At the moment Thursday night at 8 O'Clock is clapping time. It is to say thank you to the people who are doing 'key' jobs to care for everybody else. 'Key' is not that metal thing to shut or open doors but key cos they make sure all humans can 'keep going' - as my human Dad says - while they try to hide from the coronavirus.
The National Health Service is the most important service of all right now - it takes care of all humans' health. Nurses and health care assistants and doctors are the key workers who get close to any human who is sick and try to make them well again. They - and other support people in hospitals - are doing their best to save people from the virus. Some people only get a little bit unwell and can stay at home to get better, but other people have to go to hospital cos they can't breathe cos the virus has attacked their lungs, which are the things we use to breathe. If they stop breathing completely then they die and sadly that is happening to a lot of people. But some are also saved by breathing machines that make sure they get enough oxygen so their lungs get better and then they can breathe again for themselves. The nurses and health care assistants and doctors and anyone going close to them have to wear coverings on their faces and bodies and hands to try to stop the virus attacking them. Many people are cross and upset cos there have not been enough of these coverings and some nurses and doctors and health care assistants have died too.
The people who are key in hospitals in hospitals also need to get to the hospitals so they need ways of getting there if it is too far to walk so another lot of key workers are the people who drive buses or trains that go from homes to hospitals.
Cos many people - in fact all people who aren't key workers - have been told to stay at home, and some of those told to stay at home have illnesses already and they can't go out at all - then they need things brought to them so they can eat and drink and 'keep going' too. That means another lot of humans are key - those ones bringing that food and drink and other things people - and all the animals living with them - need to stay alive and well. They are called delivery people and they have been extra busy cos more people than those who have to stay at home have asked them to bring them things and that has meant it's been very difficult for the people who have been told not to go out at all to get everything they need. The delivery people have to go to lots of homes and that means being near lots of people, and even though they keep a long human distance apart, they still might be more at risk of the virus attacking them.
There are also key workers who bring letters and other things to people's homes and they have to keep working too cos people are still sending things to each other and that's good cos it makes people feel good to get things especially from loved ones they can't be close to at the moment.
People who clean are very important cos cleaning helps stop the virus from being on things and getting onto people when they touch those things. Cos they might still touch things with the virus on people have to keep cleaning their hands too. And then the rubbish needs to be taken away so people called 'bin men' are also key.
For people who can go to the shops to get their food then another lot of key workers have to be in those shops to put food on the shelves and help those people pay for their food before they can take it home.
To 'keep going' many people - and animals too - need 'pills and potions' - as my human Mum calls them - to make their bodies work properly - so another lot of key workers called pharmacists have to give those out and human doctors called GPs and animal doctors called vets have to be key working too to tell them pharmacists to give the 'pills and potions'.
Then there are people who have to go around and look at what other people are doing outside and if they are getting together with lots of them and not staying a long human distance apart, or of they are not exercising or with other people from their home, but playing games or sitting in the sun, then those key workers - who are called police - have to ask them to 'move on' or 'go home' and if they don't do that they have to pay money to the police.
Some people who are old or also not very well are called vulnerable and need key workers to care for them - those workers are called carers and they need coverings to protect them cos like the nurses and doctors and health care assistants in hospitals and the vulnerable people they are looking after, they may get more of the virus attacking them and be less able to fight it away.
All those key workers that I've already written about need other key workers to look after their children if they have them.
And then there are the people who are supposed to look after the country and everybody in it and they tell everybody else what to do, though many people think they haven't told people the right thing to do at the right time, so the virus has managed to hurt more people. So I don't know if those people - who are called members of parliament cos they sit on parliament, except not now - are key workers cos they may not be keeping the country going very well.
After humans have all kept going so much that the virus is no longer attacking people and key workers called scientists have found a way to stop it - then I think all these key workers need special treats - I'd like lots of Babybel cheese but I think they would like more money cos they don't get very much.
Until then keep clapping at 8 O'Clock on Thursday nights.
Love and licks, Emma and Ted XOXOXOXOXOXOXOX
To read my other stories please visit my blog http://tedterrier.blogspot.co.uk/ or you can get my books, The Journal of Ted Terrier, The Second Journal of Ted Terrier and The Third Journal of Ted Terrier – with different pictures and stories - from any amazon website: http://tinyurl.com/q6a49tx (First One in Colour) at .com or http://tinyurl.com/o3pjra8 (First One in Colour), http://tinyurl.com/jxegs3b (Second One) and http://tinyurl.com/jnyjpy3 (Third One) at .co.uk or read about it as well as other dog books at http://wooftasticbooks.com/…/11/26/the-journal-of-ted-terr…/ .
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