When thinking over what to write in these fortnightly columns I try to write something different to the previous one.

But in this strange period, where very little seems to change in the space of each two-weeks, many of the same points inevitably keep on coming up.  

But to those who regularly read these columns and have noticed this repetition, I’m sure you will also have noted many other repetitions which have snuck into your lives.

In fact, for many of us our daily lives have become one big repetition – one repeating ‘Groundhog Day’.  

Thankfully, repetitive as it is, the overwhelming majority of people in Dudley South are sticking to the social distancing restrictions, because it is only by repeating these habits each day that we will reduce the spread of the virus so that we can start to relax the lockdown measures.   

And local social media seems to be constantly full of stories about PPE.  

Each week I speak with Russells Hall Hospital to check that they have the PPE that they need.

I think the hospital leadership might be getting a bit exasperated with me checking so often, at a time when they obviously have so much important work to do.

Both management and clinical staff I speak to have assured me that they have received sufficient PPE for use in the roles where it is needed, and that they are receiving new deliveries almost every day.  

Dudley Council have also confirmed to me that they are receiving deliveries about once a week and currently have enough stock to supply local care homes for two weeks.  

It is understandable that people have genuine concerns for PPE – after all, we all want the very best protection for our clinical staff – but the spread of misinformation is unhelpful to patients, staff and all those working tackle this virus as best we can.  

From very early on, the Armed Forces have worked with the Government and the NHS and the Armed Forces to plan and implement the PPE distribution.

Last week, Chief of the Defence Staff, Sir Nick Carter, described dealing with Covid-19 as “the single greatest logistic challenge” he had seen in 40 years of service.

It’s probably the biggest logistical exercise since the Berlin Airlift, distributing more than a billion pieces of PPE so far to more than 50,000 health, care and other frontline service providers. 

I do not expect much to change in the period between me writing this column and the next, but what is certain is that, providing we all continue to play our part, we will be closer to resuming life as we know it. We will beat the ‘invisible mugger’ – we will beat Covid-19.