Hello and welcome back. As you will know if you follow my social medias, I have been very inactive the past 2 weeks. I explained that I’d rather not be under pressure to write every week but instead write when I want so I can post something I am proud of.

This blog is a bit different as I will be talking about how I had to go back into self isolation about 3 weeks ago and what my thoughts are over this whole pandemic.Self isolation I think may become one of the most used phrases of this year which is marginally depressing but probably true (not that I am an expert).

Looking back on the past 7 months I count myself very lucky. I was in a incredibly secure environment and I am very grateful.

It is crazy that we began our lockdown back in March. Feels like last week.

As we all know, here in Scotland schools went back and England followed. Outdoor sport had started up again with restrictions, pubs, restaurants, shops all reopened and many people got great deals for a quick holiday away, either abroad or had a staycation. Lets be honest, August was good. Everything felt like we were getting on our feet again.

Then bam. Suddenly Aberdeen goes into lockdown (after the exam scandal), restrictions are tightened in places, testing is increased, masks are made mandatory inside public places and in schools.

Now nearing the end of September everything feels unsteady again.

Lies, cover ups, rumours floating around Britain.

Nobody is sure of the different restrictions being issued and reinforced every day/week.

What is it now? England are allowed only to meet with 6 people from up to 6 different households and Scotland are only allowed to mix/meet with up to 6 people but from only 2 different households. It is all a bit mad.

Talk of a second lockdown when it is almost impossible for our economy to sustain it. I am sure that every person you have spoken to in recent weeks you have spoken about Covid even though you most likely promised yourself you would avoid the topic.

Personally I think that the attitude we should have is to ‘buck up and get on with it.’ But everyone is different. But one thing is for sure. We cannot keep hiding from this virus. We cannot keep pretending it will go away if we stay at home. We have to accept it is not going away just yet. It may never go away but we have got to learn to live with it.

Sweden as we know did not lockdown. They captured a herd immunity which Britain did not. No country got it correct, every country is different but Sweden did get on with it.

Now that schools are back, cases are going up. Notice I said cases and not hospitalisations or deaths.

This was always going to happen because it is the first time since March, pupils have socialised with this many other people. The type of cold going around happens in August and September every year.

We have not been exposed to this many germs for 6-7 months, so people are sniffling, streaming, sneezing and sucking soothers. I stayed at home and took at rest day when I caught it.

The sad thing is that even though no one is coughing, lot sense of taste or has a high temperature, fellow students and teachers finger point the ill children and say: ‘They need a Covid test’ or ‘they need to isolate’. It is not pleasant to have you labelled as ‘COVID’. Every time you sneeze or clear your sore throat, people move away and whisper. A cold does not automatically mean Covid.

Because of the fear factor hundreds of children are getting tested and getting false positives.

The fear factor of Covid is huge when there is no need for it to be. I am not one of those people who doesn’t believe Covid-19 is real but I also just want, as a 14 year old girl, to carry on living my life as it was before.

Unless you have a consistent cough, consistent high temperature or a loss of taste or sense of smell then you should not be needing to get tested.

Now back in the Summer my sister and a few friends of mine spent a couple of weekends at a hockey camp.

The last Saturday I did it was about 7 days before I joined my new school. A girl was there with her friend. She had come from Aberdeen which was in lockdown. The girl was in our group but she sat out most of the time and went home just after lunch. I don’t remember having contact with her at all and neither do my friends.

Anyway she tested positive for Covid 19 the following week. My mum got a call from ‘Test and Protect’ to say both me and my sister would have to self isolate.

This call came 6 days after that hockey session and in those 6 days I had been on a train, had lunch with friends, had a sleepover, been to FoxLake, met up with another friend etc etc. But guess what? We did not need to let them know any of this at all. I just was told I had to stay in my own room for the next 8 days and not socialise with anybody.

We were all pretty angry at the whole prospect especially as I then had to miss the first week of my new school which in the moment was a big thing for me, as you can imagine.

But we obeyed. I stayed at home for the next week. I did not stay in my room though. I was not going to do that to myself as I had 0 symptoms and did not see the point in making myself miserable. I did not socialise but I ate with my family, went on walks and refused to lock myself away.

I joined my new school online and got on with work. I revised topics from last year to keep myself busy. It wasn’t the most enjoyable 8 days to say the least but I obeyed the guidelines which is all a mere citizen can do.

Someone needs to stand up, honestly, without their nose growing longer and longer, to say and admit that all evidence proves that we should just be getting back to normal. Lie our lives like we should have began doing months ago.

Instead our leaders are in a state of panic. Not exactly what we need to help us feel secure to have the top people in the country panicking. I get ‘The Week’and my mum gets ‘The Spectator’and we all listen to the radio and read articles. Between us we pick up a lot of facts and statistics that are not shared by other media or by the government, at least publicly. It’s like this:

Last weekend my uncle picked up my 93 year old grandma from her care home and took her back to his. He has been trying to do it for weeks but has not been allowed to. My grandma has probably had the most lonely 7 months of her life. She is 93 years old. When I’m 93 I do not want people to be shutting themselves away to protect me.

Instead I would want them to take responsibility.

You have just go to think. If you were ill you would not visit your gran or grandad or expose yourself to someone who could suffer from catching what you may think is a minor cold?

My granny and my aunt when they were suffering from cancer asked friends and family not to visit them if they had a cold or cough or felt unwell.

We have all got to stand up and do the same with Covid.

Now I know I am 14 years old and these opinions are not welcomed by everyone but I said earlier someone has got to stand up and say something. Even though you all may not agree with my thoughts, I thought it was time to get some young opinion out there. Not to start debate but to express myself.

The last 7 months on a personal level, have been unsurprisingly strange and I’m not lying when I say tears have been shed and there has been a fair many times where I have felt pretty low.

It is time for this to stop. It is time we all get back out there and work out a way to live with this. A way that won’t force us to shut away or lockdown or shut businesses or work online or stop going to school.

It can’t carry on.

I hope you took something from this blog and even though you may not agree with everything or even anything I said, I hope you can respect my opinions.

I apologise for such a long gap. I explained on my social medias that starting a new school, getting back into a new routine took a lot out of me. I’m still getting used to it!

Anyway, hope you enjoyed and have a great week!

Love Martha B X