What a month!
Apologies for not checking in during May, but it was a very busy one for myself and Shelly, I'll tell you more about that a bit later.
There is big COVID-19 news on the island. We spent the whole of May at Level Orange on the island’s COVID-19 threat scale, meaning there were positive cases on the island but contained in isolation. I believe there were two cases onboard the runway project aggregate vessel and then there were two more that arrived on one of the military flights. The real news, however, that has raised alarm bells for a large proportion of the population is that Ascension is transitioning to 'Living with COVID-19' from the 1st of August. New arrivals will no longer have to isolate on arrival and will only have to test themselves before their flight to the island if the airline they are travelling on requires it. If you are not feeling well when you arrive you will have to notify the island's medical services who will provide you with a Lateral Flow Test, if you are then tested positive you would be asked to isolate until you return a negative test. Although if you are seen as a key worker for your employer and feel well enough to work, they will have measures in place for you to continue working safely. The initial guidelines are for a 6-8 week period where it is expected that most of the population would have caught and recovered from the virus. 1st of August was chosen as the date for 'opening' the island as there will be almost a third of the island's population leaving for school holidays which would make the outbreak more manageable. Islanders will be advised to follow good hygiene and wear masks but it will not be enforced by law. The fine details are still being worked on but the island government will provide guidelines for the employers to interpret to suit them and their business needs. The hope is that the island will have another round of boosters before the 1st of August to try and keep the symptoms of the virus as mild as possible. The Senior Medical Officer has started to hold meetings with the different organisations so their staff are kept informed of the plans, I'll keep you updated with what is being planned as and when the public is informed.
I've not managed to get much info regarding the runway project for a few weeks. I am hoping for another tour as I believe they have started asphalting. Unloading of the aggregate vessels is still taking place, they are now coming to the end of this part of the project with only a few more vessels to arrive.
Today is a Public Holiday and the island is recovering from 4 days of Platinum Jubilee celebrations, with the finale being a Street Party in the town square with a brilliant firework display in the evening.
Thursday, there was the lighting of the Jubilee Beacon up at what is now known as Jubilee View, to you older readers you will probably know it as the Governor's Lodge or Scouts Lodge.
Friday, the Chuch held a Thanksgiving service. There was an Art and Craft exhibition at the Saint's Club Hall (Georgetown Cinema) and then a Float Parade around the island, the effort that was put into making the floats was amazing and looked even better during the night when they were all lit up.
Saturday, the Administrator held a reception at the Residency for the Queen's Birthday and then Sunday we saw the Street Party rounding off an amazing long weekend.
Keep an eye on our social media platforms, we'll have pics up soon.
The last of the news we have to share before finishing this post is to tell you why we have been quiet on all of our platforms. Well, we have welcomed into the world, Ascension's newest and youngest islander. Mum and baby are doing great, he is just over a week old now and is everything we could have asked for. So keep an eye out, sometime shortly you will start seeing the newest member of the Into The Big World team make his official appearance on our posts :)