Love is the answer

“This is a very, very grave emergency,” said Jeremy Hunt, the former health secretary, after today’s post COBRA meeting press conference held by Boris Johnson, the chief medical officer Chris Whitty and the chief scientific officer Sir Patrick Vallance. It is good news that we are believed to be some four weeks behind Italy, added Mr Hunt, but bad news because it is now believed the numbers of those who actually have the virus in Britain is between 5,000 and 10,000. For once, Boris Johnson told the truth when he described coronavirus as the “worst health crisis in a generation. Families will lose loved ones before their time.”

Cyberspace in general and social networks in particular are cluttered with ignorance and stupidity on an industrial scale. “It’s propaganda” says someone. “Media hype”, says someone else. “We can heal with herbs and fruit”. “It’s scaremongering, just like Brexit.” Christ on a bicycle. We are in far more trouble than I realised.

I am not going to pretend I know and understand all the science. I don’t. I rely on experts to explain the science and tell us what it means. In short, I believe in experts. When I go to the dentist, I rely on his knowledge of dentistry and wouldn’t ask anyone who didn’t know anything about dentistry. I love to go on holiday but I would always prefer that the captain and first officer knew how to fly the plane, instead of asking some random bloke to have a go. Think of your own explanation of expertise and you will be able to see what I mean. But coronavirus is bad news.

My mental health has taken a serious hit because of coronavirus, not just because I think it could claim me, but because it might kill people I love; older, more vulnerable people with underlying health concerns. And let me deal with that specific point here.

People most likely to die of coronavirus are those with underlying health issues. This means, and I will write this very slowly for the hard of thinking, that people will die who would not otherwise die. Yes, thousands die every winter because of things like seasonal winter flu. Now extra people who would normally survive the winter will die.

“I’m not worried about the virus at all,” say the self-styled macho men (and some women, to be fair). I don’t really understand that. I know lots of older people – I am rapidly becoming one myself – and much loved family and friends are undoubtedly in the major risk group. So are many people I work with. I have a few risk factors, too, and suffering from a variety of different anxieties, I always fear that one of these horrible diseases will be the death of me. I am hoping to get through it but let me repeat what Boris Johnson said today: “Families will lose loved ones before their time.” That is the main reason I am so worried about the virus.

We now expect coronavirus to hit a peak in between 10 and 14 weeks and that peak will last a further 10 to 14 weeks. That’s potentially half a year of the country grinding to a complete halt, at best five months of it. Now do people realise it is the “worst health crisis in a generation?” Most of us will have never experienced anything like as bad as this in our lifetimes.

Having spent five years doing his best to divide Britain, and largely succeeding, Johnson now makes a plea for unity. :”Things seem tough now, but remember, we will get through this epidemic….if we look out for each other and commit wholeheartedly to a national effort.” And even those of us who despise Johnson have to admit this time he is right.

Not all of us will get through this epidemic, that’s the sad truth. And my youngest son put it like this: “We’ve just got to look out for each other.”

Perhaps, this unfolding disaster will finally bring the country together, that hope will triumph over hate, that we will all be kind, that love is the answer.