I sat down with my mum – 95-years-old, in case you missed the earlier post – today and explained the epidemic to her in blunt terms.

We have long since reversed the parent-offspring role – I even tell her to turn the volume of her radio down from time to time, which brings back memories – so she’s used to me lecturing her. She seemed to take it all in but I fear she will have forgotten within a matter of hours if she hasn’t done so already.

She coughs a lot, especially at night and in the morning, which is worrying, but she has done so for some time. She shows no sign of fever, however, and says “It’s just a tickle”. At that age it’s difficult to tell what is normal and what is exceptional with this sort of thing.

People seem to be getting into the swing of confinement.

No singing from the balconies around here but yesterday afternoon I heard shouting coming from the road at the bottom of the courtyard. At first I thought it was someone arguing with the police but it turned out to be a couple of residents of a block of flats having a high-volume chat from their windows. I waved. They didn’t see me.

Our neighbour, Marianne, tells me that one of her friends has caught the virus. She’s 63 but did not have a severe attack, apparently she only felt really bad for one day. But she has to self-isolate, so Marianne had to go and collect her sick note – dropped out of the window – and send it to her employers.  I know French officialdom is really picky about paperwork, but I’m not sure that they would have insisted on les délais in this instance.

Marianne’s conclusion of her friend’s relatively easy ride is that she doesn’t have to worry too much but that I have to be careful because of Mum.

I can’t help thinking of nightmare scenarios if either or both of us catch it.

Have you been reading the helpful tips from newspapers, magazines etc on how to handle isolation?

Elle in French had an article explaining why we shouldn’t just eat pasta yesterday, which seems a little obvious. Today someone is telling us how to bake our own bread in an oven, which might prove more useful.

Today’s Coronavirus questions:

• How many times a day can you wash your hand without actually rubbing away the skin?
• Can you believe how many times you want to touch your face?
• Is it better to be confined on an overcast day, when the grey sky adds to your isolated gloom, or a sunny day, which really makes you want to go outside and enjoy the spring?

Spring is here in France. It looks as if we’re going to miss it.