There are now two pandemics raging... coronavirus and sheer ignorance

AS a journalist during the first lockdown, I was afforded a little bit more freedom than most people. I went out to take pictures of empty streets and closed shops, and I watched from a distance as greengrocers and butchers packed up boxes of food to be sent out to families in isolation.

On the odd occasion my job made it necessary to travel out I was staggered by the eerie silence, the lack of traffic and the sheer resilience everyone showed by sticking to the rules and staying at home.

In theory, being in Tier 4 should be no different. The Government is begging us to stay at home and only make trips out if it’s absolutely essential.

Pubs are still closed, most shops are closed and we’re only allowed out for short shopping trips and daily exercise.

But this time around it certainly doesn’t feel in any way similar to the spring lockdown. I went out the other day to pick up some veg and my town, Ashbourne, was heaving.

People just don’t care now. I think they’re sick of the restrictions and the impact it’s having on their lives. Taking away one’s freedom is a punishment we use in our prison system. And people feel like they’re becoming inmates.

But all the while the infection rates are creeping up, a newer strain of the virus is doing the rounds that will be easier to catch and more and more lives and livelihoods are being lost. Just after we were put into Tier 4, someone I know proudly proclaimed on social media that they were ignoring the latest lockdown measures and they were going to carry on as normal.

They said they were sick of the restrictions and suggested that lockdowns hadn’t worked before and they wouldn’t work now – so why should they have to stay at home?

I find it absolutely pitiful that anyone can say a lockdown doesn’t work in the same breath as declaring their contempt of the guidelines. If they don’t stay at home, and they don’t adhere to social distancing guidelines, then what on earth do they expect?

There have been two pandemics during 2020. A nasty little virus did the rounds, but we also had a more dangerous outbreak – of sheer ignorance.

People are glancing at facts and figures, making a complete hash of interpreting them, and then using their misunderstandings to justify their reckless abandon.

And that, I’m afraid, is why our only hope now is the vaccines. Lockdowns unfortunately won’t go far enough because, as I keep seeing on the odd occasion I head out of the house, not enough people are taking responsibility.

Having said that, relying on the vaccine is all well and good, and we’re all relishing these metaphors about lights and the end of tunnels and all that, but we still don’t actually know whether someone who has been immunised can pass the virus on or not.

So I’m afraid, if we want to spend Easter with our families, we’ve got to stop thinking we know more than some of the greatest scientific and academic minds in the world, start ignoring the malicious tripe on social media, and settle into a proper lockdown.

Please, while we’re in Tier 4, stop making the sacrifices of so many people become so futile and just stay at home. You’re ruining lives.

We’ve got to stop thinking we know more than some of the greatest scientific and academic minds in the world.