Coronavirus diary, Monday 7 December

The good news on the coronavirus vaccine - the first supplies were delivered to hospitals in Britain today - has been overshadowed by a new crisis over Brexit.

Four years of debate and negotiations could end in failure. Only days are left for the 27 EU nations and Britain to reach agreement. 

‘Bullish Boris ready to walk away,’ says one headline. Intense discussions over the weekend in London are being continued in Brussels with Michael Gove joining the team. The PM is speaking today with the EU Commission president.

The main sticking points are trade and fishing rights with neither side wanting to give way, but with the politicians' habit of brinkmanship there could be a last minute settlement.

If not, Britain’s economy faces an even more difficult time. 

Johnson is like a battered boxer, staggering to his corner where his chancellor Rishi Sunak will try to patch him up and send him back in the ring to carry on fighting. 

Meanwhile, the second wave of coronavirus has taken a firmer grip on many countries, waiting anxiously for a vaccine.

The USA is one of the hardest hit with president elect Biden facing his first challenge. Many states are reporting a big rise in cases and deaths with California declaring a state of emergency. 

My friends in Des Moines, Iowa, gave Thanksgiving a miss for the first time and in Massachusetts and also in Germany they tell of a return to stricter conditions and isolation from their families.

All so disappointing after the expectations of relief with the new vaccines but it could all change as with Brexit.

All disappointing, causing doubt over their Christmas.

Coronavirus diary, Sunday 6 December

Care home residents have been tragic victims of coronavirus, scarcely ever out of the news, the carers and staff bravely trying to keep us safe.

But the scene and the mood in the homes is changing. With visiting resumed, we are at last welcoming family and friends, if only briefly. 

I experienced this yesterday when my son drove to Cardiff days after the lockdown in England ended.

Waiting impatiently for a precious hour-long chat, I was worried when  Robert, always meticulous on timing, did not join me in the meeting room, the library.

I did not realise that Sunrise had started fast testing for visitors and he was waiting for the all clear.

He came in smiling, in full PPE gear. It was over three months since he was last here, at the end of his family holiday in West Wales, which itself came 6 weeks after our first pandemic meeting was broadcast on television.

That was a false start. After months of keeping a clean sheet Sunrise, following  other care homes throughout  Britain, was struck by coronavirus. Two of our oldest residents died and eight were tested positive, including me. I was called out of our art class to hear the news. 

I recovered after three weeks in hospital, returning to Sunrise where I am improving steadily.

Robert’s visit was a marvellous fillip and it might be even better soon with care homes first in line in the massive vaccination programme.  If so, and with the fast testing, by Christmas care home residents may be welcoming family and friends in our rooms and, maybe, having a hug, the first for almost nine months.

That really is something to look forward to. I have bought a Christmas tree and from my window its twinkling lights are sending out the message of Christmas. 

It is difficult not to be excited with the prospect of good tidings for the new year and a return to normal life and the every day pleasures that we had taken for granted. 

I can’t wait to get on my scooter and drive out into the real world.

Coronavirus diary, Saturday 5 December

Britain’s biggest ever vaccination programme starts next week. The first batch of 800,000 doses of the Pfizer vaccine has been delivered with the bulk of the 400 million ordered due over the following weeks.

The government has provided £60 million towards the development of the Oxford University vaccine and has ordered 100 million doses. They have also ordered 160 million doses of other vaccines being developed.

Perhaps the government will, at last, get some welcome credit for being well prepared. 

Care homes staff and residents are first in line in the vaccination programme being organised by the NHS followed by front line nursing staff, the elderly and seriously ill.

Lower down the list, less at risk children who will have to wait in a programme that will continue well into next year.

St John Ambulance are recruiting thousands of volunteers to  help in the programme and GPs will also take part. 

Vaccination is not compulsory which presents a problem as a high level of coverage is essential. 

A recent poll showed that one in five would not take the vaccine. Also worrying is the anti campaign pouring out via social media.

To counter this the government is launching a campaign including television advertising with famous  personalities.

It is possible they might include the prime minister and Matt Hancock, the health secretary for England.

The arrival of the first vaccine with others due soon has changed the mood in the country but the government and health chiefs have warned that the danger is not over. 

Restrictions must be be observed over the winter if we are to get our normal lives back by the summer.

Coronavirus diary, Friday 4 December

Just days before the make or break Brexit deadline, Britain has managed to offend Europe and other countries around the world.

Health Secretary for England Matt Hancock said Britain had become the first country in the world to approve and start vaccinations because of Brexit. 

It had been been able do so because the UK regulators did not have to go at the 'bit slower speed of the Europeans'.

The prime minister also hailed the achievement and said the scientists had used 'biological ju-jitsu' to defeat the virus.

The Brexit claim was refuted by Europe's regulators who said Britain was still subject to EU laws.

USA health chiefs also criticised Britain stressing that the development of a vaccine was not a race but an international effort - the Pfizer vaccine was the work of a German and a US company.

Announcing that vaccinations would begin next week, the prime minister said the nation was no longer resting on the mere hope  of a return to normal life next spring  but had certain knowledge'.

Coronadiary, Thursday 3 December

At last, a government press briefing with good news. The cavalry has arrived. We are moving out of the tunnel.

That was the theme of the message from a relieved prime minister hailing Britain being the first country in the world to approve the Pfizer vaccine. 

It was an historic scientific achievement, 10 years work reduced to 10 months - like  conjuror producing a rabbit from his hat. 

In the Commons an unusually elegantly speaking Matt Hancock described it as a triumph of science, ingenuity and humanity.

But the historic news was not met with national celebrations. No church bells ringing. That was stifled by warnings of the dangers ahead.

'We must not get carried away', said Boris Johnson. 'We must stay with our winter plan'.

There were more cautionary words from Professor Van-Tam, England's deputy chief medical officer, with a whole string of  ifs and buts about the vaccine and vaccination programme. 'We are not back to normal', he said.

It it is still far from normal, with people confused by the varying programmes of the four countries and upheaval in parliament over the prime minister's three tier winter plan for England. 

It was approved but only with Labour abstaining, and a mass of  Conservatives opposing it.

There are other less weighty distractions arising from the news; the collapse of Sir Philip Green's Arcadia retail empire and then Debenhams led to a stampede for sell off bargains at Debenhams while the rule that English pubs have to provide 'main meals' has sparked a debate on whether scotch eggs qualify.

Michael Gove came a cropper over that, first announcing they did not and then backtracking - with egg on his face.

Thank goodness for the cavalry, those brilliant scientists.

The coronavirus story continue as uncertain and bewildering as ever, but  thank goodness for the cavalry, those brilliant scientists.

They surely deserve a clapping day.

Coronavirus diary, Wednesday 2 December

The plight of care home residents since the start of the pandemic has been a constant worry for their families and, for the government, the source of blame for contributing to the appalling death rate.

There have been heartrending stories of elderly, ill residents not seeing their families for eight months. and of last farewells for dying loved ones, a peep through a window. 

It was denounced as inhuman, a scandal that began when hospitals, trying to cope with a flood of coronavirus patients, offloaded hundreds of infected ones to care homes, sparking mass deaths.

At last there is some relief, with homes about to open up to visitors. New testing methods will enable, residents to meet face-to-face, to have that longed for hug.

I have had my first visitor for months, my grand daughter Ria. We met for an hour in the ground floor home library.

Ria was kitted out in PPE. It was a lovely hour although my poor hearing did not help the conversation.

My son Robert is due this weekend after the lifting of the lockdown in England - his home is in tier 2 - but with the sudden worsening of the situation in Wales he is worried that the border may be closed.

The good news is that at Christmas I may be able to welcome family and friends into my own 'home' for the first time for nine months.

Sunrise has been chosen as one of 15 homes in Wales to fast test visitors which will do away with visiting pods and the rigmarole of PPE.

Now that is something to look forward to.

Coronavirus diary, Tuesday 1 December

When is a pub not a pub? 

When it can't sell beer or any alcoholic drink.

That is the astonishing plight of Wales' 2,190 pubs after first minister Mark Drakeford imposed drastic restrictions two weeks after giving the country a taste of freedom. Worse, the pubs  must close at 6pm.

Licensed - but soft drinks only

Wales will be as dry as the Atacama desert. And the rule applies also to restaurants and cafes.

He has taken the historic step to counter a rise in infections in parts of the country, 

The already shell shocked hospitality industry is bewildered.

Pubs with no beer! They warn that it will devastate the whole industry and guarantee closures and job losses.

It is seen as just as idiotic as prime minister Boris Johnson's edict that restricts English pubs to serving customers only if they have 'a substantial meal'. No dawdling over the starter or desert. Drink up!

But will it work? It harks back to the long gone days when Wales' pubs were shut on Sundays. 

To escape the ban. drinkers in border towns and villages slipped over into England for their pint, sometimes only yards away.

The same will happen again. 

It's not just pubs that have been hit; indoor and outdoor entertainment - cinemas, bingo halls, museums, art galleries and tourist attractions - must also shut from Friday.

Mr Drakeford insists that without the changes there could be 1,000 to 1,700 more deaths this winter. 

'We continue to face a virus that is moving incredibly quickly across Wales,' he said. 'Infection rates have increased from 187 per 100,000 to 211'.

To soften the blow he has given £340 million in support of the hospitality industry, the most generous in the UK, he claims.

But there is despair. It could be last orders for many Welsh pubs.