, but if that's not the case, then we just need to try and carry on as we are for a little bit longer. I guess only time will tell.