When was the moment you realised covid was serious?

[namechanged984630]

For me I think it was when it hit Italy, so early
March. Until then I really believed it'd be a storm in a tea cup like swine flu.

I remember certain songs I was listening to as I refreshed the news in early March that still give me the heebie jeebies even now.

And I remember taking my dog for a walk at some lakes a few miles away (so drove there) and wondering, on about the fifteenth of March, if it might be the last time for a while. When I was there an elderly man said to me that it was nice to get out to forget the state of the world, I'll always remember that.

I remember seeing the Wuhan hospital be built and only paying the vaguest amount of attention. So arrogant to think it wasn't a problem for us!

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

When they sold out of bog roll.

When lockdown was announced.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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?

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.

@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.

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.

I'd been closely watching the news of China's response since early Jan, as they seemed either really worried or keen to look really worried and either way that wasn't a good omen of "something" to come. By 18th Jan, the virus was spreading widely and UK officials were no longer confident reliable information was coming out of China.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-51148303

We still had daily flights into the UK and Europe from Wuhan at this time.

I ordered N95 masks that same weekend - of course they weren't in short supply yet as the virus hadn't filled hospitals.

Then I watched in horror as we left our flights and airports open to the world and waited for the virus to arrive and/or spread here.

School hols abroad were foolishly permitted in February, everyone was still being told "masks don't work" and "it's not airborne" and the rest is history.

I know it was a Wednesday at the beginning of March.
I was at home watching the lunchtime news and all of a sudden the reality struck. I can genuinely say I was terrified.
I put on my shoes and drove to the supermarket and bought disinfectant, wipes , liquid soap etc. I got to the till and realised that everyone else in the queue was buying the same.

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

It really does doesn’t it? I’m not entirely sure I’m ready to revisit a lot of it yet, it’s not pleasant remembering various emotions the last year has brought up.

December when lots of Chinese students were coming back to Edinburgh and asking for masks. Our pharmacy didn't sell them at the time. When I asked why they needed them over here as the virus was only being reported in China at the time one student said it was only a matter of time.

Patients started to panic as early as January and our work went through the roof. When it hit Italy I started to feel scared for my family.