1) Lockdown 2.0 lasted the 4 weeks Boris promised and it ended at 00.01am on 3rd December, however the Government put us all back into a strict 3 tier system, depending on what the figures were like in each region. As a result, most of the country were in either tier 2 or 3 and Northamptonshire went into tier 2 which meant:
- You cannot mix with another household indoors
- You can meet up to six people from another household outdoors
- Overnight stays are permitted only with your household or support bubble
- Walk and cycle wherever possible and avoid travelling to Tier 3 areas
- You must work from home if you can
- Pubs must close unless operating as restaurants
2) We finally got official approval for the Covid-19 vaccine to be rolled out and on 8th December, Margaret Keenan, a UK Grandmother of 4, who was only a week off turning 91, was the first person in the world to to be given the injection. She had the first of 800,000 doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine that has since been dispensed. There are two jabs to have and you are not fully immune until the second has taken place, and you need to wait for three weeks before that can take place, but yesterday (29th December), Margaret had her second vaccine and hopefully now that means she will be able to spend time with, and most importantly, hug her grandchildren again.
3) Apart from the vaccine, I spent most of my time away from Covid news because, quite frankly, it was starting to get to me and I wanted some time away from the negativity so I invested my time on Christmas shopping, baking, watching lots of Christmas movies and doing lots of walking. It was lovely!
4) The Government announced the tier system could be relaxed between 24th and 28th December to allow up to 3 groups of families to be together over Christmas which was great news, despite a lot of people calling for the strict measures to remain in place. However, on 23rd December, Boris made a shock announcement that this was cancelled and as of Boxing Day, the tier system was back in force, this time, with Northampton going into Tier 3. This meant everyone had to change their plans and basically stay at home, apart from Christmas Day where the original bubble was still in place. Thankfully, I had arranged to go to my mum's so we could still carry on with that.
The tier 3 rules are:
- You can't mix indoors, in private gardens or in most outdoor venues, except with your household or bubble
- You can meet in a group of up to six in other outdoor spaces, such as parks, beaches or countryside
- Shops, gyms and personal care services (such as hairdressing) can stay open, as can swimming pools
- Bars, pubs, cafes and restaurants must stay closed, except for delivery and takeaway
- Collective worship can take place - with no mixing outside your bubble
- Small wedding ceremonies can take place, but not receptions
- Sports fans cannot attend events in stadiums
- Indoor entertainment venues - such as bowling alleys and cinemas - must stay closed
- People are advised not to travel to and from tier three areas
5) Today is now 30th December, and the tier structure was reviewed once more, and as of tomorrow, most of the UK has been put into tier 4, including Northamptonshire, which basically means nobody will be having big parties to see in the New Year, and once again, it will be quiet celebrations all round.
Tier 4 rules are:
- Residents should stay at home, unless they have a "reasonable excuse" such as work or education
- All non-essential shops must close
- Hairdressers and nail bars must close
- Indoor entertainment venues must close
- Gyms and indoor swimming pools, indoor sports courts and dance studios must close
- You cannot meet other people indoors, unless you live with them or they are part of your support bubble
- People should not leave tier four areas or travel abroad, except for limited reasons (including work and education)
- Weddings and civil partnership ceremonies are only allowed in exceptional circumstances
BBC News reported in the week up to 25 December, government figures showed infection rates per 100,000 people rose in six of the counties seven districts (compared with the week to 18 December):
- Northampton: 366.9 (up from 291.6)
- South Northamptonshire: 354.5 (up from 291)
- Wellingborough: 267.2 (down from 281)
- Daventry: 256 (up from 180.3)
- East Northamptonshire: 220 (up from 165)
- Kettering: 213.2 (up from 165.1)
- Corby: 200.8 (up from 150.9)
- The average rate for England in the same period was 402.6.
It really hasn't come as a surprise to any of us that we have been put into this tier, and yet there are still so many people complaining about it. I understand that everyone is getting fed up of these restrictions now but if everyone listened to the rules, it could be a different story.
I've already had an email from work to say we will continue to work from home in the New Year (we had planned to go back into the office). Schools are staggering their return and teachers are being told to test pupils with symptoms now too.
It very much feels like we have gone one step forward and two steps back with this. When this was first reported on a year ago, none of us thought this would follow. We have seen so many moments where it seems like we are coming out of this, and the Government seems confident that my Spring we will be in a better place, but now there is a new version on the virus doing the founds, I just don't know what is going to happen. It's very clear though, this is going to be around for a long time still, and where we are usually starting to set new year's resolutions and feeling positive for a new year ahead, it feels very uncertain.
I really hope 2021 has the positive move it needs to improving this situation we are in and hopefully we can start to live our lives in a much healthier and safer place. I don't think we have it in us to go through another year like this one, then again, we all need to make sure we are doing our bit to prevent that from happening.
What next year will bring, I don't know, but I'm still going to go into it feeling positive and hope that we can find our way out of this crisis sooner rather than later. However you are celebrating your New Years Eve, and whoever you get to be with, stay safe and lets hope the next 12 months are going to be better than the last.
