Six North East people on life during a winter lockdown
| Date | 24 December 2020 |
| Published date | 24 December 2020 |
| Publication title | Evening Chronicle |
Now, as part of the campaign, we are featuring the 'COVID Diaries' of six people from different parts of the region and different walks of life.
They are candidly sharing their experiences of Tier 3, lockdown Christmas and COVID compliance, the difficulties and challenges and also their firm belief that we must continue to follow the rules to beat COVID-19 as a region.
Dave Langley 55-YEAR-OLD Dave Langley is a clinical care manager for North East Ambulance Service, based at Pallion. In this role, he is a frontline manager for emergency ambulance crews, a job he's done for 34-years. He lives in South Shields, with his partner, Denise, who is a nurse on a COVID-19 ward.
"Our home is busy and happy. My partner and I both have children, and Denise recently became a greatgrandmother - our place is lively and energetic.
Because we help care for the younger members of the family when we're not working, we are vigilant about not bringing the virus into our home, especially given what we do.
In my job, I am all too aware of the risks of all kinds of illness but COVID is something that's completely blown my mind. I have seen it affect many different people in so many ways.
It's the unknown that drives fear around COVID. You can't see it, you can't touch it, you can't smell it. We can't pinpoint where it is. Some people don't even get any symptoms and can pass it on without realising. This is why all the precautions and minimising physical contact is so important.
It is upsetting, but the fact is, the less contact we physically have with people, the less we're likely to catch the virus. If everyone minimised their contact as much as possible, then we will see infection rates continue to drop and, as a knock-on effect, take a step closer to normality.
I do think the people of the North East are trying their hardest to stick to the rules. The hospitals, although busy, have coped. There are good reasons for this: people are sanitising, they're wearing masks, they're trying to keep their distance. All the things we're being told to do, that you feel are being repeated over and over again, they are so important.
Let's continue fighting the good fight. Let's respect the rules, as confining as they are. We must try and keep this virus at bay until, hopefully, the vaccines kick in and do the world a huge favour."
Jaswinder Singh JASWINDER (Jas as he's known to his friends) Singh works as a bus driver for Go North East and can often be seen driving routes around Sunderland and County Durham. Jas lives in Murton, Seaham with his wife Kamal and six year-old son Mann. He's a huge football fan and enjoys cycling along the seafront and trips to the park with his family.
"So much has changed in everyone's day-to-day lives and at work, in the Bus Interchange, we all now wear face masks and social distance. We...
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