London Lockdown

a visual diary of life during quarantine

by lana lĂŞ

4 APRIL / Boris Johnson admitted to intensive care for treatment of COVID-19

ON 23RD MARCH 2020, THE BRITISH PRIME MINISTER BORIS JOHNSON

announced a nationwide lockdown in response to the coronavirus pandemic. From that day on, we were allowed outside only for “essential” shopping or medical-related trips, to work if we couldn’t do it from home, or for an hour of daily exercise. Schools, pubs, shops and countless businesses closed. We learned a new phrase — social distancing — staying always at least 2 metres away from other people (except people you lived with) to avoid spreading the virus.

Many of us who couldn’t work from home were furloughed with government assistance, allowing us to keep our jobs, and receive a percentage of our pay. With the time off work, I decided to keep a journal of the quarantine and document our lives during this unusual period.

What’s amazing to me is that while I focused on London’s lockdown, this experience was shared worldwide.

It all began when I noticed discarded latex gloves around the neighbourhood…

// New Daily Practices

Washing hands while singing “happy birthday� twice

OR using hand sanitiser

NOT touching your face

social distancing

// Make Your Own No-Sew Mask

1. F old a bandana or scarf in half twice.

2. Slip two hair bands around the folded scarf.

3. Fold the scarf into thirds, as shown.

4. I nsert your fingers into the elastic bands, and tuck them behind your ears.

Wear a face mask in public to help minimise the spread of disease.

// Working from Home

Parents were forced to work from home AND homeschool their kids.

// #PEwithJoe

23 MARCH – 29 JULY / Joe Wicks,

aka The Bodycoach, hosted a youtube exercise class every morning at 9am for kids when schools closed in March. Over 900,000 families worked out with Joe on the first day, and at its peak nearly a million

people tuned in live — achieving a Guinness Book world record. Joe donated the ad revenue to NHS Charities Together, and was later commended with an MBE (Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire) for his service.

// British Leaders

24 MARCH / Prince Charles

displayed mild symptoms and quarantined himself in Scotland, spending seven days at his Birkhall home on the royal Balmoral estate.

The Duchess of Cornwall was tested and did not have the virus, but also self-isolated.

23 MAY / Dominic Cummings,

chief advisor to the Prime Minister, caused an uproar when it was reported that he broke lockdown rules to drive to his parents’ home in Durham and then to Barnard Castle to “test his eyesight,” after experiencing vision loss due to COVID-19.

5 APRIL / Queen Elizabeth II addressed the nation on television, “Together we are tackling this disease and I want to reassure you that if we remain united and resolute, then we will overcome it…

We will meet again.”

3 APRIL / Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak announced extending the Government’s COVID Business Interruption Loan to all eligible small and medium businesses affected by the lockdown.

“ Fancying Dishy Rishi” was a square on an online quarantine bingo card.

// Panic Buying

19 MARCH / When everyone was

panic buying (and snatching up all the toilet roll), a critical-care nurse named Dawn Bilbrough urged people to consider NHS staff like her, who after caring for patients at work, were disappointed to find bare shelves at the store. Her on-camera cry led to stores reserving items for the NHS and allowing the elderly to priority shop in the first hour of store opening.

30 APRIL / According to

boredpanda.com, people in quarantine invented other uses for loo rolls, like decorating cardboard tanks for their cats.

// Toilet Roll Creativity

15 APRIL / #pinkfootloorollchallenge

Norfolk gallery owner Sarah Whittley launched a project to create art with toilet roll tubes on social media and was surprised by the “bonkers� response.

6 APRIL / Tiktok

#levelupchallenge encouraged creating obstacle walls for their pets (perhaps to mourn the cancelled Olympic Games).

// Cultural Club 5 MARCH / Among the highly-

anticipated lockdown releases was The Mirror & the Light, the finale to Hilary Mantel’s Wolf Hall trilogy about the rapid rise of Thomas Cromwell in King Henry VIII’s court.

2 APRIL – 23 JULY / Theatre fans

were treated to National Theatre productions every Thursday at 7pm on the theatre’s youtube channel. Pictured is Shakespeare’s Antony and Cleopatra featuring Ralph Fiennes and Sophie Okonedo.

Also pictured below are: The Glass Hotel

by Emily St John, “a story about crisis, survival and the search for meaning in our lives” – BBC; and You People by Nikita Laiwani, set in a London Pizza restaurant.

20 MARCH / “Murder, Mayhem and Madness”

— Netflix’s Tiger King captivated more than 64 million households in its first four weeks.

The documentary released on 20 March offered a sordid distraction from the pandemic.

// Some Good Hosts

26 APRIL / Matt Lucas kept us

entertained with the debut of his comedy show Reasons to be Cheerful. In May, Matt parodied PM Boris Johnson’s “Stay Alert” message, demonstrating how hilariously confusing the campaign was.

26 APRIL / On youtube John

Krasinski’s Some Good News was the antidote to normal news.

When quarantine denied teens their high school milestones, Krasinski provided a virtual prom with music from the Jonas Brothers and Billie Eilish, and a graduation tribute with wise words from Oprah, Steven Spielberg and John Stewart.

20 APRIL / Stanley Tucci’s

impromptu cocktail class on Instagram became a viral sensation when fans found the mixology host to be très érotique.

27 APRIL / Artist and

broadcaster Grayson Perry CBE RA became the nation’s muse with Grayson’s Art Club on Channel 4. Work by artists featured on the show will be shown in an exhibition at Manchester Art Gallery.

// Extracurricular Activities

drawing

growing tomatoes

making pasta

jigsaw puzzles

learning to play a musical instrument

// #covidcooking

Four things we tried making during lockdown — diets be damned!

1. sourdough bread

2. tot waffles - tater tots or potato crunchies formed into a waffle shape (tasty with ketchup + Sriracha)

3. banana bread

4. whipped coffee 2 tablespoons hot water (28g) 2 tablespoons sugar (24g) 2 tablespoons instant coffee powder (12g) milk, to serve ice, to serve 1. Add the first 3 ingredients to a bowl.

2. Use a hand whisk or an electric mixer to whip until the mixture is fluffy and light.

3. Spoon a dollop into an iced cup of milk and stir.

4. Enjoy!

// Facebook Pages Not being able to see people IRL forced us to connect online…on Facebook pages and within its groups.

View From My Window is a group that lets you peek out another’s

window whilst sitting in your own home.

TWO popular communities bring together Instant Pot users. Another group has fans of maths formulas in common.

MARY BEARD

BERNARDINE EVARISTO

ROB RINDER

26 APRIL / Sky Portrait Artist of the Year

became Portrait Artist of the Week when the creators invited everyone to paint (or draw) every Sunday on Facebook.

26 MARCH / When pubs closed, Jay

Flynn (now MBE) decided to host his pub quizzes on Facebook. Within days over 250,000 people registered, as many as 500,000 have played, and The Virtual Pub Quiz has raised over £700,000 for charities.

// Facebook Groups

27 JUNE 2019 / “A group where we all

pretend to be ants in an ant colony” — the premise behind a private Facebook group started by 20-yr old Tyrese Childs, now commands over 1.9 million “ants.”

28 MARCH / With everyone

staying home, suddenly taking out the rubbish became an occasion to dress up (and keep up with the Joneses on Facebook)!

// TikTok Dance Challenges #savagelove

26 JULY / TikTok’s user-

friendly interface and breezy videos that divert us from our daily lives are two reasons its popularity soared during lockdown.

The platform invites play and collaboration with its #challenges and recording options such as “stitch“ or “duet” (both let users record bits of other users’ videos along with their own).

@THESHILPASHETTY

// Instagram #pillowchallenge

5 APRIL / Hashtags that invite

participation help us connect and relate to others. This fashion #pillowchallenge on Instagram started by @myforteisfashion and @stylebynelli was a perfect example — it prompted people to pose in belted pillows.

// Home Spa

With salons closed for months, personal grooming became a necessity.

// Activism 31 MAY / Thousands

marched for Black Lives Matter all over the UK, echoing the protests against police brutality in the United States sparked by the deaths of Breonna Taylor and George Floyd.

// Fundraising

16 APRIL / Captain* Tom

Moore MBE, a 99-year-old war veteran, aimed to raise £1000 by walking 100 laps around his garden before his birthday on 30 April. He raised over £32 million, and received more than 125,000 birthday cards, including one from the Queen. * He was later knighted and made an honorary Colonel.

20 JUNE / Manchester United footballer

Marcus Rashford MBE penned an open letter to the Government, pleading members of Parliament to reconsider their decision to halt the free school meals program during the school holidays. Within 24 hours, a £120m “ COVID summer food fund” was announced by PM Boris Johnson.

Rashford not only helped raise money but awareness about poverty.

// Zooming

remote learning

remote dinner party

// Outdoor Concerts

5 APRIL – 26 JULY / Every Sunday at 16:00,

neighbours on this street were treated to live music provided by local teens.

// Clap for Carers

26 MARCH – 28 MAY / We applauded NHS and key workers to show appreciation Thursday nights at 20:00.

#facemaskselfie

The main symptoms of COVID-19 are a high temperature, a new, continuous cough and a loss or change to your sense of smell or taste. (source – NHS) For the latest news updates on COVID-19: covid19.who.int coronavirus.data.gov.uk

©2021 written & illustrated by Lana Lê | woolypear.com