Worst is over...so let’s make the most of our freedoms
THERE never was going to be a single moment when we could relax and finally declare the misery of the past two years over. Unlike the Second World War, when Britons took to the streets as news of the German surrender came through, a pandemic does not end in a tidy way.
But the lifting of Plan B restrictions in England marks as good a “freedom day” as any.
Of course, there is still a chance we could have a resurgence of Covid hospitalisations and deaths. We need to remain vigilant, and it is sensible to continue to take precautions.
Yet for the first time since March 2020, we can have genuine confidence the worst is behind us and that finally we will be able to get on with our lives without having to look over our shoulders worrying we might be ordered indoors again.
We shouldn’t be shy about using our restored freedoms. Many of us will feel we have earned a holiday or a party.
Socialising is an important part of being human. There is no need to feel guilty about meeting up with other people – it is not a treat or luxury, but a return to ordinary life.
Lockdowns, too, are dangerous.They led people to drink, to despair, and in the case of many care home residents deprived of human interaction, destroyed their will to live.
OTHER serious conditions such as cancer and heart disease have gone undiagnosed as many people felt too scared, or were put off, from seeking the medical help they needed.We now have a huge backlog of missed tests and operations.
We have also had horrific cases of abuse and neglect, such as the murder of six year-old Arthur Labinjo-Hughes, said to have received a bruise for every day the country spent in lockdown, up until his tragic death.
Some claim Boris Johnson is lifting Plan B restrictions to distract attention from his other difficulties – that it is an irresponsible act putting us at risk.
But those who try to make this point are wrong. It isn’t just England that is lifting restrictions. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are doing the same. So, too, are Denmark and the Netherlands.
“Tonight we can begin to lower our shoulders and smile again,” Danish PM Mette Frederiksen said onWednesday.
Denmark, like Britain, is lifting restrictions despite infections remaining high – because it is clear Covid has lost its bite. While cases may be high, hospitalisations and deaths are much lower than in earlier waves.
In particular, the number of Covid patients on mechanical ventilation has fallen day on day through the Omicron wave.
The pressure on hospital ICUs – used to justify previous lockdowns – is no longer there.
We have arrived at this point partly because Omicron is a lot less severe than earlier variants – a point that was picked up early by South African scientists but which our Government advisers seemed strangely reluctant to accept for weeks.
That, combined with a healthy immunity in the population thanks to high levels of vaccination, but also through waves of natural infection, has blunted the ability of the virus to wreak the harm it once did.
Trying to eradicate Covid has never been an option since early March 2020 when it became apparent it had been spreading silently and in many cases asymptomatically.
From that point on our only option was to try to find a way of living with an endemic disease – hopefully, and successfully as it turned out, with the aid of effective vaccines.
We have, after all, already
learnt to live with other coronaviruses, several of which cause the common cold – but one of which it is believed might have caused the “Russian flu” pandemic in 1889.
The only widespread infectious disease the world has eliminated is smallpox. But that was caused by a plodding virus compared with Covid – it didn’t evolve as quickly, presenting a more fixed target for vaccines.
IF WE were to go on fighting Covid with ever-longer restrictions would lead us down the same rabbit hole as New Zealand, whose zero tolerance policy continues to keep the country all but sealed off.
Having won plaudits for keeping her nation virtually virus-free for two years, PM Jacinda Ardern now faces increasing questions as to why New Zealanders are being forced to isolate for 24 days if a family member tests positive – while the rest of the world is enjoying freedom and the return of economic growth.
So let’s enjoy and make the best use of our freedoms.
Covid has extracted a sad toll, but it is time to be brave, to resume our normal lives and live with the virus.
‘Meeting people is not a treat or luxury – it is a return to normal life’