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A world of difference

 While France is introducing strict rules for socialising, meaning only vaccinated people can socialise, here in the UK pandemic rules appear to have gone out of the window.  Apparently everyone can choose whether to wear a mask in shops and other indoor venues so the majority choose not to.  

In France there has been little impact on medical interventions with treatment being continued for major diseases such as heart and cancer, as well as more minor operations.  Throughout the pandemic I have been able to go and see my GP, had my cataracts done, visited the dentist for a check up and had cancer surgery and follow up treatment.

Here in the UK, you still can't go in person to the doctor's surgery, all diagnoses and treatment being conducted over the telephone, not even a video call.  My daughter in law, who is diabetic, has not seen a doctor or even a nurse for nearly 2 years.  The backlog of operations is so enormous that the experts believe it will take 20 years to clear them.  Where is the logic in all this?  On the one hand everyone is wandering in and out of shops and cafes without masks, while the surgeries and hospitals remain tightly closed.  It doesn't make sense.

When I drove off the ferry on Monday night in Portsmouth I was faced with the main road heading east, closed, leaving traffic no option but to travel west.  There were no diversion signs, or helpful messages of any kind, so I, like the other ferry traffic, headed off towards Southampton.  I know the area so I was able to take the first exit and work my way round backroads and villages but what about all the people who were just stuck on a motorway going in the wrong direction?  

My son and daughter in law both have learning disabilities and cleaning the house is not one of their talents.  I decided to give them both a lesson (again) about cleaning toilets.  This was the day after I arrived.  They both stood there watching me demonstrate the art of cleaning bathrooms, when my son said, 'When are you going back to France mum?'

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