Covid’s all over bar the doubting
RSOME people still wear their Covid face masks when they’re out and about and although I think it’s totally unnecessary now, I’m not surprised. The juggernaut of fear the Government cranked up and sent lumbering through the public’s consciousness at the start of lockdown did a lot of damage. Even though the current Covid variation is equivalent to catching the common cold for most of us, many are still scared.They’ve been conditioned to be so.
Last week I saw a couple driving down my local high street in a beautiful vintage Morgan sports car, top down in the glorious sunshine.
He was behind the wheel.All he wore for personal protection was his seatbelt and a dollop of sun cream he’d forgotten to rub into his nose.
Her, beside him? A very comprehensive anti-Covid mask, one of those kinds with special breathing filters protruding over the mouth and nose and extra elasticated straps to ensure a snug, airtight fit around the cheeks and the jaw.
In an open-topped car in the fresh, breezy air? Completely unnecessary. But there’s the lingering power of state-sponsored propaganda for you.
All those finger-wagging warnings over months of teatime TV press conferences led by the PM, after which Boris would return to No.10 and Party Central. No face masks at the knees-ups there, were there? Why? Because no one at the heart of Government seriously thought those dire warnings were justified.
But post-Covid over-caution can be corporate too, and serve its own ends.We were in a big Heathrow hotel last week prior to an early flight. Once we’d checked into our room, I opened the mini bar. Or, rather, I didn’t.The door wouldn’t budge. I swiped it with our hotel keypass, prodded it with my foot, shook the whole thing from side to side. Locked tight.
I called room service. “Why won’t our minibar open?” I demanded. The faint, tinny voice at the other end was indecipherable. It sounded like they were saying “vtimmdommk”.
“What? Speak up, please.”
“VTIMMDOMMK.”
“Uh? Say it very slowly! I can’t understand you!”
“PAN-DEM-IC.All our minibars are sealed for your safety during the pandemic.”
“But the pandemic’s over! And even if it wasn’t surely I’d be at more risk coming down to the bar. It was absolutely packed when we passed it just now.”
“Sorry sir, hotel policy.” Click. Brrrrrrrrrr.
There must be a cost-saving factor driving this nonsense. I’ve written to the hotel chain concerned asking for an explanation, and when I get it I’ll let you know what they say.
But we’ve got to get ourselves out of this Covid catastrophising.Yes, the virus is still a serious threat to the vulnerable, but so is flu, which kills thousands every year.
For the rest of us, Covid has mutated (in exactly the way scientists predicted it would) into a less aggressive strain.That’s because viruses don’t actually want to kill their hosts – they prefer us to survive so we can pass them on.
So let’s ditch the mask. And open the damned minibar.