I am definitely no expert and to be honest at this precise moment I'm grateful for that. Whether your a specialist in health, virology, statistics,logistics economics or running a country the right decisions at the moment are critical.
I can't speak for other countries plans or policies either. Every country has their own social, economic and health concerns. I can only reflect on how things look from my perspective in the UK.
I guess I'm here out of pure frustration, I had decided a long time ago to stop blogging, but Twitter drove me here! There is so much misinformation, panic and unwillingness to believe anything.
So it occurs to me that whether you flank yourself with scientific and medical experts, or not you can't win and you can't win because suspicion and conspiracy are pretty much the leading threat from social media. I pretty much guarantee that whoever was running the country right now it wouldn't be good enough. Instead of coming together we are actually torn apart by our own opinions and needs.
A good programme to watch by the way is Contagion A BBC Four Pandemic, it goes some way to explaining how scientific modelling works in these situations. How experts in the field and Universities create these plans and models that Government work from. Why handwashing is important , the reason certain steps are taken at certain times.
On a personal level I would very much like to wrap my parents and parents-in-law in bubble wrap at the moment atleast 3 of them have underlying health issues. So I get the clamour for doing something now. Why are we waiting to shut down everything, get everyone to quarantine now. Its an understandable thing to want to protect family and friends. The problem is when you are running a country you can't just make sweeping decisions. The argument I see frequently is that we should ban all travel close all airports and ports, being an island is our greatest defence. The greatest issue with that is logistics and economics. Surely peoples lives are more important than money is often the rallying cry. Yes they are but also the ability to function as a country and be able to understand how current situations will playout in the future. The strain being felt by the Air Industry at the moment the economic impact of shutting down mass transportation, air travel etc is huge. Are we really ok with saying we can sacrifice all of this for 1 month or 2 months ?
Can we honestly say we know more about how this will play out, do we as individuals have all the statistics, models scientific facts to hand. No we rely on a Government to tell us the best thing to do at this moment . If you shut every school who looks after the children of nurses,doctors,ambulance drivers who work in healthcare. If you demand your voice and situation is more important than any other person we all end up screaming for attention. That's the role of Government to keep the country functioning. Chances are you may not agree with every decision they make but to sit there saying rubbish like they don't care because they are Tories , or it will ease social care and pension worries is just insane. As I said before I doubt it would matter who was running the country, looking at every country that is fighting this virus there are people all over the world saying their Government isn't doing enough.
Yes, it might not affect you immediately if people can't fly to wherever you perceive the threat is but when people start losing jobs and can't pay their bills it will begin to take its toll nationally. Being able to make projections about the future of Industry, Finance and Health is the responsibility of Government and we may not think they are listening to us personally but there is no great conspiracy to just sacrifice us to a pandemic.
That doesn't mean there is a sense of futility, yes this virus will happen and will peak, but as individuals we all have our part to play in the coming weeks. Self isolation, ensuring elderly relatives do not over expose themselves, looking out for neighbours and those at risk in our communities. Listening to what we are being advised and taking the right action when we are told.
The experts are out there talking and telling us we need to prepare, healthcare workers in various countries who are battling this already. The talk is of how quickly health systems are overwhelmed. The risk to you might be minimal but the risk to those who will need that care is huge and so the decision to try and delay the peak and prepare is the right one. Yes the knee jerk reaction as individuals is to personalise and demand immediate action, I'm in my 50's and diabetic so yes I am fully aware but I am also aware of my responsibility to listen and take advice to protect myself. My Dad who has cancer and going through chemo is also aware and has been self isolating for weeks to protect himself.
I'm not looking to blame anyone, we are where we are and this virus will take its toll sadly but the other thing to remember is it doesn't care if your Labour, Tory, Brexit, Remain, rich or poor it will spread regardless, Arguing about it and believing that whoever is in charge is not taking advice from experts and just making it up as they go along is ridiculous
A final word and yes I know I said I can't comment on other countries but I will say I'd feel an awful lot more anxious if we had Trump in control, control is probably an overly generous word. Stay safe people, listen to advice, wash your hands look out for those who are vulnerable. Right now what we need is a bit more humanity and a lot less suspicion.
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