18 June 2020
Social Distancing in Cumbria
Week 13
by Vic Leader
It’s now 3 calendar months since ordinary life ended and we entered the strangeness. We were warned that isolation would create mental health issues. No wonder then that, as we seek a path back, a lot of pent up anger, discord and general disagreement has emerged; I’m feeling it myself as I start re-engaging.
However, although times remain tough, and will continue to be so for some long while, it is vital to remember:
1) CV19 hasn’t gone away and
2) There’s an economy to rebuild.
It is important that we, the ordinary people, stay united. This is no time to throw away what we learned from the Lockdown.
The majority needs to prevail; minorities will have their time again, no doubt. But now is not the time to re-run all the injustices that have gone before.
The majority has to remain together, also, if the changes identified as necessary and desirable are to be achieved. We need to be heard loud and clear, not drowned out by a thousand distractions. Am I dismissing as unimportant the many injustices that have been? No. But not all cries of injustice are warranted, and, in my view, there isn’t time to sort out which are which at this point.
Non-essential retail is rebooting as this week (13) ends. More and more social interactions are occurring. The theories about the viral spread will be tested in practice: proximity to others, viral load, exposure time, closed vs. open environments. How we respond to the infection threat will be important: distancing, hand washing, contact with common objects (door handles, goods, etc), face masks, containing coughs and sneezes.
In short we have to start focusing on our social responsibilities. Human rights come with a price and we have too often forgotten that rights without responsibility are achievable only by despots. But again I believe the great majority fully understands that and will rise to the occasion.
The way I see it we are now entering a critical stage in our response to the virus. How we collectively respond will determine whether we can avoid further outbreaks. In turn that will influence how quickly we can regain the confidence to kick start the economy. Along that route we need to be vigilant about whether we are just returning to our old ways or if we can take this monumental opportunity to forge new paths that capitalise on our lockdown lessons.
I want to recap the main issues covered in the log, but that is an exercise for next week’s log.
Stay focused my friends, stay united, keep reminding politicians and the media what it is the great British majority wishes. It will be wide in scope, difficult to achieve, but do not accept that it is impossible.
