15.04.20 Newsletter no.3
NHS and frontline staff ‘feel the love’
After weeks of ‘lockdown’ you may feel that the coronavirus crisis is never going to end, but don’t be disheartened. You’re not only saving lives in Lissenden, you’re encouraging communities across the UK – and worldwide.
Last week, BBC coverage from Lissenden Gardens was broadcast on Breakfast TV, on the main news and on the BBC World News. We also had the honour of leading the nationwide ‘Clap for carers’ live broadcast on Thursday night. Why? Because we’re showing the rest of the UK how it can be done.
Talking to the BBC about Lissenden’s ‘Clap for carers’, Silvia, who works in mental health, said: ‘There’s power in love, and I felt it. It was heart-warming. It was emotional. You go to work feeling people are really appreciating what we do.’ Rachel, whose husband is a GP, said: ‘I felt quite choked up, actually… It’s really nice to tell my three-year-old, when I’m putting him to bed, that they’re clapping for the doctors and all the people who are looking after us.’
Jeni told the BBC: ‘A bus driver friend of mine died,’ so including all frontline staff is really important. ‘They’re doing such a fantastic job.’ Sue agreed. ‘They are our life savers. The NHS, all the front-liners, down to the dustmen – you can’t fault any of them. I love em all.’
The BBC reporter summed up the Lissenden approach: ‘This is the third time we’ve clapped for carers,’ he said. ‘But three weeks in, [is there] any idea that enthusiasm or participation levels might have dropped? Not here!’
Applauding the NHS staff and other frontline carers
Our thanks also go to the young Lissenden musicians who helped us sing along to ‘You’ll never walk alone.’ Rowena (cello), Abbey (French horn), Eloise (flute) and Daniel, Rachel and Muryn (trumpets) played at the Clevedon Mansions’ side and Sam (guitar) and Gee (singing) performed at the Parliament Hill Mansions side. Make sure we do them proud again this Thursday at 8pm.
Long distance support – another good news story from Lissenden
When an elderly man was sent home from work with suspected covid-19 symptoms his workplace contacted his nearest relative – a cousin in Kent. When his cousin couldn’t get in touch by phone or computer he phoned Camden council to let them know the man lived in Lissenden Gardens. The council contacted councillor Anna Wright, Anna phoned us and we let stairway rep Marina Avetisian know. Marina immediately spoke to the man through his door and found that he was feeling better but had decided to self-isolate for safety. Although he didn’t require any shopping, she arranged to contact him every day and he said he’d leave a note out if he needed any help. Marina then phoned his cousin in Kent to let the family know he was OK. The whole process took less than two hours.
Coronavirus. So, you think it’s just a cough?
You may have noticed Peter Revell, from Clevedon. He’s the guy who is so fit his muscles ripple under his t-shirt when he walks through the estate. He believed he would be the last person to catch coronavirus.
For Peter, it started with a temperature, but then the cough took hold. ‘I coughed for 20 to 30 seconds at a time,’ he says, ‘then after about a minute it would start again.’.
The cough lasted for two weeks, and still hadn’t cleared completely after five. What made it even worse was that the cough was accompanied by a blinding headache like a migraine. ‘It felt like my skull was going to explode,’ he says. Then, when he thought it was all over he developed pneumonia, and it took a two-week course of antibiotics to clear his lungs.
‘I’m a healthy bloke,’ Peter says, ‘and it knocked me for six. You must follow government guidelines. You have to stick it out.’.
Once it’s in your household it’s hard to stop the coronavirus spreading
Sarah Wallis, the joint secretary of our tenants’ association, has experienced the virus and warns that once it’s in your household it’s almost impossible to stop it spreading.
Sarah’s son Ben thinks he caught it on his last day at university, ironically Friday 13th March, but doesn’t know how. By Tuesday 17th March, he was feeling ‘spacey’ and tired. By late at night he had a temperature of 38° and the household went into isolation. Sarah came down with it on Thursday 19th and Paul on Monday 23rd. Their symptoms included the fever, exhaustion, headaches, chest tightness and cough. Sarah also lost her sense of smell and taste. ‘It's a bit hard to describe the symptoms,’ she says, ‘I felt poisoned – as if my body was dealing with something it didn't know how to deal with.’ Ben was well again by day seven, and it was nine days before Sarah felt well enough even to walk their dog.
Sarah says that as a household they did everything to stop the virus. ‘We cleaned surfaces and light switches and each had separate towels, separate toothpaste and separate soap, but I caught it from Ben and Paul from me,’ she says.
Please help – say no to dumping
A quick reminder. Please don’t put out anything that can’t go into the normal bins, as the council has suspended bulk rubbish collection.
We had to send out a crack team after a bin store in Clevedon was blocked by a discarded fridge freezer. Unable to reach the bins, people had left black bags on the ground and the foxes got in and were spreading rubbish everywhere. Nobody wants this.
Another team got to work outside the bulk rubbish where a chair and some other items had been left as it was looking a mess and we were worried it could encourage flytipping.
We did it once but don’t want to have to again. Each time a team gets together, even with gloves and masks, there is a risk of spreading the virus, so please hang on to your old stuff until the collections start again.