After Boris Johnson and Sajid Javid telling us repeatedly that the road to unlocking all restrictions was “irreversible”, it turns out this is only what they hope to be the case. Johnson said he had “always been clear” about this, except that of course he hadn’t been clear. He’d been promising the Earth again and over-promising, again. 19th July was ‘freedom day’ a few weeks ago. No one was calling it that yesterday and, having read today’s Covid figures, they won’t be tomorrow either.
I’ve favoured the gradual unlocking of restrictions because, frankly, they are driving me bonkers. More than that, Matt Hancock’s rule-breaking “steamy clinch’ with his paid (by us) advisor ended any idea among the Great British Public could be persuaded to do what the government was saying but not what they were literally doing.
Flanked by Chris Whitty and Sir Patrick Vallance, Johnson said all matter-of-factly that when all restrictions were lifted, many more people would get infected, some would go into hospital and some would die. “But don’t worry,” he didn’t add. “In the main it will only be old and poor people who will die and that’s a price worth paying so we can all go to the pub and get shit-faced.” So let’s think about that for a moment. The most powerful man in the land is engaged in a policy which will kill people who might not otherwise die. I’ve never heard anything quite like it.
Now, I am in the camp that says we will have to learn to live, and indeed die, with Covid-19. My only concern is this: will Johnson’s Big Bang at unlocking have unintended consequences?
Johnson has changed government policy. Before it was herd immunity by vaccine. Now it is herd immunity by infection. He is betting the house – though not his house – on the numbers of deaths that he, and we, could live with. What’s an acceptable number? Johnson was asked this. He naturally dodged the question.
Today, we learn that there are over 36,000 new cases of the virus. 564 people were admitted to hospital and 50 people died. Compared with the first two waves, these numbers are small but the main point is they are still rising with alarming speed. From Monday, if we so choose we can be maskless, we can have a “steamy clinch” with anyone we fancy, we can crowd in pubs, nightclubs and football grounds which will all be human petri dishes. My desire for the gradual lifting of restrictions is just about level with my fear of catching the virus.
My main risk factors are my age, my lack of fitness and my asthma. I’m double-jabbed so theoretically the worst that is likely happen is for me to get moderately ill, but I don’t want to be moderately ill. I was messaging a friend this morning who has COPD, asthma and diabetes. He’s been working from home since the first lockdown but already his employer is talking to him about coming back to the office. There is no more shielding so there is no reason for him to sit at home when he could catch a crowded bus into work and sit a few feet away from his colleagues for eight hours a day. If he refuses to return to the office, he will no longer have a job. The message to him is clear: “go back to work and make sure you don’t catch the virus.” ‘Freedom day’ is no such thing for him.
I expect to be wearing my mask where I did before, in supermarkets, public transport, shops; that kind of thing. I will not be visiting the busiest pubs, like Tim Wetherspoon’s chain, and I won’t be attending crowded gigs or busy sporting events. Johnson has decided the care of the people who elected him is nothing to do with him. “Mind how you go,” is his message.
I would be amazed if by the early autumn we were not back under some form of restrictions again. People will be back in their offices, children will be back at school, young adults will be back at college and university. And the hospitals will be at breaking point as the unvaccinated fall ill, along with those who have had the vaccine but it wasn’t enough to stop them falling ill and those for whom the benefits of the first two jabs have worn off.
This might not happen. Perhaps, cases will reach an almighty peak and thousands more will die, but then infections and deaths will fall off to more “acceptable” levels. And as long as it’s not us who are dying, we will carry on with the new way of living and dying.
Judging from the scenes after the Euro 2020 final, we’re in for a rocky few weeks of new infections and when everything else opens up from Monday, Christ alone knows how bad things will get.
We all know that things are about to get much worse. It’s how much worse before it gets better. If it does get better.
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