COVID 11 -The doctor

I am a doctor doing my rounds
On the Corona virus ground
In the infectious diseases ward
Its early morning when I get there
I smile and say hello to the cleaner
They have been keeping hygiene at a premium
I ask her are you afraid at all,
She leans against a wall
And says I have a job to do its all the same
We are all in this together, the managers can deal
With every eventuality
Then she just picks up her mop, gets on with her job,
And then she stops, and says I mean, I do this for my family

I walk into the staff room where the nurses are chatting
There is a buzz of excitement as they hear the news
There is another announcement, by the Minister for Health
In the government
We are going to give the NHS all the help it needs, he says
What with the ventilators, the face masks, we are facilitators
We're going to curb the impact on hospitals
Yes there will be a rise in cases, its up two hundred two days later
Now everyone must stay in side

The staff they all look hopeful, and they think
The ward will cope when full, but remember days
Under foreign skies, and the jubilance will be gone
I predict in two weeks to come, by which time
We will be believe no more politicians lies

Already the hospital has ordered masks from the government
And ventilators are being put on trial,
But I have little faith in official promises
I need real world solutions, if they are going to bring them
Let it be now
Already patients are dying, and carriers are crying
Our nurses are fighting on the frontline
And where is their protection
Ok we are used to working with infection
But we see the most severe cases then go back to our home lives
Where our partners are home looking after the children
Because they are off from school
But I don't know if I'm infecting them all
Just the same
There needs to be more rigorous testing
And for people to keep in isolation
Only then it seems we will stand a chance to stay alive

While I wash my hands I count the seconds sing the song twice - Happy Birthday
Well I prefer Gloria Gaynor's version I will survive

COVID 10 - The Child

I am a kid and I'm staying indoors
I'm gonna leap on the furniture and slide on the floors
I will climb up the curtains and scale my bunk
And eat what I like while I watch any old junk
On television screens that make my eyes bulge
Like my sister and brother we're going to indulge
Oh the pleasures of life when you're away from school
I imagined I might live without any rule
But with my father I fight, and with my brother I brawl
And my sister shows me spite, while my mother she is cruel
Oh what have I done to deserve a family like these
I'd rather take flight be on a ship on rough seas
There is one for your money, and two for your looks
And I can get no honey with my head buried in books
But I can't go out, no I don't meet my friends
And its a longtime to stay stout, when will these tortures end?

COVID 9 - MAN and WOMAN

COVID man versus COVID woman
Man:
Who knew? Men like to risk it for a biscuit
I do too, yes I will run, so should you
We have a god-given right to exercise
Despite any curfew
Stay in your homes they say, hooray!
Well that is fine if you're a woman
You are used to these home comforts
Us men should be out in the open
You know getting our fill of Nature's bill
Hunting and killing the lion
Putting food on the table,
No, never mind the label
I don't mean we like going shopping
I mean we are the Bread winners aren't we?
We must make pay dirt, we have to fill
Our pipes and get started upholding the economy
If we stop so does the industry
And there are not enough in reserves to kick start it
So better be smart kid, keep going out in it
Come rain or hail or government brutality

But I mean come on we are all afraid are n't we?
It takes a man to admit that honestly
But what do you expect of me, give up just quit?
Why should I listen to their Authority!

Woman:
Why must you always try to break the rules?
If half the people in the country acted like you
There'd be no separation no one would stay in doors
And the virus would spread more and more
Why must you always push the boundaries
You want to be told off or reprimanded?
You Want to go to prison or pay a hefty fine?
Then carry on with your running, it is organized crime

You know I heard on the Radio more men than women die of COVID
It is the case that women have better immunology, they have two XXs see
In their chromosomes it is clear in our DNA
Where as men are XY it means they go astray
Its like they are right only half the time
The rest of the time they are just asking Why?
Why Y? Why X? It all is a mess, all I know is
Its in our biology - women therefore, without doubt, furthermore
Are right all of the time!

MAN:
Ah slight correction - where would women be without men?
Stuck in a cave somewhere still eating berries! There's no
hunter spirit, killer instinct that a man has for innovation
He left his cave to hunt it took him all the way to the moon
That is why it was one Giant leap for Mankind


WOMAN: Oh you are insufferable! What do you think would have happened to the children
While the man was out playing the hero, if the woman did not clothe and feed them?
Their berries nuts and fruit provided most of the essential nutrients
Without women humanity wouldn't have gone anywhere - forget the moon
They would n't have made it passed the camp fire!
And have you never heard necessity is the 'Mother of Invention' not the Father!
Making do when you have ought, that is what it is all about

And what about this after this crisis is over - there will be fewer men in the country,
So who do think will be running things then hey?
Yes that's right - THE WOMEN!

COVID 8 -The Old Woman

I am an old woman now,
I know I don't have long to live,
I've been walking up this cobbled road
All my life, I even feel like I am one of these cobbles
Rounded and worn down by life and its wheels
Worn to a shine, down to my essence
But still hard
Yet this thing that comes on the wind makes me afraid
Makes others like me too,
People I have known all my life cross over to avoid me,
And I feel cold now and alone
I draw my shawl up over my head and face to conceal my mouth
Only my eyes see out
Oh in my eyes I could be young, I have hope and joy at life
My life is worth no less than theirs because they are young
I still cling to life, or perhaps it clings to me
This Corona Virus is not the worst thing I have seen
I've lived through the war
Humanity has been through tough times
And it will come through, though
Not everyone will make it
I doubt I shall, but I cling on

It is ten in the morning and I am making my way out
To do my shopping in a small town on the outskirts of Rome
You used hear the buzz and hum of the city machinery cars and all sorts
Going on, this was rush hour, busy business time
Now it is just us old foggies who are allowed out to do our shopping

I go in the shop with some trepidation,
The shop assistants turn around masks cover their visages, like some muslim women I think concealing their beauty, just their eyes, but they are welcoming enough, a little haggard in their carriage perhaps
Just then an old man brushes against me, out of the way he says
No manners I think, but then I notice they are all at it reaching up here there and everywhere
for to grab and buy, the shelves are clearing out
I try not to panic - stay calm I tell myself, just breath and walk,
I slowly advance trying my best to avoid the crazy actions of other customers,
An old woman is freaking out screaming at her husband to get this and that and hurry up about it

Half an hour later I stagger out of the swelter, of moist breath
Warm shop atmosphere
And breathe clear air, fresh air, I don't know
But I am on my own now
At last, squirrel scurries up into a tree
Self-isolating too? Nature has that down to a T
But what of me? I give a little cough
A bystander takes a side step away
And I can't feel sorry for myself
I'm too old for that I say, almost out loud
I walk on along the cobbled road
Pass the one way sign
That says wrong way
Turn back

COVID 7-The Cruise Ship House Keeper

The cruise ship is busy this morning,
Oh sure I'm on house keeping - lowly job you say
But you see, I see it all, the rise and the fall
Of the Rich and Famous
Of course some of them come here to get away,
Just your honest to a dozen good eggs, worked hard all their life time
To get this break, this tour
Then there are your millionnaire types, come here switch off, zone out
Lean back on the casino couch, and shower the good time gals with gin
That's the sin, it's not the money, its the greed
Its the blasé way they walk about
Money doesn't make him better than me
When we're at sea, we're all the same
No Jimmy we're not all the same there's this hierarchy of class on board
And we are the servants, they are the masters
That's the way it has always been

Ok well you know I'm giving my answer
Anyway I've seen things, would make your eyes bulge
Here's the thing little Li Yan in number 14 she's the concierge
She meets and greets all the passengers, they go to her with their complaints
I mean she must have broad shoulders for the things that they say
They want Luxury treatment see all the way
Real high standards, none of your third class lark
This is serious business these are luxury sharks

Anyway I was getting distracted, turning pages
Thinking my God this is boring this voyage is
Taking ages
And suddenly someone is vomitting in the bathroom
I step out the way just in time to avoid a dousing
In the avalanche of chunder
Next hour
There are complaints coming in to Mrs Li Yan
Another American taken to their bed, something must be done
Self isolation is her decree, contain, contain lock the cabin door
No one goes in or out except you and the doctor see
Change the bed sheets, make them comfortable
But for God sakes wear a face mask,
Yeah good one Mrs Yan, as if that is gonna help at all
Just do it Jimmy, I say alright
Next time I see her, I get a fright
She's pale as a ghost, with the lights turned out
She tells me return to my post, I do so in doubt
Where did this come from, now this is the ship from hell
Some infection that we're in the grip of
Is leading us well
Who knows where I'm not sure I do
Except for Japan
By that time will I care?

COVID 6 - The Virus containment team member 9 Wuhan

Its like the black death
Bring out your dead, they call, they call,
I'm in a bright yellow hazmat overall
Face mask covers me
Its been 5 days since the outbreak
So many people crying from behind walls
Wailling
Like the sirens of the ambulances through the day
Police sirens at night keeping angry mobs at bay
But we trust in our government - there is a strict
Chain of command, I do my job
I'm my bosses right hand,
He is his boss's all the way to the top
The Chairman stands untouchable above them all

He is God, this virus can't touch him
But what if it was sent by God to punish us for our sins?
What if? What if? That's crazy talk head down just do my job
No time to talk, "Bring out your dead" they cry again
I knock on the door of the nearest house
Ministry of Public Health to investigate Madam
May we come?
We go in any way, it is a scene of decay
She has hardly slept, only wept
Her baby lies still in the throes of death
Her husband is blue, vomiting in the corner
Lock it down I shout, and call the coroner
Coroner he says back don't you mean Corona?
I say ' You are sick Mr Chan for the sake of your wife and daughter
Come with me now
He follows me out like a walking Zombie
This is Zombie town, or it will be in about 24 hrs
There's no way out, half of them will get it, maybe me too
Oh Mother Oh chairman, what am I to do?

COVID 5 - The Live animal delivery team

Terry and boss:
Boss - We have another drop off, Terry- at the docks
 Terry - But boss, I don't feel so well now boss
I'm on my last legs
Boss - Pull yourself together man, its just man flu,
T - look over there at Mrs Choo
She's got it too
B - Its just a coincidence see Mr Wan he's a man
He's fighting on, he's strong so must you
Now step your shoe on the gas and let's get going

Down at the docks they take stock of the situation
B -The ships will be sailing soon Terry
So must you get on unload the wagon
Wheel it up on board that dragon
She will be smoking soon no flaggin'
Well on her way to the Middle Eastern Tavern