Betrayed by selfish few flouting rules

THERE are darker days ahead. Worse is yet to come. We are still in the early stage of the coronavirus crisis and must be prepared.

That means, above all, going forward in the spirit that united the nation when we came together to salute the NHS heroes on our doorsteps.

That collective act symbolised the resilience and fortitude at the heart of this country in the face of a silent, invisible enemy.

Such solidarity shamed those selfish betrayers of the national purpose in refusing to accept the need for social distancing.

If we are all in this together – and, for once, we literally are – every one of us must heed the official advice.

It is hard. And the Prime Minister and his team have failed to set a good example.

We wish them all the best for a speedy recovery. But the public can be forgiven for thinking there is one rule for them and another for us – especially when it comes to testing for the virus.

Madness

We do not begrudge the Prime Minister and the Prince of Wales access to immediate testing.

But it contrasts badly with the madness of having no tests for our frontline medical staff, who – not knowing whether they are infected or not – risk spreading the disease among patients and their own families.

Ten years of austerity and lack of planning have left the nation poorly prepared to tackle this crisis, in spite of warnings that something like it was on the way.

The scandalous shortage of ventilators, which we expose this week, is just one example of the Government’s failures.

The lack of proper protection is yet another.

Testing among NHS staff finally began in earnest this weekend. Too late and too little.

Only wide-scale testing will map us a smooth exit route from this emergency when it eventually passes its peak and life somehow edges back to a new normal.

It will be a long journey. It will not be helped by those who defy the rules, crying, “Are we nearly there yet?” and jumping out to do their own thing.

We have to bear it in order to get through to the end. Then comes the reckoning.