A country shattered by COVID-19 has been brought together to celebrate the kind actions of a 100-year-old hero
A 100-year-old army veteran who walked 100 laps of his garden to raise money for the UK’s National Health Service has raised the spirits of Britons amid the misery of COVID-19.
News
Don't miss out on the headlines from News. Followed categories will be added to My News.
The Queen sends out quite a few 100th birthday cards each year, but none have been as anticipated as the one she sent to an army veteran who has transfixed Britain.
Captain Tom Moore was promoted to Colonel this week to celebrate his century.
His daily walks that have raised $A60 million and have lifted the spirits of the UK as the coronavirus pandemic rages on.
The civil engineer who fought in Burma and India during the WWII has saved his best work for last, inspiring a nation that quite frankly is enduring a grim time.
His birthday made the front pages of national newspapers this week, along with the birth of Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s new baby boy.
The newly minted Colonel Moore proudly showed off his letter from the Queen – he feared that it may not come because the Royal Mail has been under the pump.
The bright spot from the veteran who raised millions by walking 100 laps of his garden in Bedfordshire was the tonic that the UK needed.
Mr Johnson revealed this week that people will be encouraged to wear face masks when lockdown ends – but he will not tell us when that will be.
Many people already are wearing all manner of face coverings, from surgical type masks to homemade scarfs.
A trip to the supermarket this week was bleak. After waiting more than 20 minutes to get in, people were tense.
An indecisive woman in a face mask copped a spray from another customer for picking up items without buying them.
It felt a little bit like the moments after people are thrown out of a nightclub when it closes at 3am, where anything could happen.
The reality of the pandemic has been hitting home, with the death toll soaring this week to more than 26,000 when the deaths in care homes were added into the tally.
There’s a battle going on now, with people starting to slip in their lockdown discipline.
Traffic has increased on the roads and there are more people down on the high street, even though pubs, cafes and hairdressers remain shut.
I bravely, or perhaps unwisely, let my five-year-old cut my hair this week.
He needs a bit of practice.
The clippers I had hoped would be delivered did not come so I had to shave my head with a razor I normally use for my face.
The look helped people steer clear when I was at the supermarket.
The UK has passed the peak of coronavirus though, and trials on a vaccine at Oxford University have made significant progress.
An app similar to Australia’s COVIDSafe App was due to be rolled out, so there were some bright spots.
The nation will be gearing up for VE day next week, with the Queen due to lead events and a nationwide singalong of Vera Lynn’s We’ll Meet Again.
The war time imagery that has been used to rally spirits in these dark days have not been misplaced – more people have died of coronavirus than those who perished in the height of the London blitz in 1940.
I wished they had cancelled flights from China here like they did in Australia in January.
stephen.drill@news.co.uk
Originally published as A country shattered by COVID-19 has been brought together to celebrate the kind actions of a 100-year-old hero
Even sports heroes feel the sting from social media trolls
Football star Brayden Maynard reveals the most common reason why social media trolls target him, admitting “it can get a little bit scary sometimes”.
Newspoll: Coalition takes lead over Labor
The Coalition now leads Labor on a two-party-preferred basis for the first time since the May 2022 election in a boost for Peter Dutton as Anthony Albanese’s approval ratings hit a new low.