"Can I come and visit?"

was asked of me twice yesterday.
The answer was "no". One person thought it would be "fine" if she sat on the lawn and the Senior Cat was "six feet" away. No.  The other person was "just going to drop something in". No.
There are people who need to come into this house. The first are the people who help the Senior Cat shower. That means someone three times a week. I would rather this was not necessary but, realistically, it is much safer if they do it. We are taking all the precautions we can with that because it is very close contact. We just have to hope that they don't  bring an infection with them. We are balancing that against what would happen if I was helping and the Senior Cat fell.
The person who comes to help me two hours a fortnight with the heavy cleaning (floors, vacuuming, reaching the places I cannot reach) will come as long as she is permitted to do so. She is very, very conscious of the need for hygiene. She cleans a dental surgery and she has very elderly parents herself. When she is here she will, as far as possible, maintain a distance between  us - but she has been known to help the Senior Cat with things like shoe laces and shirt buttons in the past and that will undoubtedly stop. 
The person who does the really heavy garden maintenance will be here on Monday. He also comes once a fortnight. He has no need to come into the house and the Senior Cat will remain inside while he is here. S....and I can maintain that "social distance" too. Without him there will be other problems I cannot cope with.
The person who mows the lawn will simply pick up his pay from the front door and go. 
We need those people because they do things I cannot do, things that allow us to remain isolated.
Middle Cat will come if the Senior Cat needs help but will otherwise keep her distance. The neighbours will do the same.
We do not need "friends" calling in - even with the best of intentions.
It is hard on the Senior Cat. He doesn't have my Facebook contacts and having a conversation with L..., my godfather, is difficult because they are both so hard of hearing.  His other very close friend, K..., is now so advanced in his Alzheimer's that he cannot hold a conversation.
I am reminded of my paternal grandfather saying he had lived "too long" because all his friends had died before him.  I am reminded too of an elderly woman who said that she only chose people younger than herself as friends "so they won't die before me". 
The church the Senior Cat attends is setting up a voluntary register of names, phone numbers and emails - nothing more and only if you want to, for people to contact one another while in isolation. We need more of that.
And I am thankful for the friends who do phone and who talk to the Senior Cat and for the friends on FB who ask how we are coping. I like to know they are coping too. Keep it up please!