‘I always knew this was the way I was going to die – in my home, all alone.’ I’d just broken the bad news to my 54-year old patient Mary that she has to self-isolate after contracting a new cough and fever, and I’m concerned for her. Despite her background of anxiety and depression, she’s been stable for a number of years. She’s relapsing – and she’s not the only one. 

Most patients I’m seeing now are anxious about their health, their livelihood, and their inability to pick up fundamentals like over-the-counter medicine because of stockpiling.  As frontline GPs, we’ve been facing an uphill battle with mental health for some time, but Covid-19 has exacerbated this significantly. An increased number of patients present daily with symptoms that indicate that they are stressed, anxious and becoming increasingly depressed.

The rural luxury rental market has “gone mad” as affluent Londoners scramble to escape the capital, willing to pay vastly inflated sums to secure the best properties.

Holiday letting companies are struggling to keep up with a surge in enquiries for coastal or countryside properties as city-dwellers move to escape the crowds and self-isolate “comfortably” with plenty of space.

Experts reported frenetic activity in the past few days as families desperately try to secure desirable properties ahead of a possible lockdown.

The most popular locations for those seeking to escape the capital, as well as those who have had forthcoming skiing and Easter breaks cancelled, include the Cotswolds, Norfolk, Devon and Cornwall and the Lake District….