Certainty, after a fashion, has entered my mind. I think that is what has been lacking for the last half of this period. When the lockdown 'ended' things started to fall apart. We can see that through the uncertainty as well as the promise of dangerous normality. Meanwhile Covid was, and is, still with us.
Clearly the government has opened too much too soon. Although there is some question as to the extent, I think it utterly credible to assert that the hospitality industry ought never to have opened. At the very least not before schools, and schools that were made safe.
They haven't been. It seems that schools, more so (probably) universities, are now the biggest vector. Kids are being locked down in universities while many more are just ignoring the situation which won't help. University of Bristol student accommodation in the city centre has now locked down and the situation in the city is growing more serious with an alarming number of spikes. 69 clusters have appeared.
I have gained certainty simply because this convinces me that, for the foreseeable, I'm going to avoid Bristol. It just sin't worth paying for a bus journey on dirty old buses (i'm sure they do their best to clean them, but buses have always been a problem) just to go around some heavily Covid-policed shops for half and hour, then back home. It isn't ideal, but the removal of doubt is satisfying.
This is the difference between then and now. When lockdown first happened, way back when, it was certainly scary. I had never experienced anything like that before, have you? But that it was everyone across the country was both reassuring and clear. I'm not excusing the government, they should have done this quicker. In fact this was the last resort following a death of planning and preparation, including before the first outbreak in China. But we were where we were.
That period had certainty - beyond the initial toilet roll chaos (to be clear). People knuckled down and, for a time, a different way of life appeared in the sunshine. Gone was the sound of planes, gone was the gridlock (not like right now, I've never seen as much traffic as recent weeks). Wildlife was reasserting itself even! I had a simple routine where I would enjoy the sun and read a book in the afternoon. A little light cardio in the morning (I hate exercise). It was not life during wartime. Of course my experience is my own, many people have suffered greatly. We even clopped those on the front line.
Now all that was thrown away in the last few months. Who knows what the future will hold. But I'm not going anywhere right now. I shall hide amid the stinging nettles and rain clouds and find something different, hopefully. Away from dirty old buses and city streets.
I now believe a second national lockdown is both inevitable and essential. There is no other solution to the second wave, and we cannot deny that's what it is. Current rules aren't working. Local lockdowns are an ineffective strategy; people just move around too much I think. We all want an end to Covid, but that's not on the horizon right now. Christmas can't happen like this either. Without restrictions people will just flood the streets, and their immune systems. Who wants to unwrap grandpa's last will and testament on Christmas Morning!
Lockdown 2 is the only way forward now. Our government has fucked it up. The real and dangerous question is how long they are prepared to take before conceding. It may well be too late!
Or we could all inject Trump's blood. I support this theory. The whole world draining this evil old husk dry. Might be his best contribution to the world
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