Posts From The Pandemic No.2: Locked Down In Camden Town

Since making this video things have got worse. I did eventually manage to get out of the house – to do something urgent – and when I got back my mum made me clean my bag and milkshake bottle with a sponge covered in bleach. I then had to take off all my clothes and put them in the washing machine, and then take a shower. Then after the shower, before I was allowed in my room, I had to apply hand sanitiser again!  But there is of a serious side to my parents’ concerns. We come from a tight Kurdish community, and two of the 144 deaths in London so far have been Kurds. The second of them was Hayri Ergönül, who arrived in London in the 90s from a village called Gözpınar in the Turkish part of Kurdistan. He died In the North Middlesex Hospital in Edmonton after a week in intensive care, and he was only 51. Although my parents were not close to him, they were acquainted, and it was hearing of his death that sent my mother into a panic. From then on they have not wanted me or my bother to leave the house, even – in my brother’s case – to start a new job. So I understand what’s going on, but it makes the atmosphere at home kind of crazy. The latest rule is that I am not allowed any closer than 3m to my parents! And this is only day three of this family lockdown. What will it be like after seven days? Watch this (crowded) space…