ISOLATION DIARIES PART 22: LAX

I went out to the park today for my walk. You know, I think people are starting to get a bit relaxed about the social distancing rules. I saw loads of people chatting and sitting and socialising - many of them less than two metres apart, many of them out for what looked like a very normal Saturday afternoon.

A part of me doesn't blame them. The longer this goes on the harder it gets: people missing the pub, the party, the cafe, the restaurant, the shops and the movies. It's difficult, and it's getting more difficult with time and better weather.

But also, the infection and fatality numbers aren't particularly going down. I don't want to dwell on the stats, other than to say that today we passed a few milestones that have had politicians sweating and journalists frothing. We're all fed up with it, yes. But also... this stuff still matters as much as it did at the end of March. We must stay at home.

I'm not sure I like watching the triangular relationship between the public, the politicians and the media. Some say the government have acted reprehensibly; others poke fingers at the journalists for stirring up negative feeling. Some say the Prime Minister (still recovering) should step back in to the fray and take charge, others want nothing more than to see him fail. Some applaud the news for bravely reporting the truth and asking difficult questions: others accuse them of scaremongering when what we all need is positivity. It's a weird time to know who to trust.

Well we do need positivity. And perhaps that's why some of us, now desperate for what we used to call normality, are getting lax about the rules, five weeks in - it's a subconscious forcing of the old life at the one time we feel we need it.

I realised today that I need a holiday. It seems a ridiculous idea, but it's also a beautiful thought - to drive off somewhere for a week, to fly over mountains and lakes to far away cities - to feel so far away from home but also so relaxed. That would be lovely. And the good news is that in the second half of the year, I'll have a lot more annual leave to use up, so perhaps I'll get to do some big travelling.

Well. That is if this situation changes any time between now and then - which it will I believe, so long as we're not lax about it.