I was wrong.
Yesterday, I got myself excited at a briefing by the unholy trinity but when I switched it on it just turned out to be the undynamic duo. Chris Whitty and Patrick Vallance (pronounced like the bed sheet and not Holly’s dad) we’re looking very somber. They had been given their shot, without the interference of politics.
For those of us following the data, there was nothing new. It was the same data, in pretty graphs. I expect that people who weren’t following the data wouldn’t have gained any clarity. The deaths are rising but still low, even in France and Spain, that they rolled out for horrific comparison. The terrifying numbers they showed were made up. They were the ‘if we do nothing and the wind is blowing from the west then these are the people that could die,’ school of statistics. They only showed the parts of the graphs they wanted to and said things like, “We know that most of the population are still susceptible,” which really isn’t true. Susceptibility is more than just the people who don’t have antibodies.
After, I felt rather depressed.
“What difference is that going to make?” I asked the dog. He opened one eye, farted and left the room.
I was wrong about that too.
I thought that putting it on at 11am was pointless. No one would watch. However, it started a general feeling of anxiety. If that was the intention then they’ve done a brilliant job. Even 11year olds, that I taught yesterday were talking about it. Actually, they weren’t talking about the briefing but they were talking about the inconsistencies and a looming lockdown, where they would still have to go to school. They also talked about that man who went to visit his family that live in a castle. If he can break the rules, it made no sense why they had to stay away from their friend at drama club when they were at school with them all day.
So, the plan seems to have been to put the scary scientists on TV to say, “You are all going to die. Hands, face, space,” while the politicians argue about how to deal with it and announce that there will be an announcement soon.
This strategy is great for panic and rumour.
I don’t feel very hopeful. I just don’t think the public are going to be prepared to do what they are asked. The government can’t risk closing the economy down again, so they will, in effect, be asking people to only live to work. They probably don’t realise how little most people actually like their jobs. They do them so they can do the things humans are designed for: social connection.
If they had continued to communicate with us the whole time then we might be prepared to listen. Just as we would if we had been given clear consistent instructions.
When this virus first started we didn’t know much about it but we do now. We know who is most susceptible. We know it’s a disease of poverty (like most diseases) and a disease of sticky blood. Nothing has worked in Leicester. Local lockdowns, but still insisting the immigrant workforce (I say immigrant but they’ve probably been here 20 years) continue to work in the sweatshop clothing and overly chilled meat packing factories, hasn’t worked. We need our cheap food and clothes. Allowing their bosses to not pay them if they are sick and not explaining the situation in the languages they speak at home are the things that have allowed this disease to remain rampant in those populations.
I’m wondering if it’s time to stop asking everyone to alter their behaviour and throw the money at looking after those who are most vulnerable. Oh, come on, who am I kidding? That’s never going to happen. It’s totally against every belief of those in charge.
So, here we are, waiting for a public announcement this evening at 8pm (Going up against Bake Off) by the Prime Minister. Only the third in six months. The lightbulb has been changed again and we are back to level 4, which before we came out of lockdown, meant we would stay in lockdown. They have definitely decided to close the pubs at 10pm (which I think is a good idea despite the fact people will be asking if the virus can tell the time).
My feeling of depression started to lift when I looked at Twitter. People tell me that this is unusual. Twitter is meant to be a toxic place but on my feed it’s all animals, gardens, cakes (did I mention that Bake Off is back tonight?) and jokes. People were discussing a national bedtime as a solution, posting pictures of cats coming down the stairs on their head. Those who had got overwhelmed just posted pictures of their garden or bird table and the jokes came thick and fast. Maybe one of the difficulties England has is that we like to laugh at ourselves too much. How can we take this virus seriously if we are always looking for the joke? But it is the humour that will get you through.
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