By a special correspondent (pt1)
Although we usually have no idea when it will happen, unfortunately even the most gentle and the most durable Grandmas have to die sometime
Boris Johnson did warn us in the UK in February that, sadly, many families could expect to lose elderly members. Our Government was properly advised ( though accompanied by some very misleading statements to the public, too) but did warn us, although it sounded a bit extreme at the time.
And though President Trump might not recognise the fact, the Chinese government informed the world of the Covid-19 genome on January 10. It had totally sealed-off Wuhan, a city larger than London.
So the stage had been set: except that the World Health Organisation was resisting declaring a pandemic until caving-in on March 11.
Until then, influenced by the WTO’s reluctance and frightened by how reacting strongly might provoke a backlash from the USA in our trade negotiations, the UK government dithered at the top. By then, fewer than 10,000 deaths had been reported attributable to Covid-19, worldwide.
The world has been here before in various ways. Six months before the end of the First World War and for three years afterwards, a flu pandemic killed an unquantifiable number of people. The smallest number accepted is 17 million. With Covid-19, although many countries at the beginning of May, 2020, are not disclosing its effect on their populations, it is likely Covid-19 will, at worst, kill no more than one million, thanks – at least in part – to advances in medical knowledge and consequent interventions by governments, including lockdowns.
The world, though, got itself back together again in the early 1920s (just think of several tube lines dug under London ): life had settled into the pattern into which most of us were born, almost as though that enormous tragedy had never occurred.
There have been other pandemics. Covid-19 is classified as the second SARS virus to attack people. The first one appeared just over 18 years ago. Three years later, it was pronounced dead in February, 2005. It had been lethal, with 774 dead worldwide, but its ability to spread was 300 times, or more, weaker than this second version.
Normality of our lives, in terms of family life, work, education, health service provision and respectable policing, must be reinstated to keep our society intact – and yes, we have proved beyond question there is such a thing as society.
What the government has done was quite easy – if you tell people to stand still, they are not at much risk from anything. What is it that entitles you to put people once again at greater risk ? It is because our lives just can’t continue virtually risk-free, as it has been for so many of us under lockdown.
That’s the other part of what society means: it built an economy, much lied about by statistics, but it’s what we have and like and respect and has been respected by the world, not least by the half billion or so who wanted, and possibly still want, to come and live here. We mustn’t lose it: it is going to be messy but it has to start again very soon. Grandma would want it that way.
What we must not do is to re-build our ways of life on a stack of lies. That is also going to be difficult, because it involves those in government and ourselves swallowing some very hard truths. Grandma would.
Possible guideposts on the way form the second part of this article. Can you stomach it ? And if you think differently, or if you agree, would you write and tell us?