From a scientific perspective, I'm beyond amazed at the amount of high-quality research that is being conducted on SARS-CoV-2, from epidemiology (who gets infected, and where) to molecular biology (identification and modelling of different drug targets in an attempt to develop an optimal antiviral agent/vaccine) studies, and I feel that clinicians now have a much better handle on how to treat patients suffering from COVID-19 - this pathogen has brought out the best in the scientific community, and I'm hopeful that effective drug therapies and vaccine candidates will be available for all to use very soon. In this regard, some countries are still experiencing extremely high numbers of infectious cases, and it is so sad to see. The politicization of this pandemic, although inevitable and not even remotely surprising in the current febrile climate, is entirely unhelpful and showcases the worst of humanity; there's so much noise and disagreement and political point-scoring, and sometimes it honestly feels like everyone in charge has lost the run of themselves. At the moment, I prefer to concentrate on the positive research that's being carried out and have almost entirely stopped watching and reading the news. I don't think I'm alone in this; at a certain point we have to get on with our lives and fear and worry is only counterproductive - as individuals and collectively, the best thing we can do is stay physically and emotionally healthy. This COVID-19 pandemic may take some time to get to grips with; after such a difficult lockdown period we should now focus on replenishing our reserves of stamina and (safely!) spend plenty of time with the people we love the most and doing the things that make us happy...
Finally, on a more frivolous note, I obtained new glasses (see the photo at the top) today! I've worn glasses for years but my eyes have been feeling particularly battered over the last month or two (too much computering and reading in dim light) and I decided during lockdown that my first outing proper would be to get my eyes tested. This all happened and now I've collected my new glasses and I love them... they're probably not the most professional-looking but they're super-comfy; the lenses also have a special coating that's apparently kind to the eyes when working on computers, and everything in my field of vision is now tinged with a soft, calming yellow. [My second outing was to my dentist for a check-up and clean, which also involved an impromptu, quite emotional filling... as you can imagine, this wasn't nearly as much fun as my new glasses.]