Changes

Well, Boris announced a raft of changes today. Good news - I can finally visit my family in Chester and stay overnight. We have a small apartment there which we basically locked up and fled from on 20th March, as we could see lockdown was coming and wanted to be back in Cumbria before it started. Fortunately, that was also the day mum got the go ahead to drive again after her hip replacement so at least I knew she had a measure of independence back. In the absence of any communication to the contrary, I’m going to assume the apartment has not been burgled, burnt down or flooded! Definitely going to be a moment of trepidation though when we open the door for the first time in almost four months!
The bad news - gyms cannot reopen yet. Not sure I really understand that one. I’d much rather be in a controlled, regularly sanitised environment full of healthy / fit (and sober!) people than in a pub which has a much more frequent turnover of customers, many of whom could have visited other pubs that night, and where there is always the chance of something kicking off if too much alcohol is consumed. As I rarely visit pubs these days anyway, it’s not going to be a hardship to stay away for a few more months.
A more significant change locally. You may remember I posted a photo about three weeks ago showing how our local Leisure Centre had been turned into an overflow hospital. At the time it was stated it would remain in place for the foreseeable future. Went past today and - as you can see - all traces of the temporary facility were gone apart from a few wire fences on the ground, presumably waiting to be collected. As the car park was also used for Covid testing, I’m assuming that won’t be taking place any longer. Good news or premature withdrawal of facilities? Jury is still out on that one.
Still, if the Leisure Centre is no longer needed as a hospital, I suppose it must mean reopening of such facilities will be happening sooner rather than later. Fingers crossed for good news on that front when the next review takes place in July.