MP:We can’t keep shutting down society
ARE we going to keep on imposing lockdowns if coronavirus is with us for years to come?
That was the question posed on Wednesday by Black Country MP John Spellar (Lab), who warns that we can’t keep on shutting down society and the economy.
Mr Spellar’s Warley constituency is part of the Sandwell borough, which means it’s included in the restrictions imposed on Birmingham, Sandwell and Solihull last week. Residents have been told they cannot allow people from other households into their homes or gardens, or visit people in their homes or households.
Mr Spellar is not happy that the current restrictions apply to the whole of Sandwell, rather than just those areas with high infection rates. But he also argues that we need to think about what’s going to happen in the long term if the virus can’t be eradicated for years to come.
He said in the House of Commons: “People in Sandwell and Birmingham certainly want to know why their whole boroughs are being suddenly locked down and not just the currently affected areas within them, but they also need a plan on how we are going to contain the virus without paralysing society and the economy.
“We may have to coexist for years with the virus, as countless societies and countries have had to live with many awful diseases over millennia, and even now today, so when are we going to transit from reactive risk avoidance to prudent risk management?”
Health Secretary Matt Hancockinsisted on taking a more optimistic view about the prospects of finding a vaccine, or developing a treatment. Earlier, he had revealed that tests would be taking place on “a promising new antibody treatment” for coronavirus patients.
He said: “We absolutely need to control this virus. I very much hope that we will make very significant progress, through treatments and vaccines, within the sorts of times that I set out previously – definitely in less than a millennium. I think that we will make significant progress in the coming months.
”Social distancing is the first line of defence: the rule of six, and hands, face and space.
“The next line of defence is testing and tracing, which is why it is so important that we have record testing capacity and are trying to boost that further. The next line of defence is local action and ensuring that we do take that local action where necessary, even though it is uncomfortable to do so.”