Social Distancer

Emily, a friend who lives in the outskirts of Tokyo, sends her thoughts on the Japanese government's state of emergency. Japan currently have 99 recorded deaths from COVID-19 but a spike in confirmed cases in the last week has led to the government's announcement. But will it make any difference? Also, I look at the Office of National Statistics data and question the true number of people in the UK who have died from COVID-19.

I talk about the way out of this crisis via lockdown/release. As a special Easter treat I belt out a Shania Twain classic that is terrifying me!

With 938 deaths from COVID-19 in UK hospitals reported over the last 24 hours, I talk about the UK government's response. Why did the scientists get it so wrong? Why didn't they continue to contact trace? Are people taking the lockdown seriously? As you can imagine, it's a laugh riot.

I talk about the irritating habit of describing people with illnesses (like Boris Johnson) as fighters. It implies that all those dying from COVID-19 didn't fight enough, or didn't want to live as much as those that survive.

I talk about Boris Johnson being transferred to an ICU, how New Zealand got their COVID-19 response right, and the lag in death statistics.

I talk about footage of people in Hong Kong all wearing masks, Bill Gates setting up vaccination labs, Boris Johnson in hospital, and a nasty Twitter spat.

Our fun outside is interrupted by an idiot. I discuss the lag in death statistics and the local Hattersley robot.

On Sunday The Queen will spew forth her message of community and togetherness from her heavily-guarded castle in Windsor. I find a scrap of optimisim in the gloom with the news that NHS Nightingale isn't yet needed, because London hospitals still have capacity, and I prepare myself for glimpsing at sunshine through the window this weekend.

I talk about a podcast featuring a palliative care professional who campaigns to ease people's fear of death, and praise a brilliant documentary about the rumours of a curse connected to William Friedkin's 1973 masterpiece The Exorcist.

I try to explain a new report by the School of Tropical Medicine. Basically, it's good news and read the thing yourselves. We go outside for a short drive to a local field, where I'm fretting about every moving thing!