When was the moment you realised covid was serious?

The other time I got a sense of forboding was when DS1's best friend and his brother were pulled out of school- a good 2 weeks before things closed. Their parents are a biologist and a GP. I thought they must know how bad this is going to be.

@Pissinthepottyplease

A family member's workplace had nine specific individuals off at exactly the same time with some sort of serious respiratory ailment that the doctors couldn't accurately type, but eventually put down as 'pneumonia'. This was also November 2019, and it's a workplace with individuals who travel back and forth to China, Wuhan specifically.

Didn't arrive in the UK until February 2020, though, so that's all ok.

I was aware a problem was as coming since November 2019 when we had odd outbreaks of an unknown illness in the NE.

www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www.chroniclelive.co.uk/news/north-east-news/virus-60-north-east-schools-17292996.amp

I have no idea if it was related but I was wary then.

national debt now looks like this, under Tory govt no less

It's almost as if all this 'austerity' was just a pointless, ideologically-driven load of bollocks. Who knew eh?

March 16th 2020, I was told by my boss to grab my computer and go home until further notice. I laughed and didn't realise he was being serious. I then brought my hair appointment a week or two forward just in case as whispers of lockdowns were starting and the hairdresser said there's no way we'd be forced to lockdown. 2 days later: LOCKDOWN and schools closed.

There was a BBC report in late January where the male reporter was in a remote Chinese village and the villagers had barracaded up their streets so nobody could get in. They had built make shift brick walls at the end of their streets to stop the virus getting to them.

I'd never seen that with any of the other swine/bird flues before so knew this was something new and bigger.

Reading these brings it back. I feel odd about the last year and a half.

The PM TV address. I had been expecting it all day but the address was chilling. We knew it was a historical moment and both my husband and I felt like something huge was unfolding.

Closing schools was my fear moment. I was terrified. I was terrified that children would lose parents in high numbers and there would be overarching sadness on reopening. Thankfully that didn't happen, but the fear was awful.

I can't now imagine living without the vaccine.

Watching tv, people in Wuhan panic shopping in late January 2020. Brain-storming with colleagues what research could we do about covid.

I never expected Lockdown, though, because I didn't know govt would furlough people. Lockdown succeeded because national debt now looks like this, under Tory govt no less.

A huge inflation train is coming down the track soon.

Early March 2020, I had been in ICU with Swine Flu in 2009, and was getting nervous.
The talk was that if you were vulnerable to maybe stay home.
I was working as a part time nanny to older children, the Dad was working from home and the children could walk the 100m home from school on their own. I was at the school gates on the 16th if March and being really worried.
Got home that night and was in tears. DH was really worried for me. Decided to phone my Boss, but she phoned me first and told me to stay at home till we knew what was going on.
I didn't see them again till August.

When two of my female colleagues came literally to blows (screaming and slaps) over whether or not covid was a big issue. It was surreal, especially since they were actually both saying exactly the same thing. One of my colleagues has never been good at hearing what other people say and she genuinely had no idea the other colleague was agreeing with her. She attacked her and we had to intervene.

It felt like an alternate universe.

I knew it for sure with France and Italy. I remember being at work a couple weeks before our lockdown and voicing my concerns only to be told it would just be like swine flu.

I've been scared, angry and upset throughout it all.

Early Jan through work, we were in full disaster planning mode by mid-Jan.

I was early. I was on mat leave and DD was only two months old - she slept a lot on me and I watched a lot of Tv and read a lot of news to pass the time (and distract me from really severe anxiety about her - she is my first and I was constantly terrified something would happen to her). In feb, they started shutting down other countries I think, and one Saturday I tried to take her for a swimming lesson, but I couldn't get in to the baby classes at the local swim school and when I rang the leisure centre they told me they had shut down for a deep clean due to a positive case. It was early and we live in a sleepy little market town in Hampshire - I knew at that moment this was going to be big, if we had it locally.

We went to my in-laws after for a cup of tea and DD watched some rugby with DFIL - I have a pic of him holding her and the two of them transfixed and I think that's the last normal day I can remember really - we spoke about what was happening and DH laughed at me and said we would never be locked down. How wrong he was - I remind him of that!
I wanted to see my parents who live on the other end of the country and I insisted we go up ASAP because I just knew something was coming.
We drove back home the day the country locked down - I was so scared we would be stopped and told off for travelling but we couldn't lock down up there.
The world was eerie - the service stations were so empty I'd never seen anything like it. No people - it was unimaginable. We only stopped once for the loos I think - it was so early and I was so scared DD would get sick because she was so tiny still.

When lockdown was announced.

When they sold out of bog roll.

Another way we knew was dh had a lady from Wuhan in his team, went home for Chinese New Year and not allowed back, put in lockdown and communication methods very limited and monitored.

I think late February, or whenever we started seeing it in Italy. It kind of felt inevitable from then. Before we’d seen SARS, but it hadn’t travelled here, and the terrifying effects of Ebola.

We went to see 90yo MIL on the 8th March in her nursing home (and usually visited weekly) and said we wouldn’t be able to come back for a while.

By 13th I was running a temperature and felt awful. I work in a school, and was then off for a week before full lockdown with both DC and DH.

I had none of the scary prep the other school staff had. My colleagues have said since it was very surreal. Two days to run around like loons and try to gather materials for the pupils, tidy up, send kits home and mothball the school for an unknown length of time.

We did see MIL again in the May when she was dying of Covid through her ground floor window. Us, BIL and the DC who were 9 & 10 then, went daily for a week - fortunately in the sun. The children played quietly in the garden and we stood at the open window trying to encourage her to eat and drink, and holding her hand. She passed some sweets out for the DC, but just she just didn’t make it. Covid ripped through that home, and many others, like the grim reaper.

February last year when a close relative was sent home from working abroad, and had the virus though didn't know that for a few days.

My partner owns a sewing factory and was contacted and asked if he could start making body bags.

I panic bought three packets of Jamie Oliver lentils which I still haven't eaten as they look grim.

I live abroad in Asia. My friend had been keeping a close eye on Wuhan and was warning us early on. So I was aware of the seriousness but just hoping for the best. When the first cases hit our country I started to worry. Then other parents on Facebook were panicking and saying they weren't letting their kids outside. We started WFH early. There announcements from they govt that prompted runs on supermarkets. But the effect on our country was so gradual, and even when we went into lockdown the case numbers were not so high. When cases shot up we were already in lockdown so I still felt safe. So the local situation didn't panic me.

It was watching the chaos in Italy that made me worry, and the subsequent chaos in the UK that really caused me anxiety.

I knew it was going to be serious since the first news started to come out. I knew there was no chance the UK was not going to be affected being London such an important flight node.
I was able to calculate when the lock down would start 2 months before it did. By the time they locked us in I was relieved rather than stressed, but then I had seen an official document on how bird flu would affect the supply chain and hospitals if it had taken hold so since then, every time a virus starts to resonate in the news, no matter how far, I start adding a couple of extra bags of pasta/tins to my weekly shop.

Jan 2020, my daughter was meant to be returning to China ( where she's been teaching for last 4 years) at end of January
She was hearing of lockdowns in her city and compulsory mask wearing and we even bought a high grade mask for her flight back
However, finally all Flights were cancelled as borders closed....she's still at home in U.K. 18 months later ( but was able to teach online for some of the time) and hoping she'll be able to return to China soon, although they are having more breakouts and restrictions have returned
Worryingly when she returned to UK for extended holiday in Oct 2019, she came home with a terrible cold/ cough and temp and felt dreadful on plane home (but had been to Drs in China who had cleared her as fit to fly )- in hindsight she wonders if she could have had Covid back then, but they weren't aware of illness then and not testing . Her asthma has been worse since that illness and she's had to change/increase her inhalers

Just before Dad passed away he was in high dependency and the hospital was banning visitors.

When my colleagues and l were told in January 2020 that all our rota had been scrapped and we would get one weeks notice for shifts only ... this lasted for a year.

We were told that we had no choice but to change onto 12.5hr shifts.

We were given a crash course in how to "don and doff" full PPE and were FIT tested for respirators.

When my work place shut (Theatres) as the anaesthetic machines and space needed to be turned into another ITU.

When my cousin who has worked in ITU as a Sister for years in London said she is at breaking point and the patients are the sickest she'd ever seen.

When DS2 had to go live at his Dads as my new rota meant he was at home alone minimum for 14hrs at a time.

When colleagues contracted and died of the disease.

...

We got down to 0 cases at one point. We are now back up to 40.

DH lost his job at the very start and we were in UAE. My family was coming out for a holiday and to help us move home as I would be coming first with DC (1x 3yo and 1x 5wk old). I just had a horrible feeling that holiday wasn't going to happen and I needed to get out of there ASAP as I thought they would close the airports and there was no way I would be left without health insurance with such young kids. My parents were mad that i essentially cancelled their holiday but I booked the flight and flew home with 4 suitcases, 2 kids, 2 car seats, pram, bassinet while DH stayed to finish his notice and sort apartment. There was no airport assistance due to covid risks so I just had to pull everything on 2 trolleys and try and stop the toddler from touching everything. The very next day with no notice they closed the airports and grounded all flights.