‘Sadness and humility’ as we pass 100,000 deaths
Britain has not performed “spectacularly well” in controlling the spread of coronavirus, according to Bath’s director of public health.
In a council e-letter, Dr Bruce Laurence said it was a time for “sadness and reflection” after the milestone of 100,000 deaths across the country as a result of the pandemic was passed.
Dr Laurence said it was “bleak” to imagine 100,000 deaths - the number similar to a crowd at Wembley Stadium on a cup final day.
He said: “I would like to echo Councillor Dine Romero’s reflection on the grim milestone that we have just passed of having 100,000 deaths from Covid in the UK, of which more than 155 are among our own residents in Bath and North East Somerset.
“This is a time for sadness and reflection. As someone brought up almost in the shadow of the old Wembley Stadium, my large population yardstick has always been the roughly 100,000 crowd on an FA Cup final day.
“Thus, the thought of that vast number of people dying, of an illness none of us had heard of a year ago, each with their circle of family, friends and colleagues left to grieve and to miss them, is a bleak one.”
He continued: “This is also a time for humility. Firstly, personal humility, because many of those who have died are people who put themselves at risk to provide essential services for others.
“Whether in shops, on buses, in hospitals and care homes, or elsewhere, many of the regular jobs that run in the background of all our lives, suddenly became hazardous and frightening, and yet people stuck to them even when that risk became apparent to all.
“Secondly, this is a time for national humility as we realise that Britain has not performed spectacularly well in controlling this pandemic.
“There will no doubt be discussions for years about why that is so, but the sheer fact of it clearly underlines that we are in no way shielded from global problems, and that only collective solutions can answer the stark questions posed by pandemics, and other world-spanning threats like climate change and environmental degradation.
He continued: “And thirdly, humility in the face of nature. For good or ill we may be Earth’s dominant species, but a virus, merely a small package of RNA in a blob of goo, not even a living organism, has stopped us in our tracks for over a year, and although science is starting to give us the upper hand, we are far from the end of this pandemic.
“We are therefore reminded that our fate as humans is not only in our own hands but is tied to a system encompassing the multiplicity of interdependent species and habitats that make up our world.
“Our task, your task, is to continue to prevent the virus spreading, to get vaccinated when it is your turn, and to help ensure that as few of us as possible add to the final death toll that is already so much higher than we could possibly have imagined this time last year.”
A new mass vaccination centre opened at Bath Racecourse last week which is hoping to get up to 900 vaccinations a day over the coming days.
Cases have started to fall, but Dr Laurence has already warned hospital admissions may still rise.
The Royal United Hospital has again confirmed over 100 coronavirus patients in the hospital, which is close to its all-time peak.
We may be Earth’s dominant species, but a virus, merely a small package of RNA in a blob of goo, not even a living organism, has stopped us in our tracks. Dr Bruce Laurence