Dear LPG,

As a pensioner I know that the worries concerned with being truly lonely during this self-isolation period are much more immediate for us, while the younger have other worries that we have not had to think about at all. Financial issues must be taking their toll by now and, while being alone has its problems, I cannot begin to imagine what it is like for parents and children who have been stuck at home for the past two months.

I have been avoiding the news on purpose, because of the difficulty I have had trying to cope with the many bad aspects of it, but I did take the time to watch what our prime minister said last Sunday evening. I got up on Monday morning to find that my confusion appeared to be shared by all. 

There was a lot of conflicting information and I think that the ‘if’ aspect of what he said could have been emphasised a lot more, while the graphs were colourful but not very meaningful. 

The last statement was the one that truly worried me.  The word ‘alert’ is one of those very subjective words, and it sounded as if the new message we were being given was that we each need to use our own discretion.  The words ‘Stay home’ gave a very clear message but ‘Stay Alert’?

I just wonder, given the diversity of depth of responsibility shown by many and depending on each person’s personal grasp of the seriousness of the alertness we are being asked to exercise now, how that personal discretion is going to impact.

Hopefully some of this will have been sorted by the time my reaction is posted.

IP, Woolwich  

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