Well, another year has gone by and we are still in the grip of Covid19. Now we've moved on to the omicron variant which is more transmissible than delta was. Many people are now doubled-jabbed and have had a booster jab. I had my booster on 13 November 2021. Omicron appears to not be as harmful as Delta but the number of infections is rocketing, and most of the people needing critical care are unvaccinated. The NHS is still under huge pressure and, predictably, the government has done nothing to support staff in the NHS and education sectors. Many people avoided NYE celebrations and the hospitality industry is suffering again with paltry support from Rishi Sunak.
The government stupidly announced 'freedom day' in July 2021, and has since been reluctant to re-introduce any restrictions. It doesn't help that there are plenty of headbanging anti-maskers on the Tory backbenches, but we are now again in a situation where masks must be worn in shops and on public transport. Due to the surge in cases, there is now a shortage of lateral flow tests, and it's difficult to get a PCR test. The government is clearly hoping that this is the end of the pandemic so that they can get us all back to 'normal' - putting the economy before people. Here's my blog post from last month.
In local news, our next-door neighbours Geoff and Margery had to abandon Xmas when Geoff tested positive on Xmas eve, and our neighbour Jane and her husband have been unwell with omicron. We have always tested negative so far - fingers crossed!
So, what did we do on NYE? We had a lovely takeaway curry and then had a facetime with our friends in Leith Paul and Janet to bring in the New Year. We even got to see some of the Leith fireworks!
And on New Year's day which was fine and fairly mild, we went for a walk down the river by the old boatyard.
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| The old boatyard |
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| Lagoon off the River Weaver |
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