We have lived in lockdown for 100 days, life before March 24 a distant memory. “Normal” life now means accepting that a trip to the shops means standing, face hidden under a mask, in a socially-distanced queue, or working from home, while home-schooling the kids, or keeping in touch with colleagues and loved-ones on Zoom calls.
Things we took for granted – the night out at the pub, trip to the cinema, mini-break in a European capital – belong in the past.
Even our vocabulary has changed, words like shielding, self-isolation, the R number and lockdown itself now common. The Oxford English Dictionary added 20 coronavirus words, including “elbow bump”, in April.