Crying out for clarity ... and common sense
THE lockdown has rendered the forthcoming Easter holidays something of an antiquated concept. Virtual prisoners in our own homes, most of us are unlikely to look forward to the coming fortnight.
In conventional times, countless thousands would escape their homes and flock to sundrenched beaches, parks and beauty spots.
But as we are all too grimly aware, these are anything but conventional times. Life is in lockdown to stop the spread of coronavirus.
Boris Johnson – along with tourism chiefs and the police – has begged people not to be tempted to break the quarantine to enjoy the soaring Easter temperatures.
Undoubtedly, many feel stir crazy staring at four walls. But the overwhelming majority will abide by the rules because they want this torment to end sooner rather than later.
However, the restrictions – which the Mail accepts were unavoidable – cannot continue for too long. The public’s tolerance at being sequestered behind closed doors – even to fight the invisible killer – will fray.
The Government’s top scientists blithely talk about the shutdown dragging on for six months. Even, heaven forfend, a year.
Bluntly, in a liberal democracy that is simply unrealistic – especially if it inflicts irreparable carnage on the economy.
That is why it is essential Downing Street sets out a feasible exit strategy.
South of the Border, the Health Secretary insists he has one to beat the pandemic.
With great brio, Matt Hancock says Britain will by the month’s end be testing 100,000 people a day for Covid-19, which has so far been linked to 3,605 deaths – more than in China (if one believes an authoritarian Beijing regime reliable for telling untruths).
In Scotland, Nicola Sturgeon has pledged 10,000 tests a day – another laudable aspiration. Granted, it’s no more than that – and the First Minister made it clear this target may prove unachievable.
But, at face value at least, these are extremely positive developments.
Only mass screening will resolve the nightmare – ensuring patients get correct treatment, healthy NHS staff return to wards and citizens who are fit and well can work.
Less optimistic? NHS lab scientists say the target is impossible due to lack of materials.
Mr Hancock himself admits antibody tests vital to crack the contagion don’t yet work.
Ministers have made – and broken – promises before. To happen again, betraying the nation, would be scandalous.
No one denies tackling coronavirus is a Herculean task. But people are crying out for clarity and common sense.
Why, for instance, are flights from infection-stricken Italy, Spain and New York permitted to land in the UK? Yet take a countryside drive and you risk police feeling your collar.
Why can Premier League football clubs, richer than Croesus, apply for taxpayerfunded bailouts to pay groundsmen and tea ladies they’ve laid off while multi-millionaire players refuse a wage cut? It stinks.
The 4,000-bed Nightingale Hospital, opened yesterday by Prince Charles, is a shining example of what thinking outside the box can achieve. So, too, is the makeshift hospital at the SEC in Glasgow – another remarkable testament to the innovation and determination shown by the Government, health chiefs and, indeed, the British Army.
But once the virus is in decline, what then? Miss Sturgeon and Chief Medical Officer Catherine Calderwood are candid about the months ahead. Don’t expect a rapid end to this lockdown.
Miss Sturgeon and the Prime Minister need to explain the strategy for leading us to economic and social recovery. If required, Mr Johnson should bring in a captain of industry or entrepreneur to guide us out of the crisis.
The economic impact of the lockdown is terrifying. It could, if we don’t tread cautiously, ruin Britain. Businesses folding. Jobs lost. Lives destroyed. Tax receipts to fund the NHS evaporating. Spiralling debt.
The British people have agreed to make huge sacrifices to fight this silent enemy.
The least they deserve is Governments on both sides of the Border showing them a map out of this hideous mire.