“After months of positive news, including falling cases and a hugely successful vaccination campaign, the tone has shifted.”
The BBC website was reflecting the mood of the Prime Minister, who is cautiously suggesting that we may have to change the plan if things get worse with the so-called ‘Indian Variant’.
The mood changes often, and quickly, in this war: hope to anger; frustration to relief; thankfulness to despair. It turns out that the Indian Variant is 40% more transmissible, and up North (where it always seems to have a field day) the virus is currently surging; cases due to the new variant have apparently tripled in the last week.
Should we be worried? Perhaps. The vaccinations are designed to prevent serious illness, but it is still possible (but also less probable) to contract the disease and pass it on. Over 50% of adults have now had at least one dose, and the government are speeding up the rollout of the second. Behind the Number Ten Press Conference Curtain, I’d say they’re worried about it.
So what do we do? Restrictions ease again in a couple of days, and we’ll be allowed to mingle indoors (up to 6), to travel more freely, and, amazingly, to hug people (though selectively, I suppose). Will these little freedoms be a click back towards a sort of normal life? Will we win the war against the Indian Variant? Will a strain emerge that’s more potent still? Or will the next few weeks, days even, be only a joyous little window between depressingly familiar restrictions? Will the tone shift again, either way? Because, to be honest, I think we’ve all had enough of it.
The Five Dates
Back to School Day: 0 days
Back to Sixes Day: 0 days
Haircut Day: 0 days
Big Travel Day: 2 days
Liberation Day: 37 days
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