‘Why must a few bad seeds ruin Covid recovery for the rest of us?’

I’m sitting in front of my computer without a single useful thought in my head at the moment, a result I suppose, of having sat here for the last six months writing as many blogs as I could think of material to write about. But now the old conker is drying up a bit.

The first few weeks of lockdown here in regional Victoria weren’t too bad really; there was suddenly a whole new way of life to consider, everything was changing, (mostly for the worst) and we had to learn not to rush off anywhere we wanted at the drop of a hat, for it was against the rules to do so. It was also against the rules to go into certain businesses and we had to wash our hands every few minutes it seemed because it was against the rules to leave them possibly germ infested. A little later things changed even more; we had to wear a mask in public, we couldn’t entertain visitors in our own homes, or go into pubs or restaurants because, you guessed it, it was against the rules!

In fact, the list of rules seemed, and still seems for that matter, to be almost endless, dreamt up by a gang of politicians who had no more knowledge of what was the right thing to do, than we ordinary folk. And because of that I, and I’m sure thousands of other people just like me, are now sitting around either in front of their computers or across the room from a TV set, or in their gardens staring at the roses, wondering what the hell to do next! The lucky ones are in jobs that can, and indeed need to, employ their skills, either in certain forms of retail, or in industry where it is absolutely necessary to keep going, such as electricity generation and medical care.

That last group I hold in particular awe, they are all brave heroes who have put themselves in the firing line in order to make the world a little safer for the rest of us. I can afford to be a little bit flippant about the present situation, as I have intimated above, but these people have nothing at all to be flippant about. Whether they are doctors, nurses, cleaning staff, researchers or administration they are all equally in danger from the Coved-19 monster that is slithering like some filthy snake amongst us, spitting sickness and death in every direction, no respecter of class, age or sex. It operates without mercy and would destroy us all given the opportunity.

But what is the major obstacle preventing us from controlling this enemy of all humans? Well, I’m afraid that would be the humans themselves! We’re asked to stay a reasonable distance from each other, but many don’t. We’re asked to wear a mask when out and about, but many don’t. We’re asked to avoid visitors to our homes, but many don’t. We’re asked to get tested at the
first sign of any illness, but many don’t.

In fact, some people seem to go out of their way to avoid the safety valves that have been created for us, so I suppose we as a whole, (or rather a few of us), have only ourselves to blame for the constant flow of new Covid-19 clusters popping up around the country. I have no idea why these people feel as they do, but common sense tells me, despite what they say, that we are being attacked by a very serious virus, similar to many throughout human history, and we have always survived in the long run, despite the many thousands or millions who failed to survive those earlier attacks.

I believe history will simply repeat itself here, with the virus dying out in due course, and we will eventually get back to a normal life, though it may take us several years of difficulty and restraint to do so! Well, I’m still sitting here in front of my computer, trying to think of something to write about, but without any success I’m afraid, so I might as well switch the machine off for a while, and go and enjoy a pink gin and tonic with my wife Jacqui while the sun is still shining outside.