Relief

A much better day today.

I had some brilliant and competent help from a colleague - we screen shared, the technology isn't too bad on a one to one basis. Before that we had our silly team meeting, deliberately light hearted and chatty.

Then I finally got some work done and went on a dog walk with "M."

Last night there were rumours swirling around that London would go into total lock-down. This evening, an announcement was made that all pubs, clubs, cinemas, gyms, leisure centres, cafes and restaurants will be closed from this evening. But it applies to the entire country. The government is offering to pay 80% of the wages of those affected by this extraordinary action in peacetime.

The scope and ambition of the action is impressive, and the cost is terrifying. We didn't pay off the debts of World War II to our allies until Friday December 29th 2006. That was about 60 years. I do hope the debts incurred by the government this time around aren't going to burden the country that long. It's just terrifying to think of the cost of this bloody epidemic and we're still in the foothills - nowhere near the peak yet.