If today’s newspapers are to be believed – and the odds are that the story about the end of lockdown has been leaked to them by Boris Johnson’s spin doctors, so they probably should be – it seems the end of Covid restrictions is in sight. From 19th July, there will be no more social distancing or compulsory mask-wearing and life can fully resume. Yes, it’s that simple, except that it’s far from simple.
I’m now in the camp of those who think restrictions should now be lifted. Many of us are at our wit’s end with the never ending shit show that the virus has become. More than that, my impression of Britain today is that the only restrictions that are working now are the ones where people have no option but to obey. People are not going up to the bar, visiting nightclubs or going abroad on holiday because they are physically unable to do so. Everything else, the rule of six, or is it 30 these days, is just words. People are obeying the old rules in the same way cyclists observe red traffic signals. They aren’t.
I know plenty of people who have ignored the rules regarding isolation, particularly people who would not be paid by their employer if they took time off work. In my last job, I was told that if I was forced to isolate, even as a result of something that happened at work, I would not receive a penny by way of wages. In the line of work in which I was engaged, I would have followed the rules to protect others, as would, I suspect, my colleagues. My feeling is that in similar circumstances we would be in a minority.
What the newspapers don’t appear to say is what happens with testing. If restrictions end, does that mean testing ends, too? That would mean that if we had Covid symptoms, we would carry on as normal and that would spread the virus to others, including the double-jabbed. Don’t forget that even with the vaccines, you can still feel shit and get very ill. But then, we have always been content to allow society to spread seasonal flu every year at the cost of thousands of deaths, so you might say what’s the difference.
If testing carries on, then people will still be told to isolate. And there are plenty of people who have tested positive even after having been double-jabbed. The gutter press proclaims the return of overseas holidays but don’t forget that if you test positive at home or abroad, you will be absolutely stuffed. This will be the new normal, not the normal we knew before, a halfway house where holidays are cancelled the day before you go, you can’t go to gigs or sporting events.
Boris Johnson’s chaotic government does nothing to convince me they will get this right. On the contrary, I fear that the disaster of the last 16 months or so will continue long into the future. Freedom day may be coming, but what will freedom look like? Johnson doesn’t have an answer to that. He’s winging it, cruising along with the image of ‘Good old Boris’, thanks to a placid country whose people will happily suck up his lies and bullshit and will put up with things that few citizens in other countries would do. I suppose that’s because voters always end up with the leaders they deserve and if 2021 is ruined, like 2020 was, it’s our fault, collectively at least.
