The lapping ocean shores and lazy days of Cornwall were long gone and now after a rocky few weeks of uncertainty and unease, I can finally breathe a sigh of relief. Entering our Twentieth week of lockdown in the UK the 100-day mark has well and truly been surpassed and seems like only a distant memory now. However, with shops now all reopened, pubs and restaurants flinging open their doors and schools gearing up to go back in September, figures from the BBC released today confirm that while the number of new cases of coronavirus is rising, government-announced deaths have continued to fall since a peak in mid-April.
As explained before, the disease COVID-19 (CO = Corona + VI = Virus + D19 = December 2019 = the month and year which was it was discovered), was first confirmed in the UK at the end of January 2020, however, the number of daily confirmed cases and related deaths only began to soar significantly by the second half of March and after lockdown restrictions came into force at the end of that month, numbers came to a peak mid-April, falling steadily ever since. Though the downward trend has slowed recently today (Monday 03 August 2020) only nine deaths were reported in the last 24 hour period, however, reported figures on Sundays and Mondays are often lower than the those for rest of the week as there is a delay in deaths being reported over the weekends.
the BBC details that the "UK currently has a number of local 'hotspots' of cases, many in the north of England, and specific restrictions have been imposed on these areas. Millions of people in Greater Manchester, East Lancashire and parts of West Yorkshire are banned from meeting separate households in private homes or gardens." In a statement released recently, Public Health England is now producing a "coronavirus watchlist of areas, based on an assessment of incidence rates, and other indicators such as trends in testing, local responses and plans, healthcare activity and mortality." Bedford, Luton, Northampton and Peterborough (near where Momma Warehouse lives with her boyfriend) are all classed at the moment as 'areas of concern' and should be monitored closely to make sure there are no spikes in cases or deaths and with places such as Leicestershire and Manchester being areas of grave concern, UK Government has introduced strict conditions and a local lockdown to control the virus.
Now whilst deaths may be falling allowing people to frolic off on summer holidays and off out on most of their pre-COVID activities, the confirmed cases continue to rise as more and more people are being tested and with this comes concerns around a second wave. The likelihood of this happening and a second lockdown in the space of a year happening isn't impossible but with Boris' new announcement released at the beginning of July which finally included some information on weddings and that small wedding reception starting to take place from 1st August, we are barely three-days in and it has been revoked due to the climate, something I feel better about knowing I don't have to worry about my imminent Autumn wedding.
For us, the decision to postpone was not an easy one. Crunching the numbers and having to contend with no singing in the church, no father walking his daughter down the awkward aisle of about twenty odd chairs sat socially distanced and no choir (namely in our circumstances due to age and health issues which would consider them in a COVID-vulnerable category, not to mention being unable to learn 2 new songs by the time our day rolled around). And it was on that sunny Sunday in our local pub beer garden that we took the decision to postpone our bid day to Saturday 12th June 2021!
I think I am certainly more relaxed about it now all the re-invites have gone out and I can start to chill out since I have another additional ten-months to plan more stuff. And by god am I having more STUFF! Back a few months Mr Warehouse and I spoke about a photobooth or some entertainment for guests that was different and to be talked about for years to come. Unique and quirky - Just like us. But the answer was always the same; "If we have a spare couple of hundred quid then yeah we'll book it but not until closer to the time". But now we have time and time earns money so fingers crossed with another few months and maybe a good Christmas bonus coming we can book book book. Besides all this extra free time, I hope to be booking in a holiday or two - Coronavirus can suck it!
'Til next time, Love A.Lou xx
