Hi Everyone,

Thanks for the kind words, thoughts and prayers that have come our way, directed to Karen and I during our quarantine period. To confirm, yes, Michael is indeed COVID-positive and Karen, mercifully, is COVID-negative (and totally well), and is isolating from me in a separate part of the house. My symptoms have been relatively mild and seem to be slowly improving:- initially a lot of trouble sleeping, with resultant fatigue and lethargy; a “thick” head and sore eyes; initially lowered blood oxygen saturation (we bought a cutesy pulse oximeter) that has now much improved; and occasionally feelings of light-headedness. The most difficult part, frankly, is the need for Karen and I to remain separated in our own house; this is pretty tough. I am managing to do some work from home, but I have had to be mindful of overdoing things and potentially impeding my recovery. Hopefully, by the time I reach the final and tenth day of quarantine (Karen gets out of gaol in a mere 7 days!) on Tuesday 15^th February, I will be back to firing on all cylinders. A special thanks to Adrian Brown for stepping in this Sunday at very short notice. I look forward to seeing you all soon.

Michael Dowling