Boris, Boris, Boris. If only you weren’t so desperate to please the public, maybe England wouldn’t be wallowing in its third lockdown. Perhaps the 150,000 stolen lives would still be here.
In summer, we were sick of being confined to our own four walls while businesses were decimated, so you bestowed upon us the gift of ‘Eat Out to Help Out’ and a subsequent second wave. In winter, bleak weather and an undeniable resurgence of the virus destroyed morale, so you promised a normal Christmas. It could never have happened.
In the depths of this third (and final I hope?!) lockdown, protesters took to the streets while the rest of us cowered beneath blankets, emotionally and mentally exhausted by the toll of this year. So you promised “seasons of hope”, culminating in a return to normality.
Maybe this time we’ll be lucky. Maybe this time, Coronavirus has truly been defeated, retreating its nasty little self into a cave somewhere to hibernate eternally. Unlikely. Britain’s extraordinarily successful vaccine rollout may have subdued the plague, but other countries have weaker barriers – many through no fault of their own.
If Coronavirus is terrorising nations both close and far from our shores, then it is only a matter of time until a new variant pops up and charges straight for us. Unless it appears here first. A British born and bred variant could be far more vaccine-resistant given the number of vaccinated people.
“Hope doesn’t encourage adherence to the rules – rather, it makes us feel indestructible”
But we would detect any new variants, wouldn’t we? And people would isolate to stop the spread – it would all be fine. Not quite.
According to a recent study, less than half of the people living in the UK are following the rules regarding self-isolation – and that’s just the people who actually test positive. Only 18% of participants are requesting a test after developing symptoms, meaning they could be inadvertently spreading the Coronavirus to their communities.
Given the negligible impact of the Test and Trace system, is a 2019-style summer a dangerously empty promise? Christmas proved that hope doesn’t encourage adherence to the rules – rather, it makes us feel secure and indestructible: if we can have a big family gathering in three weeks, why not now?
The same goes for June 21st: if the government can tell us exactly when normal life will resume, it must be relatively safe – let’s have a party.
‘But data not dates!’, you cry. Excuse my cynicism, but we have heard that before. SAGE called for an immediate March lockdown; Johnson’s government waited a week. SAGE pleaded for a two-week October circuit-breaker; Johnson’s government backtracked into a month-long November lockdown. SAGE begged people not to ‘throw fuel on the Covid fire’; Johnson’s government took a last-minute decision to reimpose restrictions.
“The most likely obstacle to Johnson’s plan being ‘irreversible’ is that very phrase itself”
Admittedly, Johnson has been pulled in the opposite direction with equal force: the Covid Recovery Group has opposed ‘Stay at Home’ guidance since forming in November. Over 70 Conservative MPs frequently criticise lockdowns, emboldening those who protest against the coronavirus ‘hoax’.
Perhaps they are the reason Johnson published such a detailed and seemingly-unstoppable roadmap – his leadership would be “on the table” without it.
The most likely obstacle to Johnson’s plan being ‘irreversible’ is that very phrase itself. Everyone in the UK (and I include myself here) is desperate to taste freedom; occasionally stretching the rules may seem an acceptable reward for what we have had to endure this year. Except if Johnson is obstinate about not rescinding on anymore promises, he may find that these newfound privileges are contributing to a third, fourth, fifth, fiftieth wave.
“Many of us will have had enough of yo-yoing in and out of lockdowns”
And if he does the unthinkable, what about all the weddings and parties and picnics and balls and races and nights out and brunches and beach trips that are doubtless already planned – some online fashion retailers have entire sections dedicated to June 21st! Some people may cancel these, but many of us will have had enough of yo-yoing in and out of lockdowns.
Hope is vital at this point, but the slim chances of a Coronavirus-free June 21st risk pushing people past breaking point – and into the arms of a third wave.
Politically, Johnson cannot survive another wave or another lockdown. The nation’s mental health may not either. Our economy and social lives must come out of hibernation sometime this year – let’s hope we don’t wake the bear when they do.
Georgia Douglas
Featured image courtesy of Alex Proimos on Flickr. Image license can be found here. No changes were made to this image.
Georgia Douglas
Georgia is a 17-year old aspiring journalist from Scotland, who plans to study English at university this autumn. Check her out on Twitter @georgia_doug1as