COMING soon: A social lockdown! That was the cheery new forecast to wake up to this Monday morning, as our freedoms are set to be curtailed yet again because of a promised second wave of coronavirus. If you haven’t heard, the government’s latest emergency plan could see ALL pubs, restaurants and bars forced to […]
COMING soon: A social lockdown!
That was the cheery new forecast to wake up to this Monday morning, as our freedoms are set to be curtailed yet again because of a promised second wave of coronavirus.
If you haven’t heard, the government’s latest emergency plan could see ALL pubs, restaurants and bars forced to shut. For a fortnight to begin with, but we all know by now that will mean far longer.
The dire strategy would see household mixing banned indefinitely, meaning seeing any friends, loved ones or partners who you don’t permanently live with becoming illegal.
But don’t worry, if you work in a factory or shop, you’ll still be expected to catch public transport and expose yourself to the virus all day for professional reasons.
I have largely supported the government’s handling of this pandemic, which was not their fault and a result of a shameful cover-up by the totalitarian regime in China.
I understand too that Boris Johnson has been deeply personally impacted by his brush with death at the hands of Covid-19, stripping away his libertarian principles in a bid to protect the population.
But a social lockdown is a step too far, with ramifications that may well end up becoming worse than the virus itself, given the number of businesses that are being destroyed every day and the mental health consequences linked to poverty and being cut off from other human beings.
What’s disturbing me most is the haphazard nature in which these draconian new policies are being rolled out, without time to actually see that they are working.
We all agree by now that Covid is going to be with us for a long time. Even if we have a first generation vaccine next year, the rollout is likely to take at least a year and won’t be smooth sailing.
There has to be patience shown by our leaders and scientists to allow the public to adapt to and follow the new rules then see if they drive down infection rates.
That’s not happening. Before the Rule of Six was even given a chance to work, a nonsensical curfew was thrown into the mix, making it close to impossible to check the effectiveness of both policies.
Sadly, as I predicted here, the 10pm closing time has been a monumental disaster, which I believe it actually likely to increase the chances of getting Covid by forcing a large number of drunk people out on the streets at the same time.
It’s frustrating that our current policy approach is not about learning to live with Covid. In fact, it’s becoming quite the opposite. We are increasingly allowing this damn virus to control us and I fear the consequences of that will end up being much more deadly.
Change the conversation by making measures voluntary and putting the onus on the people to do what’s right.
