The Day After Tomorrow.....

You know those low-budget apocalyptic horror films, where something awful threatens the planet and the whole of humanity, but a few plucky survivors are saved at the last minute, to go on and re-populate the earth and rebuild society?

That's us that is.

As we plunge ever deeper into plague conditions and the wheels of globalisation begin to grind to a halt, there is a troubling lack of community cohesion.

After almost 4 years of Brexit-supporting leavers trumpetting that we can survive perfectly well on bread and gruel, it took only a few days from the Coronavirus hitting our shores for them to be clearing supermarket shelves of toilet paper and panic buying gallons of hand sanitiser, pushing up prices so that gram for gram it's on parity with solid gold.

Not to mention the bullish "I'm all right Jack" attitude which accompanies such madness.  While other countries are banning mass gatherings and sporting events, the Cheltenham Festival took place this week, with tens of thousands of people crammed into stands to watch the races.  I listened to one racegoer being interviewed for the radio news, being asked if he was concerned about the spread of the virus.....

"Nah mate.  I reckon if I get it I'll be fine so I'm not worried....."

Well.... bully for you mate (although young, fit people can absolutely get really ill and die, but don't let the facts get in the way of a good strategy) but what about when you visit your elderly mother later, or your uncle who has just had chemotherapy treatment? What if by your staggeringly selfish arrogance you inadvertently infect them?

I've been ill three times since January.  My latest lurgy was a common cold, which had me laid up in bed for two days and is taking me weeks to recover from.  Since having MS I am definitely more susceptible to illnesses and infections which wouldn't have troubled me at all before.  I get much sicker, for much longer, and it takes me ages to recover.  
When I'm ill with anything I tend to self-isolate, partly to avoid burdening my struggling immune system further, partly to protect anyone else in the family from getting ill too.  It seems like common sense to me.

The West as a whole has been relatively slow to respond to the unfolding threat, but countries are finally putting measures in place to try to protect their populace..... closing schools, banning mass gatherings, implementing travel bans, and even, as in Italy, putting the entire country on lockdown.

The UK stands alone in not implementing ANY of the measures above, as though somehow our famed blitz spirit will see us through the coming days and weeks.  

A few weeks ago, our PM, Boris Johnson, mused that the virus should be allowed to move through the population, eventually creating herd immunity.  However that potential immunity would be at the cost of tens of thousands of deaths, mostly of older people.

Now.  Call me an old cynic, but that seems like a powerful form of 'age cleansing'.... removing those most dependent on the NHS and social services, reducing the government's State Pension costs at a stroke.  He has actually said that "many loved ones will be lost, before their time".  

Reassuring or what?

So, PP, SD and I are hunkering down for the duration.  We are limiting shopping trips and keeping our distance from fellow shoppers.  Ever inventive, PP has actually made us some hand sanitiser, using the Isopropyl Alchohol I bought to clean the dining room chandelier a while back.  It's 99.9% alcohol so should kill just about everything.  
We already work from home so no change there.

However, when the situation inevitably worsens, I'm seriously considering getting one of these...

.........that would definitely clear me a space in the queue in Tesco.