April - another month in lockdown
We started the month in lockdown and we end it that way too. Despite that, a lot has also changed.
It was hard to miss the UK government mantra of:
Stay home. Protect the NHS. Save lives.
Stay at home
We all know the rules of why and when you can leave the house.
Only go outside for food, health reasons or work (but only if you cannot work from home)
If you go out, stay 2 metres away from other people at all times
Wash your hands as soon as you get home
Do not meet others, even friends or family.
You can spread the virus even if you don’t have symptoms.
In this way we are told that we can protect the NHS from being overwhelmed and in turn save lives.
Never before in my living memory has there been such clarity and consistency in a government message. I’m not really one for watching the news diligently, but I do currently like to watch the daily Number 10 updates. Whilst the news is incredibly saddening and downright scary, it is also helpful to see the latest learnings and statistics.
Whilst this is something that we’ll never forget, the details of what and when will be lost in the noise. I’m using this monthly blog as an aid memoire for how the virus developed, how we adapted and into whatever our new normal will look like.
Things also continue to develop and change in my life, and I’ll reflect on those changes too.
COVID-19 in April 2020
During April care homes hit the headlines with widespread losses throughout this vulnerable population. Whilst I miss my Dad a lot, I am glad that he did not have to face this.
I’ve sourced headlines from a variety of sources worldwide, as this is a global pandemic. So much has changed in such a short amount of time. We see the news day by day, and it’s only when you look back that you realise just how quickly it all accumulates.
1st April
UK government aims for 25,000 tests a day within 2 weeks
Global deaths pass 43,000
US deaths could reach 240,000
2nd April
World Health Organisation chief says he is "deeply concerned" about the "near exponential growth" of the pandemic.
USA death toll topped 5,000 with over 1,300 in New York City
UK reported it’s highest number of deaths yesterday at 563
Italy & Germany are amongst countries that extend lockdown measures
ln Panama, coronavirus lockdown means separating the sexes. And after advising wives to avoid "nagging" during quarantine, the Malaysian government has been forced to apologise.
3rd April
The number of cases of coronavirus registered globally passed 1,000,000
NHS Nightingale London opens at the Excel centre. It was opened by Prince Charles via video link
Football league postpones competitions
Lockdown sparks surge in fly tipping
UK deaths have risen to 3,605, with 38,168 cases. Deaths are roughly doubling every 3.5 days
4th April
Public urged to stay at home amid warm weather forecast
4,313 people with the virus have now died in the UK
Two people who licked a telephone box were escorted back to it by police and supervised while they cleaned it.
Liverpool FC place some non-playing staff on furlough
5th April
Boris Johnson admitted to hospital
The number of confirmed cases globally has passed 1.2 million. Just over one in four of these are in the US, which has 311,544 cases. There have been 64,753 coronavirus-related deaths worldwide.
Donald Trump has directly urged Americans worried about Covid-19 to take a little-studied anti-malaria drug for the disease, despite potentially serious side effects and a lack of data on safety and efficacy in treatment of the pandemic virus. The president also warned the US that the worst was yet to come, and that Americans would see “a lot of death”.
Outdoor exercise could be banned if rules flouted, UK warned
A criminal investigation is to be launched into the disastrous handling of the Ruby Princess cruise ship, which has become the single largest source of Covid-19 cases in Australia.
6th April
Confirmed worldwide cases: 1,274,265. Confirmed deaths: 69,471. Confirmed recoveries / discharges: 264,837
Scotland’s Chief Medical Officer has resigned after being criticised for not adhering to social distancing advice by visiting her second home.
Austria became the first European country to announce plans to lift its lockdown, with some shops being reopened from next week
Japan’s government is poised to declare a state of emergency after a surge in coronavirus cases in Tokyo.
Russia recorded its biggest daily jump, with 954 new cases
7th April
Boris Johnson now in intensive care
Thousands missed off coronavirus 'high risk' list
Police called to disperse 60-strong funeral
Liverpool apologise to fans
A man who coughed at two police officers and said he hoped they would pass on coronavirus to their children has been jailed.
8th April
Global cases pass 1.4m and death toll exceeds 82,000
The US has more than 399,000 cases and close to 13,000 deaths. In the UK there are close to 56,000 cases and more than 6,100 deaths.
Leading disease data analysts have projected that the UK will become the worst-affected country in Europe, accounting for more than 40% of total deaths across the continent. The Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) in Seattle predicts 66,000 UK deaths from Covid-19 by August, with a peak of nearly 3,000 a day, based on a steep climb in daily deaths early in the outbreak. The modelling is contested.
First train departs Wuhan after 11 weeks of lockdown
Donald Trump threatens to withdraw funding from the World Health Organisation
9th April
Global coronavirus cases pass 1.5 million mark
UK Covid-19 death toll rises to 7,978. ‘UK still hasn’t reached Covid-19 peak’
Coronavirus death toll in Spain passes 15,000
Australian police have seized a black box data recorder from a ship as part of a homicide investigation into 15 deaths and more than 600 cases of coronavirus.
Iran Covid-19 death toll passes 4,000. In total, the country has reported 66,220 confirmed cases, the worst so far in the Middle East.
10th April
Yemen announces first confirmed case of coronavirus, stoking fears that an outbreak could devastate an already crippled healthcare system.
EU agrees €500bn rescue package
Singapore has suspended the use of video-conferencing tool Zoom by teachers after “very serious incidents” occurred in the first week of the country’s coronavirus lockdown.
New York state broke its record for the largest single-day coronavirus death toll for the third consecutive day, recording 799 deaths from coronavirus on Wednesday.
11-Apr:
More than 20,000 people have now died with coronavirus in the US, while Italy's total is 19,468
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo says deaths in the state are stabilising but at a 'horrific rate'
A further 917 coronavirus-related hospital deaths are reported in the UK, taking total to 9,875
India will extend its lockdown, says Delhi's chief minister
Russia: Dozens of ambulances queued outside a hospital handling coronavirus cases. Russia has reported 13,584 cases, and 12 new deaths in the last day had pushed the toll to 106.
12th April
1,777,666 confirmed cases around the world, with 108,867 deaths. The worst affected countries were the US (529,951 cases, 20,608 deaths), Spain (163,027 and 16,606 ), Italy (152,271 and 19,468), and France (130,730 and 13,832).
Elderly may need to isolate for whole year EU chief Ursula von der Leyen has said.
A world-first Hong Kong University study has found the coronavirus that causes Covid-19 reproduces three as fast as the virus behind Sars. The virus also induced slower immune and inflammatory responses, it said.
13th April
Major oil-producing nations agree historic 10% cut in output.
14th April
The global death toll neared 120,000 as cases passed 1.92 million.
France restrictions to ease from 11th May
Trump threatens to withdraw funding from WHO again.
Hospitalisations in New York start to plateau
IMF to provide immediate debt relief to 25 countries. The first countries are Afghanistan, Benin, Burkina Faso, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Gambia, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Haiti, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mozambique, Nepal, Niger, Rwanda, São Tomé and Príncipe, Sierra Leone, Solomon Islands, Tajikistan, Togo and Yemen.
15th April
Confirmed cases worldwide top 2 million with at least 129,045 deaths.
A total of 12,868 people have now died in hospitals around the UK.
The European Union’s medicine regulator estimates it could take a year for a vaccine to be available for widespread use.
Tour de France postponed until August
Oil slumps despite production cuts. Canadian economy slides 9% in a month – the worst figure ever recorded.
16th April
UK lockdown is extended for another 3 weeks
Global death toll passes 142,000. The US has the highest number of deaths, with more than 33,000, followed by Italy, which has passed the 22,000 mark, and Spain, which has recorded more than 19,000 fatalities.
Donald Trump has announced guidelines for individual states to reopen on different schedules. At his White House briefing, he said: “We’re opening up our country … America wants to be open … our experts say the curve has flattened and the peak in new cases is behind us.” The president added: “We must have a working economy and we want to get it back very quickly, and that’s what’s going to happen.”
US business funding programme runs out of money. The Small Business Administration said it was unable to accept new applications.
Brazil’s president, Jair Bolsonaro, has sacked his health minister, Luiz Mandetta, after a standoff between the two men over radically different views of the pandemic. Mandetta has defended social isolation while the far-right president insists the impact of the pandemic on Brazil’s struggling economy is more important than loss of life.
17th April
Global death toll exceeds 149,000 with nearly 2.2 million people have been confirmed as having contracted the virus worldwide.
More than 14,000 have died in UK hospitals
Nearly 100,000 EU citizens remain stranded though efforts to bring them home continue. That compares with 600,000 who had reported being stranded at the start of the outbreak.
The government announces £13m in funding for 21 virus research projects; including efforts aimed at treating the disease and at preventing it.
Pandemic’s spread now ‘controllable’ in Germany
18th April
Global death toll exceeds 150,000 with at least 2.2 million infected
Capt Tom Moore, has now raised more than £20m for National Health Service charities.
Chile to become first country to issue ‘immunity cards’, exempting holders from quarantine so that they can return to work.
French death toll exceeds 18,000
US using pandemic to unlawfully expel asylum seekers, says UN
19th April
Donald Trump has warned that China should face consequences if it was “knowingly responsible” for the coronavirus pandemic. “It could have been stopped in China before it started and it wasn’t, and the whole world is suffering because of it,” Trump said in his daily White House briefing. “If it was a mistake, a mistake is a mistake. But if they were knowingly responsible, yeah, I mean, then sure there should be consequences,” Trump said. He did not elaborate on what form that might take.
Global death toll passes 160,000. The total number of deaths in Europe approaches 100,000. The US has the highest toll globally, with 39,089 fatalities.
Spain extends lockdown to 9 May, hours after the official death toll passed 20,000.
Americans take to the streets to protest lockdowns.
Canada and the United States have agreed to extend border restrictions for another 30 days.
20th April
Global cases pass 2.4 million, global deaths exceed 165,000, US deaths pass 40,000. The UK has more than 121,000 cases and 16,000 deaths.
New Zealand plans to ease restrictions in a week “keep your bubble as small as possible – you can expand your bubble a small amount to include family members, vulnerable people or caregivers”. The country’s virus death toll stands at 12 and has introduced some of the strictest lockdown measures in the world, as it pursues an “elimination” strategy.
On Friday China revised its death toll up significantly, including by 50% in Wuhan.
Japanese expert ‘very pessimistic’ about Tokyo 2021
Spain registers sharp drop in daily death, brining its death toll to 20,453, with 195,344 infections.
21st April
The total number of hospital deaths reported is now 16,509 across the UK. The announcement indicated the lowest death toll in the UK since April 6, which could be part of mounting evidence that the curve is flattening.
As efforts continue to test as many frontline NHS staff and other key workers as possible for coronavirus, a new drive-through testing facility has been set up at Twickenham Stadium.
Health Secretary Matt Hancock has pledged £42.5m of funding for two research groups based at Imperial College London and Oxford University.
Human trials of a potential vaccine in development at Oxford university will start this week.
22nd April
Russia’s outbreak is growing fast, straining medical resources
Turkish Government order millions to stay home in sudden lockdown
Violence erupts over distribution of food in Kenya
23rd April
World is on track for ‘unprecedented’ post-war recession.
Global deaths pass 180,000, with the number of cases worldwide at more than 2.6m. The US accounts for more than 842,000 cases and almost 47,000 deaths. The UK has more than 134,000 cases and more than 18,000 deaths.
Australia’s Prime Minister Scott Morrison said all members of the World Health Organisation (WHO) should cooperate with a proposed independent review into the spread of coronavirus.
24th April
Confirmed worldwide cases: 2,725,920. Confirmed deaths: 191,061. Confirmed recoveries / discharges: 745,905.
Nearly half of people have witnessed an increase in drivers breaking the speed limit during the coronavirus lockdown, a new survey indicates.
Don't take medical advice from Donald Trump who has been lambasted by the medical community after suggesting research into whether coronavirus might be treated by injecting disinfectant into the body. He also appeared to propose irradiating patients' bodies with UV light, an idea dismissed by a doctor at the briefing. Mr Trump's own public health agencies warn against bleach as a medicine.
DA’s office investigates as Beaumont, Texas mayor is forced to apologise for breaking her own lockdown to get her nails done in a lapse of judgement.
25th April
Number of people known to have died from the coronavirus passes 200,000, globally.
More than 20,000 deaths in hospitals in the UK - the fifth country to pass that milestone
World Health Organisation says people who have recovered may not be protected against reinfection
Belgium unveils plans to reopen shops from 11 May and schools a week later
Online scams have cost the UK public £2.4m - criminals also trying to sell fake protective equipment and testing kits
26th April
Covid-19 has infected more than 2.9 million people and killed at least 205,000 worldwide.
More than 53,000 people have died in the United States, representing more than a quarter of all deaths worldwide.
Spain eases restrictions, the country's children can finally leave their homes for the first time in over six weeks.
Indonesia has temporarily banned domestic travel, as the nation with the world's biggest Muslim population marks the start of the holy month of Ramadan.
27th April
Mexico’s president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, claims his country has managed “to tame” the outbreak, despite widespread suspicions that Covid-19 cases are being undercounted.
Confirmed cases worldwide approaches 3m. At least 207,583 people have lost their lives in the pandemic, though the true toll is likely to be much higher due to underreporting and some countries not including deaths among those with underlying conditions.
28th April
Austria announces lockdown will lift at end of April. The country will allow gatherings of up to 10 people.
Care homes in England and Wales record more than 4,300 Covid-19 deaths in two weeks. The latest figures mean that more than 25,000 people have died across the UK after contracting coronavirus.
British energy giant BP recorded a $4.4bn net loss in the first quarter
Turkey has sent a plane load of medical equipment to help the US
Airline SAS could cut 5,000 jobs
29th April
Known global death toll passes 225,000, while at least 3,187,919 have been infected.
Brazil sees record increase in cases, it also suffers another 449 deaths, raising its toll to at least 5,466 people since the outbreak began. Health specialists believe the real numbers are much higher.
US drug trial shows ‘clear cut’ effect, says top medic “data shows that remdesivir has a clear-cut, significant, positive effect in diminishing the time to recovery”, adding that it proves “that a drug can block this virus”.
Cyprus set to ease lockdown
Bosnia reports its sharpest daily rise in new infections after its two autonomous regions gradually began to ease lockdowns. The news will raise concern that lockdown measures need to be maintained to avoid second waves of infections.
30th April
Germany is to re-open museums, galleries, zoos and playgrounds and allow religious services to resume, in measures agreed by the chancellor, Angela Merkel, and the leaders of 16 federal states.
Spain allocates times slots for outdoor activities, as death toll falls. Spain’s daily death toll fell to its lowest level in nearly six week, with 268 fatalities related to Covid-19 recorded overnight.
Another 3.8 million Americans lose jobs as US unemployment continues to grow. The pace of layoffs appears to be slowing, but in just six weeks an unprecedented 30 million Americans have now sought unemployment benefits.
Tajikistan and war-torn Yemen report first coronavirus cases.
South Korea reports no new domestic cases for first time since 29 February.
Looking back at my blog from last month, the first person to die on UK soil was on the 4th March. It’s scary to see what has happened in the space of less than 2 months.
I’m so glad that the curve is going the right way now and I hope that continues as our restrictions start to ease in May.
I am so very grateful to all the NHS heroes who are fighting for so many lives. I’m also grateful to the scientists who will help find treatments and vaccines against this invisible enemy.
By the end of this month we had become accustomed to queuing around the car parks of supermarkets, and at least now you can generally buy the essentials like toilet paper!
So how was April for me?
Some of my headlines for April:
✅ Despite the fact that I was due to leave AstraZeneca on 2nd April in order to focus on my company full time, i was asked to stay on in order to help keep finance stable in the company during the COVID-19 crisis. Imagine my pleasure and surprise to find myself incredibly proud to work for the company. Why? Well, I think that true values of companies and people are becoming apparent at the moment and in the case of AstraZeneca and my manager, I like what I have seen. The values as written down are being demonstrated in reality and these are good values.
❌ Throat infection and a course of penicillin. Nasty stuff, but the GP was keen that we tackled it head on so that my natural immunity is maintained at this difficult time. On a positive, I tested out NHS online 111 and was told to see my GP by end of following day. It was super easy to get a telephone appointment.
✅ Whilst my partner was still in another part of the country at least now we introduced daily zoom catch ups!
❌ My back was REALLY problematic at the beginning of the month. Normally I’d go and see the chiropractor but I can’t do that at the moment. Instead I’ve been prescribed some pretty heavy duty painkillers in order to be comfortable enough to get any sleep (I wasn’t getting more than 2 hours at a time).
❌ My back finally let me know that I really needed to slow down and it did so mid way through a strength & conditioning session. I listened! I basically stopped strength & conditioning work for the rest of the month in an attempt to let it heal and in the hope that would also help my sleep.
✅ I’m still working exclusively from home. Whilst there are lots of benefits to this, no 2.5 hour commute to name just one, it’s exhausting being on video calls all day at work and then socially in the evenings too. I’m zoomed out!
❌ My 20 Bridges has been cancelled.
✅ My new e-bike arrive. I’ve named it ‘Cobi’. I absolutely love it. I now really look forward to going out for my ‘once a day’ and actively seek out hills.
😲 I spent 110.5 hours in online meetings, mostly video meetings during April. This is a combination of work meetings and social catch ups with friends and family. No wonder I feel Zoomed out!
Training
Just for the record, here is what I managed to do in April, it’s now not so much training for an event, but more using my ‘once a day’ exercise opportunity for keeping healthy and for enjoyment. This month was hampered by the back issue.
Swimming - zero hours, zero metres
Yoga - 0.8 hours
Strength & conditioning - 1.7 hours
Cycling - 6.5 hours of cycling covering 83,470 metres
E-Bike - 2.5 hours of cycling covering 48,790 metres
Rest days - 15 (largely due to my back issues)
Individual Clients
I’m so proud to work with the clients that I do work with. They are getting fantastic results. A couple of snippets:
Sports performance hypnosis allowing a client to change their perception of effort without changing the output. Previous perception of effort when running uphill was an 8/10. Now it’s a 5/10 and can run up the hill in one go and keep going afterwards for longer!
Hypnosis used for running. Was previously struggling with 2 miles on a flat route at 13.5 minutes per mile and walking afterwards was painful. After one session of hypnosis did 10 minute mile for the first mile and finished mile 4 on 9:39 minute mile. He hasn’t been able to do that in almost a year.
I am fortunate that 100% of what I do can be done online - that’s coaching and hypnosis.
If you would like some support in adapting to a new way of living or help in replanning sporting events, please do get in touch.
emma@emma2france.com 07702 814690
What does May have in store?
This should have been the month that open water training started for me and Dover Channel Training started for all. It’s clear that won’t happen. I suspect May is when I’ll find out that Catalina is cancelled.
I also predict that I’ll be out on my e-Bike a lot more. I may even start my strength & conditioning sessions again.
I predict countless hours on video conferences!
What about you? What do you predict for May?