We last left the island nineteen months ago!
That’s 578 days since we saw our family and friends. 578 days since our last Big Mac, our last shopping trip and our last pint in a pub. We have all made huge sacrifices and missed the people we love and things we love to do since the pandemic first appeared at the start of 2020. As restrictions are lifting we are looking back on the last nineteen months with gratitude and looking forward to catching up with life outside our safe haven.
We appreciate that we had a much easier experience of 2020-21 than many of you will have done. Due to the low infection rates the Scottish islands have consistently been in the lowest level of lockdown which has meant it has almost been “Business as Usual” here whilst chaos reigned all around us. However, the Hebridean Islands have faced unique challenges during the pandemic. In 2018 the Outer Hebrides was identified as having one of the oldest populations in Scotland; 38% of the population of Harris are over 60 years old. This is the highest risk age group for becoming seriously ill from Coronavirus. Many vulnerable people live miles from the nearest hospital (some even on neighbouring islands) and health care resources here are limited. It has been a worrying time but the islanders response has been amazing.
In March 2020, at the start of the first national lockdown it was announced that ferries and flights would be limited to essential travel only. This protected the islands from the huge surge of cases that affected other areas of Britain in the first wave of the virus. The community shop where I work took the unusual decision to close to our customers during the first lockdown. Our staff and volunteers shopped for our customers and delivered their shopping straight to their home or their car so nobody needed to have contact outside their household. We were inundated with offers of help; people offered to deliver shopping to their neighbours, local kids made us colourful artwork for the windows, our customers and local businesses made treats, others delivered locally made hand sanitiser and restaurants sent us lunches. In such an uncertain situation and with so many vulnerable customers we felt that the extra work was worth it and our customers were so grateful. We were equally grateful that we could do something to help. It was a scary time but it showed community spirit at its best.
During this time Harris was probably the safest place to live in Britain. However we still strictly followed the rules of social distancing, wearing masks and sanitising hands. We were lucky that during the second lockdown, in September last year, an exemption was made for the islands which meant we could meet with small numbers of friends in our homes. Most public meeting places such as cafes and restaurants close in Harris during the winter months and meeting outside would have been very challenging given the Hebridean weather!
We did still ‘suffer’ some of the same COVID problems you may have experienced. Shops ran out of toilet roll, bread and rice however, people here didn’t panic buy or resort to supermarket rage. The shops shelves being empty are a fairly common sight in Harris during a stormy winter spell. In a normal Hebridean winter freight ferry crossings can be cancelled for days at a time and when you live over fifty miles from the supermarket you tend to stock up anyway.
Every day since the very start of the pandemic the Chief Executive of NHS Western Isles Gordon Jamieson has recorded an update for the island communities. Despite the fact that for so many days, weeks and even months we had no COVID cases, advice and reassurance has been delivered every day without fail and is shared on social media and talked about in shops. In Harris we have fortunately only had a handful of confirmed cases of COVID throughout the pandemic and by mid June NHS Western Isles had vaccinated 91% of the eligible population (the highest percentage in Scotland) Amazingly there were no cases of COVID in Harris in 2020, however last month, as restrictions were eased, the first Harris cluster was reported. Unfortunately our family became part of the statistics about three weeks ago when we found out Sarah had COVID-19. Unfortunately she was not old enough to be get her vaccination but thankfully after a short illness she returned to full health.
So this is the longest time we have gone without getting “off the rock” but we have never felt marooned here. We have felt an enormous comfort in being in a place where we know everyone and people are so considerate to each other. When we moved to Harris in 2014 we yearned for the buzz of life off the island but as the years have passed we have realised that there is nothing we need or want away from here. We have realised that we miss no-thing
but of course we have missed the people we have been separated from terribly.
The storm seems to be passing and we are cautiously venturing away from our sheltered port. As soon as we have had a pint in a pub and hugged our friends and family we will be back with an even greater appreciation of our amazing island home.
