Coronavirus caravanners not welcome

For one passenger and no cars

We've been doing self-isolation in the UK for a week now, it's felt like a string of Church of Scotland Sundays.

The village shop / post office is doing a sterling job supplying the basics but I had to go to Tobermory yesterday for fresh fruit and veg. On a normal Saturday morning at this time of year a dozen or so villagers are waiting for the ferry. Yesterday I was on my own.... I had the ferry to myself for the 35 minute journey both there and back.

In Tobermory the Co-op supermarket was allowing 6 or 7 people inside at a time to protect staff and customers, the main street was almost deserted and people were careful to maintain two metres separation from each other.

Yesterday we had had a total of 33 confirmed cases of Covid19 in the Highland Region; not surprising that it's relatively low,  we have probably the lowest population density in the UK, 9 persons per square kilometre and even fewer here on the peninsula.

I'm told there are 700 inhabitants between the lighthouse and Salen, the next village, 30 km away. If the peninsula is on average 5 km wide that's roughly 150 sq km, 4.5 persons per sq km, about the same as Lapland.

It you think I'm wrong feel free to comment, it's something for you to do in quarantine.

Queuing for the supermarket

Having distance between us is normal compared with the London Underground, Glasgow and New York. London has almost 4,000 people per sq km. So perhaps it's easier to keep 2 metres apart when we meet here.

Last week after the movement restrictions were announced we had a lemming like migration of motor caravans from the South, refugees from Covid-19, mainly with white haired, bearded drivers like myself, in the "vulnerable" Over 70, crumbly" category. They were not welcome;.. think about it..,.,.

In normal times our health services here in the Highlands are overstretched because of distance and scarcity of resources. If one of these people had a heart attack or symptoms of Covid-19 that could occupy the ambulance service or the helicopter for at least half a day. Our nearest major hospital is in Inverness and it looks after people from here to Shetland. N. Shetland is nearer to Oslo then Aberdeen by the way.

Tourism is the main source of income in the Highlands and everyone is welcome in normal times. But not at the moment.

P.S.  

I should have added that there were no cars on the ferry. Currently only the vehicles of Isle of Mull residents are allowed on to the island except for those of essential workers and for the delivery of essential supplies. You may be asked to show your driver's licence as this has your permanent residential address. The same applies to all of the islands and the Ardnamurchan Peninsula at Corran Ferry.