The UK has the third highest death rate in the world because there haven't been tough restrictions in place as in Spain and Italy. The first strategy by the government was to obtain herd immunity. The situation changed when it was too late. In London, no one really controls you, and it's down to people's conscience to respect social distancing or wear masks. Not many do that. When the lockdown started in March, and all public places closed, it was still allowed to go out once a day for an exercise. You can only imagine the amount of "athletes", in a 9-million city like London, flocking the local parks with such an excuse. The weather was glorious, and after a terrible winter, people found it really hard to stay at home.

Being from Italy and having my family there in a full lockdown before any restrictions in the UK made me really paranoid at first. I used to go to the office by public transport where 5% of commuters were wearing masks. I was working in the news at the time which added to my anxiety. Also, my intimate friend went on holiday in Asia at the end of February and couldn't return before the borders closed. I became pretty desperate. On top of that, one day I had a massive cold which disappeared the day after but left me without any sense of smell and taste for about 8 days. Weird.

To help take the edge off, I started following a 30-day yoga challenge on YouTube and continued practicing every day. Meditation made me stronger physically and mentally too.

One of the disadvantages is a gradual decline in motivation. I entered this lockdown with a list of things I wanted to do, which started off pretty well. But now I am living a Groundhog Day, sometimes I feel guilty for not having done anything useful, I procrastinate, wake up late and drink almost every day. I was also used to a pretty intense sexual and romantic life for many months, which abruptly came to a stop. I need to find a way to re-focus.

My daily life has changed so much. I used to work in a few different places, but now my shifts shrank from 4-5 days a week to 4-5 days a month. I've always had a very intense social life too, and now I'm stuck with the same people all the time: my flatmates. At home, I've been feeling like a fish out of water sometimes, so I started spending a lot of time by myself in my room or reading on the roof. And you know what? I've finally learnt to enjoy my own company, listen to myself, and love myself a bit more.

This is the end of an era. I really hope that we will be smart enough to build a better world, where "low-skilled-but-essential" workers are valued, and office workers will finally have some flexibility of working from home. I hope that a new economic and social system will overthrow capitalism, and we will be able to build a more equal and environmentally friendly society. This is the positive me.
But when I think negatively, I'm worried that it's gonna be a disaster. An economic crisis never seen before, a pandemic of mental health issues, a generation of children scared of social contact, independent shops and bars become a memory of the past…