DUVET MUSINGS: Lockdown has taught us to take care of our own health

Indeed the mood has changed appreciatively since the roll out of vaccines and the joy and relief of those receiving them was a sight I will never forget.

It reminded me that months of lockdown has made us somewhat introverted in thinking as well as behaviour. This is to be expected as a result of regular exhortations to stay at home and perhaps being fearful of the consequences of not doing so.

Whilst the pandemic is still not beat the speed of the vaccination programme can now turn our thoughts to a safer brighter future when we are able to resume a degree of normality, wiser from months of lockdown.

One thing is inescapable and that is how health and economic prosperity is inextricably linked, as without one you cannot benefit from the other.

So it was good to learn of the exciting plans to further expand the Olympic Legacy Park to add substantial new facilities to the already impressive health/wellbeing and education ones.

This is a welcome news as it will not only bring many benefits to the city but local residents too, in an area where industrial legacy brought economic benefits for some but historically hardly a healthy environment for local people.

Those of us who were brought up in the East End will remember the clouds of smog precipitated as a unwelcome consequence of the concentration of industrial processes in the area.

So it is indeed fitting that these exciting new health and wellbeing facilities will be sited in the very area where health was so compromised in past.

However the lockdown should also remind us to take more care of our own health motivated by seeing the fitter less susceptible to Covid and those with other medical issues more at risk.

So hopefully a new normality will being renewed enthusiasm to use new and existing leisure facilities, our extensive parks and increasing cycle lanes to engage all of us in more healthier lifestyles after months of confinement.

It has been a testing time for all of us particularly those who have lost lives , livelihoods, had education blighted or joined the mounting waiting lists of non covid NHS diagnosis and/or treatment.

However we can see light at the end of the tunnel provided we keep our discipline for a while longer with the prize of greater freedom now tantalisingly nearer.

To see our senior citizens in care homes, our children going to school, living , working and resuming leisure activities in a safer context could be possible if we continue to wear masks, social distance and hand hygiene, is surely worth working for?

We all need a boost and after receiving my vaccine certainly gave me one and my morale soared as result and gave me an added impetus to keep going to focus on what I should be thankful for.

In these confusing and worrying times, local journalism is more vital than ever. Thanks to everyone who helps us ask the questions that matter by taking out a digital subscription or buying a paper. We stand together. Nancy Fielder, editor.