Cancelled Christmas (almost)

 So the Boris Johnson the Prime Minister appeared on television at 4pm today.

He announced a new type of restriction on London and the South East called a Tier 4. It basically puts those areas back into lockdown.

For purely selfish reasons this is a nasty event for me and M because M's daughter J was due to visit us over Christmas. J is a bright happy soul and we always look forward to her visits. Now J and her boyfriend will have to stay at home, and Christmas will be a quiet affair of me, M's younger daughter who lives with us, and M's parents. 

M's younger daughter is very upset by this news. It's a cliché that sisters are close, but J and L really are very close. L was so looking forward to seeing Big Sis - it's such a bitter disappointment for her.

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The government is clearly rattled by the first significant mutation of the virus that apparently started in Kent in mid November. It doesn't seem to be any more dangerous than the original virus, but this one is far more infectious, possibly by up to 70%. That's really bad news, as the original was always described as 'highly infectious.'

I remain cautiously optimistic. Nobody is saying the new vaccines won't be able to hit this new strain, and I went to Bristol on Thursday to be my parents' chauffer. I took them to the vaccination centre where they received their first of two vaccination injections. It was a relief that they were among the first 350,000 or so people in the country to receive the vaccine, I hope to return to Bristol in January when they get their 2nd (final) injection that should give them a 90% chance of immunity. 

Let's hope the rest of us get vaccinated soon.