21 Mar, 2020 @ 19:10
1 min read

London diaries day one – How the UK differs from Spain in its fight against coronavirus

Keep Calm

BORIS Johnson may have finally got the memo that coronavirus affects the UK as well and has finally acted upon it.

European countries such as Spain, may have had a strict lockdown enforced since Monday morning, but Number 10 is still not taking all the measures necessary to ‘turn the tide’ in the battle against the virus.

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STRIPPED: Nothing to see here

Why though? Why are the two countries taking such different approaches on tackling the pandemic?

I’ve been trapped in the British capital for a few days now, as my flight back on Monday was cancelled and the rescheduled flight for next weekend has now also been cancelled.

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EMPTY: Nothing left

Up until yesterday everything seemed so very British – ‘Keep calm and carry on’.

The PM however yesterday, after all the schools in the country were told to close, made a speech at 5pm GMT to order the closure of pubs, restaurants, gyms, theatres, cinemas and pretty much any place people can socialise indoors.

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APOCALYPSE: The supermarket looked like a scene from The Walking Dead

What does that look like?

Last night all the pubs around my area in West London were packed like a classic Friday night. 

‘Last Orders’ is what many other media outlets have used as a headline for their stories on people still going out last night.

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BARE: At least one Dolmio sauce is left

As someone who takes the threat of Covid-19 seriously, I’ve spent the entire week at home self-isolating, as if I was in my flat on the Costa del Sol.

So yesterday as a treat to myself, I decided to pick up a pizza from Dominos. 

Little did I know that the popular pizza place would also be swamped, just like any other Friday night.

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BREADLESS: Tescos also didn’t have any bread left

‘Keep calm and carry on,’ I thought, nothing is ever going to change is it?

That’s until I went to the supermarket and saw EVERYTHING gone. 

I’d heard rumours that people were bulk buying, but I didn’t expect a Morrisons store, in one of the biggest cities in the world, to be so empty.

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CRAZE: At least they left the paper trays

Maybe Londoners are more worried about this virus than they let outsiders think.

Stay tuned to see how things develop in the city that’s used to experiencing tragedies and just brushing them off and marching on.

Dimitris Kouimtsidis

GOT A STORY? Contact me now: dimitris@theolivepress.es or call +34 951 273 575 or +44 75 358 167 18. Twitter: @dkouimtsidis.
Dimitris has a BA in History from the University of Leeds and an MA in Journalism (Sports) from the University of Lincoln.
He joined the Olive Press team as a journalist in January 2020.

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