Our way of life is under siege. We MUST pull together — and consign this menace to history

EVEN before last night, it was genuinely breathtaking to contemplate how completely our nation had been transformed by the coronavirus crisis.

Economically and societally, the kaleidoscope had been well and truly shaken. It was profoundly, almost hallucinatorily, unnerving.

Less than a month ago, life meandered along normally… even mundanely. On Boris Johnson’s political plate? Brexit. Fixing the social care scandal. Tackling the housing shortage. Maintaining law and order. On Nicola Sturgeon’s? Fixing the broken NHS and our faltering education system while trying to boost the economy.

Of course, solving these problems posed significant challenges. But, with gumption, resolve and imagination, they were hardly insurmountable.

Today, they are footling trifles. For last night, in sombre state-of-thenation addresses, the Prime Minister and First Minister laid painfully bare the scale of the apocalyptic havoc that this insidious infection is inflicting on Britain.

So far, Covid-19 has left 335 dead (with the mortality rate surging terrifyingly). Thousands more are desperately sick, many clinging to life in hospital.

Simultaneously, the epidemic has blitzkrieged our economy – razing to the ground businesses, jobs, savings and investments. By comparison, the 2008 financial crash, the 1979 Winter of Discontent and the 1976 IMF crisis pale into insignificance.

Understandably, this country – which through its long, proud past has weathered so many storms – has been gripped by profound dread.

To halt this invisible killer’s relentless march, and protect our cherished way of life, our leaders have been forced to take steps that would, only days ago, have appeared unimaginable outside of wartime.

Now, life is going to change unrecognisably before our eyes.

Britons are being asked to make mammoth sacrifices to defeat this biological enemy. Perhaps not the blood and tears shed to vanquish Hitler and Nazi Germany.

But make no mistake: From today, the indefatigable citizens of this doughty island nation must face an extraordinary fusillade of privations.

The UK is being placed in near-total lockdown. Effectively, the entire country will be placed under quasihouse arrest.

PEOPLE will be banned from leaving their homes except to buy the essentials of daily life: Food and drink, medicines and hardware.

For a physical and mental boost, those cooped up at home will be allowed out to exercise once a day. They will be able to stretch their legs alone or with their family.

People will be allowed to go to the doctors and carers will have permission to look after the elderly and vulnerable. And some will be permitted to travel to work – but only if it that work is absolutely essential and can’t be done from home.

The shutters have been ordered down on the High Street (although many leading stores have already closed their doors temporarily).

Social gatherings of more than two people will be banned. All weddings, baptisms and other ceremonies will be cancelled – except funerals.

This signals the end of tourism for the foreseeable future. Bed and breakfast accommodation, campsites, caravan parks and the majority of hotels will be shut.

Beauty spots, from sweeping beaches to our scenic uplands, will be closed as attractions. Police will issue on-thespot fines for transgressors.

Questions remain: Will the plumber be allowed out to repair your washing machine? What if a family member falls seriously ill with something other than coronavirus? Can you visit them?

These questions must be answered urgently – not least to maintain public support for such stringent and lifechanging measures.

For never in peacetime will the country have experienced such a draconian crackdown on everyday life. Indeed, even during the darkest days of the Second World War, as bombs rained down, pubs and theatres remained open to take people’s minds off the Nazi threat.

How on Earth has it come to this? Of course, bans are anathema to Mr Johnson, a lifelong defender of personal freedoms.

But people were refusing to act responsibly, even though the upshot was that others would die from coronavirus. Locking down the country is vital to slow the lightning spread of the pandemic and ease pressure on hospitals.

Many of those who’ll grumble can hardly say they weren’t warned. As the disease’s menacing claws grasped our communities, we’ve been urged to stay at home as much as possible.

If citizens had to venture outside, they were instructed to leave a six-foot gap between themselves and the next person – so the pernicious pathogen couldn’t transmit. By last Friday, with the stretched NHS under dizzying pressure, a blanket closure of schools, pubs, restaurants, cinemas and theatres was ordered.

Despite warnings about the urgency of abiding by the rules on social distancing, countless thousands stuck two fingers up to the authorities.

Recklessly, they refused to respect the new reality, instead thronging to beaches, tourist spots and parks at the weekend to bask in the spring sunshine – increasing the danger of spreading the deadly bug.

Meanwhile, chaos engulfed the Tubes, trains and buses in London, where the contagion is most severe. Commuters on ScotRail services were also crammed into carriages as the service was wound down.

The capital’s virtue-signalling mayor Sadiq Khan inexplicably decided to deter commuters by running a skeleton service.

This meant key workers, including doctors and nurses, were forced to stand cheek-by-jowl with other passengers – flouting official advice.

The situation had become dire. Fears were mounting that the UK would soon bear witness to the same horrific scenes as Italy – where the Army is grimly transporting the bodies of innumerable coronavirus dead in the night.

CONSEQUENTLY, the UK and Scottish governments ordered the lockdown. The Mail applauds this decisive action. The Mail accepts that protecting the UK from the pandemic is a fiendish responsibility.

Make no mistake, it is the most serious public health scare for a century, and the economy is plunging off a cliff. But there has been a growing perception that Boris has fallen too frequently behind the curve – offering dither, rather than decisive leadership.

yes, he maintains huge public support. But beating this foul contagion is going to be like climbing a mountain – and the country is only striding into the foothills.

People were crying out for confidence, clarity, consistency and authority. Anything less sows confusion.

No one can be under any illusion that Downing Street is taking coronavirus anything other than incredibly seriously.

Already, the crisis has turned Britain on its head. This Tory Government has crossed a political Rubicon: Renationalising the stricken railways for six months, setting aside hundreds of billions of pounds to keep the economy on life support, using the levers of state to protect business and jobs.

If this had been suggested a few weeks ago, the Mail would have found the idea risible.

But we are on a war footing, and that requires unprecedented measures.

Next steps? The Government must put in place a rigorous coronavirus testing regime, as suggested by Jeremy Hunt. Trials are beginning at British universities for new treatments to tackle the infection. We hope and pray they are a swift success.

In an address to the nation last night, Prime Minister Mr Johnson hailed the spirit of the British.

‘The people of this country,’ he said, ‘will rise to the challenge. And we will come through stronger than ever.’

The Mail agrees. This deadly infection has laid siege to our way of life. By pulling together resolutely, you, your loved ones, your friends – indeed, the whole of our indomitable nation – can help consign it to history.