Advent Calendar 11: Strained

Hancock's latest excuse for rusing cases in London, to be dealt with by upgrading it to Teir 3, is to blame a mutant strain of the virus. If that's true, and who knows with Crying Matt, what does that mean for a vaccine? Given the existence of the Christmas break rules from 23rd to 27th, which is barely a week away, this really is too little too late. At this point what hope is there that tier three rules will achieve anything? You can see the evidence of this in the fact that, given shops and places aren't enforcing the mandatory mask rule; plenty of people aren't wearing them. It's frustrating to see, but nothing gets done/ I'm not sure that's viable anymore. I'm not happy about that, but what choice is there?

This is so sad given that the vaccine has just arrived. This shouldn't be happening, they are wasting the effort. We know what the cause of this potentially third wave (or wave 2.5): the government once again allowed too much to open. The hospitality industry is dead. It cannot survive this government's mishandling of the pandemic. Furlough the staff on full pay, including the landlords etc. Letting people mix in warm pubs at the years end around a plate of scotch eggs is just ridiculous. I would close it all, right across the board. It may well mean, or could have, that as a result we could be more open in other areas: more interaction between households for instance. Or it could have offset the problems caused by schools opening, given that education is far more important than booze and breadcrumbs.

Christmas is next week. It's hard to say that it feels like it, despite the extreme levels of tinsel and neon wise men pervading the neighbourhood. Maybe I'm just tired, but it looks to me like we're facing an upturn in the virus. Another peak being climbed as everyone rushes around all festive like. In town it's just, to my mind, chaos. Most people wear masks, but it's still too busy I think. Some people, inevitably, aren't wearing masks. I wish shops could challenge them, but they don't. Understandable, but the virus doesn't respect this. People are tired, I'm tired.